ALFRED JERVIS. 
E. W. REID. 
G REETING. — At the beginning of another season, we 
have again much pleasure in introducing ourselves 
to our many esteemed patrons and friends in the 
shape of a new Catalogue, which we trust will meet 
with the same approbation as in the past. The system, 
atic arrangement, combined with complete index, we trust 
■will be of great assistance to our patrons in making out their orders. We wish to thank all our friends for their 
kind words of encouragement and testimonials received the past year, and can assure them that it will be our 
•endeavor to serve them better in the future than in the past, as we believe there is no more important fact to be 
borne in mind, than that a good reputation for serving all our customers well, with good stock at a fair price and 
true to name, is the surest foundation for business success. We take especial pains to make this, 11 Our Agent, ” 
a true and reliable guide for all fruit planters, discarding all varieties which we know are worthless, retaining 
only the best of the new and the good old varieties which experience has taught us are worth planting. All new 
varieties we subject to test before placing them before our customers, thus giving them the benefit of years of 
Spring, 
1896. 
■experience and preventing many losses by planting some old and often useless stock under a new name. This 
•costly experimenting has saved hundreds of dollars to our customers. We have no desire to see our patrons 
test a long list of different varieties of fruits, nurse, prune and care for them, only to find disappointment in the 
•end. Our desire is to place before our readers only good and reliable varieties of stock, suited for commercial 
purposes, that can be raised with profit. To this fact only can we ascribe our enormous increase in business the 
■past few years, which has compelled us to enlarge all our buildings, and adopt all the modern appliances 
tfor filling orders. We have spared neither time nor expense in making this one of the foremost Nurseries in 
the country, and one deserving the confidence of all fruit growers. We employ none but skilled assistants, 
who have had a life-long experience in handling, packing and shipping trees. It is our aim to supply nothing 
but the best stock at the lowest prices, and intending customers with large orders will find it to their advan- 
tage to send us a list of all stock wanted; we will then give our very lowest prices on the lot. By this means 
we often make a reduction in price to help us from carrying over any stock which we might have in surplus. 
To many of our readers who have not yet favored us with an order, all we ask is for a trial. We feel sure then 
we shall have your acquaintance in future years, for we know by experience that “ Once a customer, always a 
customer, ” has had more to do with our success than all the writing we could put in a Catalogue. Our stock 
this season is as fine as was ever grown by any Nursery, and we will guarantee it true to name, perfectly 
healthy, free from root-knot or any insect pests, well rooted and stocky. We state these facts to assure our 
patrons that in dealing with us they are sure of getting stock that will grow and prove a blessing to many in 
after years. 
Farmers, we wish to urge you to give more attention to fruit-growing. Choice fruits will always sell well, 
at a good profit. Plant an orchard this year, and lay the foundation of a good income later. You will also find 
it both a pleasant and profitable occupation. You will reap the advantage of better health, as there is nothing 
more conducive to health or happiness than a good supply of fresh fruit, which you can have, with a proper 
■selection, all the year round. If you want advice on anything, we are always willing to lend you a helping 
band in making a selection suitable for your locality. 
We have many new and choice fruits to offer this season, which you will find fully described in the Cata- 
logue, and which we can recommend to all, as worthy of a place in their collections. 
We also beg to draw the attention of our customers to our many advantages. Our soil is peculiarly 
adapted for the Nursery business, stock making a rapid and clean growth, and our small fruits are unsurpassed, 
which is evident from the fact that we are entirely sold out every season. Our packing department is under 
the personal supervision of our Mr. E. W. Reid and assistants, who are all old and experienced hands, who 
have grown up with the business, and who spare no pains in seeing that the stock is fully up to our high 
•standard of grading. More than that, you get stock true to name. Our facilities for shipping are unsurpassed, 
as we have all the leading trunk lines represented, and six express companies. This competition insures us 
the verv lowest rates as well as prompt attention. Our location, just opposite Wheeling, W. Va., gives us 
many advantages over our own town, as it is just as handy to ship from this point, as from Bridgeport. Further, 
we have the Ohio river, by which we can reach many points at very low freight rates from Pittsburg to New 
Orleans, St. Louis, and other points along the great rivers. 
CHEAP BUT FRESH STOCK. — We do not want you to think that we sell cheap stock because our 
rates are much lower than those of many Nurseries ; we deal directly with yon, and not through agents, who, in 
many cases, add fifty per cent, to the cost. We are not a “ Cheap John. " We sell our stock at a small profit 
to increase our trade. We look at the matter in this way: If we can sell to five men at the same profit we 
would make from one, we increase our trade, and our stockis our best advertisement. 
