TO BE SATISFIED ORDER FROM LANDRETH 



AN EXPLANATION AND A CAUTION 



Grass Seed Lawn Mixtures 



To an inexperienced man the question naturally arises, What is Mixed Lawn Grass? What do the; 

 words meanf A response can be made that possibly it may be simply a mixture of two of the twenty or 

 thirty distinct varieties of Grass recognized as suitable for lawn decoration or it may be a complete mixture 

 of the entire twenty or thirty or it may be a mixture of only three or four of them, or an article sold as 

 Mixed Lawn Grass may not be a mixture in any sense — it may be only one variety — often deceptively 

 is only one sort. 



If only one sort is used, of course it follows it is not a mixture, but this single variety may be Kentucky 

 Blue Grass, which is the basis for all good mixtures, a variety succeeding best in the interior or away from 

 a salt atmosphere, really doing best on hmestone soils; or, sold by some other seedsman, it may be Rhode 

 Island Bent, so popular in localities of intense salt-water atmosphere, as, for example, the famous lawns at 

 Narragansett and Newport; or it may be ordinary six-cent Red Top or Herds. It often is. There is oppor- 

 tunity for all sorts of fraud. 



The lawn maker may use a single sort, confining himself to those single but very high-priced sorts, 

 Kentucky Blue or Rhode Island Bent; but it has time after time been clearly demonstrated that a judicious 

 mixture of three or four or even six or seven varieties makes a quicker sod and ^ves the best results in the 

 long run, as if all expectations are dependent entirely upon one sort, it may subsequently be made clear- 

 to the observer that the particular variety, whether chosen almost at random or after much consideration, 

 was not suited to the special soil or climate or the particular variety so chosen may fail to please the fancy 

 of the lawn maker because of some material habit of growth or color. 



Even if the one variety does entirely suit on some soils at certain seasons of the Spring, Summer or 

 Autumn when for some months the one particular variety will be in best condition, the lawn maker may be 

 disappointed with its want of vigor at other seasons when the chosen sort appears to hibernate rather than 

 to flourish ; consequently a mixture of several varieties is desirable, these being sorts choice in the appear- 

 ance of foliage, sorts having different seasons of full development or continued periods of growth, sorts 

 possessing different degrees of staying qualities as respects resistance to natural encroaching grass, sorts 

 resisting the effects of too much or too little rain,*sorts of different degrees of adaptability to variations of 

 soils. 



A mixture of such sorts proves much better than reliance upon one sort, as by sowing mixed Grass 

 the risks are diversified. 



We have known people to order a mixture of Grass Seed and after getting the seed seem disappointed 

 that it did not look all alike, seeming to forget that the word mixture implied a number of varieties, for- 

 getting that seeds of different varieties are of different shape, size, weight and color. 



No two seedsmenv^ho make mixtures follow the same prescription. Nobody should attempt to make 

 a mixture except those who have made a study of the subject. 



All clear-thinlcing men will observe that the purchase of 



Mixed Lawn Grass 



is entirely a matter of confidence on the part of the buyer, whether he is a merchant or a gardener, and 

 that the method of mixing, as to varieties and proportions of each, is a matter of honesty and ability on 

 the part of the mixer. 



We sell Mixtures by the hundred pounds, and not by measure, puffed up by worthless chaff or hulls, 

 often purchased by mixers of Lawn Grass at a price of two cents per pound, and used entirely for the making 

 of bulk and the cheating of the public, for chaff is no good, and it is time this fraud was stopped; if not 

 stopped by public opinion, then stopped by law. 



Finally we will add that in no class of any kind of Seeds is there so much deception as in Mixed Lawn 

 Grass — the doors for deception are wide open. The purchaser of any mixed article, whether it be Grass 

 Seed or Coffee, at once agrees to an opening of the door to an extent of fraud equal to any evil intent of 

 the mixer. The purchaser cannot complain of the parts or proportion of parts of an unlmown mixture; 

 he buys it just as it is, he does not know the combination. Yet no large operator is going to divulge the 

 parts of his mixture — that is a trade secret. The purchaser is at the mercy of the mixer, and the mixer's 

 honesty of purpose alone is the only guarantee of the quality he will deal out to the buyer. 



We regret to say that the average mixture of Grass Seed does not make a well-balanced combination 

 of valuable sorts succeeding each other, for the average mixer of Mixed Grass Seed knows just nothing 

 about varieties, his sole aim being to make the lowest cost mixture to sell at the biggest price. 



Landreths' Lawn prass Mixture, according to its name or grade and for the purpose intended, is 

 composed of many varieties put in as suitable for the purposes named, as 



For Surface Effect on the Lawn, For the Putting Green, 



For Base Ball Grounds, For Shady Places, 



For Golf Links, For Dry Soils, 



For Winter Lawn Grass. 



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