CATALOGUE 
OF THE SELECT ASSORTMENT OF 
PLANTS, SEEDS, Etc. 
FOR SALE BY 
LONG BROS., BUFFALO, N. Y. 
SPRING, 1878-INTR0DUCT0RY. 
We claim to offer in the present Catalogue only 
choice, selected kinds and varieties of stock. 
Instead of aiming to present the " longest lists," and 
the "newest" and highest priced sorts, wc confine our- 
selves to a limited number, of such varieties as show 
themselves to be the best for the purposes for which 
Mower-, are bought, and such as will not yield disap- 
pointment, where due allowance is made for the adapta- 
bility of each. 
Wc constantly pay close attention to testing new sorts 
for the purpose of embodying in our Catalogue all such 
as prove meritorious. Rather than offer long lists of 
50 to 150 varieties of certain kinds, including— as such 
lists invariably do— good, inferior and often absolutely 
worthless kinds for general culture, wc aim to offer 
only the best that can be selected from large collec- 
tions, even though in numbers of varieties, our lists rank 
among the least. 
In determining upon the suitability of kinds for our 
Catalogue, wc measure their value by submitting them 
to the judgment of our customers here in Buffalo, who 
by making purchases direct from our greenhouses, 
have the advantage of seeing stock grown to compara- 
tive perfection, and of choosing or discarding, just as 
they deem proper, when the nock is seen. Any va- 
riety that is not good enough to captivate the attention, 
as well as the purses, of intelligent and keen judges, 
when shown in a well-grown condition and in (lower in 
our houses, is, in our opinion, unfit to be offered tu 
others, who must rely on Catalogue descriptions in 
making selections. 
When we state that we arc the leading retailers 
of Flowering Plant!, Seeds and Bulb*., in our city 
of near 150,000 inhabitants, and that our customers 
arc among the most capable antl exacting purchasers 
to be found anywhere, the value of luch a severe 
test may be more easily comprehended. Wc arc sure 
that few establishments in the country possess and 
make use of such excellent opportunities for determin- 
ing the true value of plants anil other stock in the 
hands of the people, as wc do by these means to which 
we allude. It would be well if plant buyers kept in 
mind the fact, that inferior varieties of Plant! are, 
almost without exception, the easiest to propagate 
and grow to a salable size, and in Seeds the most 
prolific seeders, hence in each instance the most profit- 
abU to sell. 
We would suggest to amateurs, that as a rule they 
will find investments made for high priced new Hints 
unsatiifactory, no matter how much they may be 
