D. M. FERRY &* GO'S 



Seed Annual 



1003 



IF you are a gardener and expect to get rich quick, this book will not interest you. If you 

 prefer fairy tales to sober truth, stop reading. We are not wizards or workers of miracles 

 but only human beings who are limited at every hand by the laws and mysteries of nature. 

 We cannot make figs grow from thistles. Look elsewhere if you prefer that sort of reading. 

 We are too selfish to print anything of the kind. 



Yes, candidly, too selfish, for were we disposed to do so we could not afford to deviate 

 to the slightest degree from the strictest rectitude. Our trade is with the conservative peo- 

 ple of the United States and Canada who know, and whose fathers before them knew, that 

 w^ know honesty pays. We are too selfish to lose that trade. We want it now and fifty 

 years from now, and therefore even as a matter of cold business policy we must sell the best that cul- 

 tivator can produce or money can buy. All our seeds are tested ; all are as reliable as seeds can pos- 

 sibly be. You know what you are doing when you plant Ferry's. You know what you are reading 

 when you study our catalogue. 



Of course, this does not mean that we are behind the times. That would be almost as disas- 

 trous as to be rankly dishonest. The fool in business is nearly as bad as the knave. From the stand- 

 point of self-interest, therefore, we have to be abreast or a little ahead of the age and it has always 

 been our policy to lead. The finest new varieties, as a rule, not invariably, have been introduced by 

 us. Our corps of trained botanists contains, past question, the ablest horticulturists and specialists in 

 America. We must be alive to the needs of the world or be outstripped in the race, and the fact 

 that we are the largest seed house in the world tells the story. 



You have heard what we can and cannot afford to 'do. Is it reasonable ? Can you afford to 

 buv elsewhere ? *^ 



OUR TERMS ARE STRICTLY CASH WITH THE 



ORDER. We do not send C. O. D.. as tlie cost of collecting 

 return charges is quite an unnecessary item of expense, 

 and the prices being given, we can conceive of no necessity 

 to warrant goods being so sent. 



HOW TO SEND MONEY. Remittances may be made 

 AT OUR RISK by any of the following methods, viz.: Postal 

 Money Order, Draft on New York or Chicago, or Express 

 Company's Money Order. 



The rates charged for Postal Money Orders and Express 

 Money Orders are now so low that these are the best ways to 

 remit. We will bear the expense of sending money in either 

 of these ways. Deduct the cost of the order from amount 

 sent. Express Money Orders can be obtained at all offices 

 of the principal Express Companies. They are cheap and 



ABSOLUTELY SAFE. 



> When Money Orders cannot be obtained, letters containing 

 money should always be registered. Money in ordinary letters 

 is unsafe. If currency is sent by express, the charges should 

 be prepaid, and if local checks are used, 25 cents must be 

 added to cover the cost of collection. 



FREE OP POSTAGE OR EXPRESS CHARGES, packets, 

 Ounces, Two Ounces, Quarter Pounds or Pounds, ordered 

 at list prices, will be sent free by mail or express. 



Customers ordering enough for a freight shipment, 100 

 pounds or more, or desiring to pay their own express charges, 

 may deduct 10 cents per pound from prices of this catalogue 

 on all seeds quoted by the pound or less. 



PINTS AND QUARTS, p,,,,, q,,,,, ,„, ^„^,^ ^^^^^^ 

 ordered at li«t prices, fifteen cents per quart, ten cents 

 per pint must^be added for postage or express charges, and 

 they will then be sent free. ' 



PECK, BUSHEL AND HUNDRED POUND LOTS, where 



Peck, Bushel or Hundred Pound lots are ordered we deliver 

 free at depot or express office in Detroit, Mich., the freight or 

 express charges to be paid by the party ordering. 



FARM AND GARDEN IMPLEMENTS . e deliver at Depot 

 or Express Office in Detroit, Mich., at prices given on pages 



I^~ Where perishable or other goods are ordered to be 

 sent by freight or express to such great distances that the 

 cost of transportation will nearly or quite equal the value of 

 the goods, we must decline to ship unless purcha.sers remit us 

 in addition to the price of goods, sufficient funds to prepay 

 transportation charges. When this requirement is not com- Detroit Mich Jan 1 1903 



plied with, we reserve the right of declining the order and 

 returning money to the person ordering. 



SbcDS BY MEASURE. One-fourth bushel and over 

 sold at bushel rates; four quarts and over up to one- 

 quarter bushel sold at four-quart rates; less than four 

 QUARTS sold at quart or pint rates. 



SEEDS BY WEIGHT. We supply half pound and over 

 at POUND rates; less than half pound lots are charged at 

 ounce, two-ounce or quarter-pound rates; 25 lbs. and over 



at 100 LB. RATES WHEN QUOTED 



BAGS. To every order for one-quarter bushel and upwards, 

 to the amount of two bushels, 20 cents must be added for a 

 new bag in which to ship. 



SEEDS IN PACKETS. We offer the following induce- 

 ments to those wishing to purchase seeds in packets : Select 

 packets to the value of .f;i.l5 and send us Si 00; for S2.35 send 

 $2.00: for SS.OO send $3.00; for $4.85 send $4.00; for $6.15 send 

 $5.00; for $12.50 send $10.00; for $26.00 send $20.00. The seeds 

 will be sent by mail, postpaid, but these low rates applv to 

 seeds in packets only, and at catalogue prices, and "not 

 to seeds by weight or nieasiire. 



NAME AND ADDRESS SHOULD ALWAYS BE GIVEN. 



We frequently receive letters containing money and orders, 

 which we cannot fill because the sender has failed to sign 

 HIS name or THE P. O. ADDRESS is Omitted, and tliepost mark 

 being blurred, we are unable to fill the order, no matter how 

 much we desire to do so. Use our Order Sheet and Envelope 

 whenever you can, filling out the blank and signing your name 

 and you will have no cause to censure us. 



GUARANTEE. Complaints made that seeds are not good, 

 should quite as often be attributed to other causes as to the 

 quality of the seeds. There are hundreds of contingencies 

 continually arising to prevent the best seeds always giving 

 satisfaction, such as sowinj:; too deep, too shallow , lii too wet 

 or too dry soil; insects of all descriptions destroying the 

 plants as soon as or before they appear; wet weather, cold 

 weather, frosts, chemical changes in the seeds induced by 

 temperature, etc. For the above reasons it is iuqiracticabfe 

 to guarantee seeds under all circumstances. 



We give no warranty, express or implied, as to description, 

 purity, productiven-'^s. or any other matter of any seeds we 

 send out, and we will not be in any way responsible for the 

 crop. If the purchaser does not jiccept the goods on these 

 terms they are at once to be returned. 



D. M. FERRY & CO. 



