TO DO ONE THING VERY WELL 



It has been a growing conviction with us that in order to do a 

 job supremely well, one must not only completely master it but im- 

 mensely enjoy it. Most of us are fitted by training or aptitudes to 

 accomplish certain kinds of work better than other kinds. Will Rogers 

 once said, "If ten men went on a hunting trip, you would soon learn 

 which was the best cook and which was the best hunter to bring in 

 the meat. You would find that each excelled in something useful to all." 



For the last ten of our fifty-four years as seedsmen, our principal 

 interest has been in Tomato breeding. We have now decided, 

 obviously with mingled feelings, to devote our attention completely 

 to Tomato products, leaving the enormously complex problems at- 

 tendant on the breeding of other vegetables to those who by training, 

 technique, and location are better suited to handle them. (This de- 

 cision does not immediately affect our southern branches.) 



We are quite content to let others take the strings out of beans, 

 the cores out of carrots, and the curves out of cucumbers. We will 

 devote our energies to the development of bigger and better, deeper 

 and sweeter Tomatoes. That in itself, we think, is a man-size job. 

 In this connection we would remind you that it is much less than 

 100 years ago that the despised Love Apple was looked upon as deadly 

 poison. Today it is the Number One vegetable in the United States. 



In abandoning the general line of vegetables, we wish sincerely 

 to express our gratitude for the long years of support we have received 

 from the gardening public. It is our deep conviction that as specialists 

 we will make a more authentic contribution to the agricultural 

 economy of our country than will be possible as general seedsmen. 



The exactions of modern business are constantly demanding greater and greater precision. To do one thing very 

 well is the new order, rather than to do many things quite well. It is on this premise that we humbly but resolutely 

 make our choice, and take as our new slogan, "Stokes for Tomato." 



BUSINESS FOUNDED 1881 



'The attainment of perfection in anything 

 is a goal worth striving for" 



Study of interior structure and millimeter measurement with calipers is 

 daily routine in our breeding plots 



13] 



