DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



For some years past we have been obliged to make our boxes at some distance from our offi- 

 ces, but we have now overcome this disadvantage by the erection of a new building for this pur- 

 pose directly across the street from our new warehouse. It is three stories high, built of brick 

 and stone in the same architectural style as our warehouse. 



This box factory, though only a feature of our business, is a complete manufacturing insti- 

 tution in itself. Besides supplying the larger building with heat, light and, to a limited extent, 

 power, it contains every facility for converting an immense amount of lumber into the boxes 

 which are annually used in our business. Machines designed especially for our use are employed 

 for almost every process necessars^ for the construction of finished boxes from rough lumber; 

 nevertheless in winter there are usually over 100 men employed in this department alone. We 

 give elsewhere a sketch of the box factory employes. 



We have long felt the desirability oi a store in the Dominion for the accommodation of our 

 Canadian friends, and on adoption of their recent tariff law, we at once secured suitable quarters 

 in Windsor, Ontario, opposite Detroit. Seeds in packets and small parcels designed for Canada, 

 whether sent by mail or othervvise from the United States, are subject to a duty of 25^, which 

 virtually debars our Canadian friends Irom purchasing in this country. 



By the establishment of this branch we are enabled to execute promptly all orders in large 

 or small quantities by mail, express or freight, without any of the vexatious delays and expens- 

 ive processes of entering and paying duties. We expect to fill all orders received from any por- 

 tion of the Dominion from this warehouse, though all orders for seeds and the accompanying 

 money shrmld be sent to us at Detroit. Our stocks will be imported directly into Canada, and a 

 duplicate will there be found of everything we sell in the States. The advantage of this jnove 

 to our Canadian friends cannot be overestimated, as it places them on a par with our friends in 

 the States. 



Our warehouses in Windsor r.nd Detroit are connected by telephone, and are buti twenty 

 minutes distant from each other by ferry across the Detroit river. Never before have we been 

 in so favorable a position for th'e prompt and accurate execution of Canadian orders, and now 

 that our facilities are unexcelled, w-e confidently expect an increasing patronage from the Dominion. 



THE FOKMATIOX AXD MANAGEMENT OF GARDENS. 



SITUATION. — The most suitable situation is a very gentle inclination toward the east or southeast, that it 

 may have all the advantages of the morning sun. All good gardeners take pride in having early crops, and this 

 inclination insures an early maturity of the vegetable. A northeastern aspect is to be avoided, as our worst storms 

 are from that direction. A northwestern expo.-^ure, though cold and late, is less liable to injury from late and early 

 frosts, as vegetation in such situations is sheltered somewhat from the rising sun, and does not suffer so much if it 

 becomes slightly frozen ; it is not the frost that injures the plants so much as the direct heat of the sun falling upon 

 the frozen leaves and blossoms. Cabbage, cauliflower, spinage. lettuce and other salads are much more easily 

 brought to perfection in a northern exposure ; many of these, in the more southern climates, run up to seed immedi- 

 ately if exposed to the full sun. The soil, too, is usually richer and will retain its fertility longer, other things 

 being equal, in a northern exposure. It is a great advantage, if the garden slope at all, to have it slope in more 

 than one direction, giving a choice of exposure and generally also of soil, as it is thus adapted to both late and early 

 crops. When the drainage is good, a level is not undesirable, but whatever the situation or aspect, the surface 

 must be smooth and level. Care should be taken that the productiveness of the garden be not diminished by the 

 proximity of large trees which are injurious by their drip to all plants beneath them and by their shade and extended 

 roots to those more remote. 



SOIL. — In selecting the grounds, it is of the utmost importance to have the soil of a healthy qualitj-, mellow, 

 dry and capable of being worked with a spade. The best soils are of a friable and loamy texture, the worst those 

 of a very light sandy or stiff, clayey description. In a garden designed for the cultivation of a variety of plants, 

 both sand and clay soils are desirable. But the best soil for general purposes, is a loam of medium texture, arising 

 from a suitable admixture of the two, as they reciprocally correct the defects of each other, and with the addition of 

 organic matter, form a soil suited to the cultivation of nearly all garden productions. Any soil, with judicious cul- 

 ture, draining and manures can be converted into such a loam. 



SIZE. — A small garden, well manured and cultivated, with a suitable rotation of crops, will yield more pleas- 

 ure and profit than an ordinary' one of three times its size. An active, industrious hand can take care of an acre 

 well provided with hot-beds, cold-frames, etc. , keeping it in perfect neatness and condition; or, if the plow and 

 cultivator be brought into requi-ition, as they shou'd be in large gardens, four times that amount can be under his 

 care. If but little room can be allowed near tl.e house, cabbages, carrots, turnips, potatoes and the common crops 

 can be grown in the field if well enriched, and cultivated with the plow and hoe. 



