86 
Gardeners and Florists’ Annual for I9J8 
Nurserymen may make analysis of their catalogs, and give the 
results of these in lists showing what trees, shrubs and hardy lierbace- 
uos plants are suitable for different uses and locations. This analyzing 
of one’s own catalog, and the making of lists which will be helpful not 
only to your patrons, hut also to your own store and traveling sales- 
men, is a work of which very little as yet is seen in catalogs. 
The page numbers of catalogs appear in several positions, and in 
figures of varying size. You look in a catalog index to see on what 
page a certain seed or plant is mentioned; you find the number and 
look for the page. We read bo'oks from the top of the page down, 
and we, therefore, naturally expect to find the page number there, 
either on the outer corner or in the center of the page in boldfaced 
figures of good size, and not on the outer corner or center of the bot- 
tom of the page, because we do not read from the bottom of the page 
upward. 
There are not a few other criticisms and suggestions which might 
be made, but we will close with a few words about indexes and illus- 
trations. Shall we place the index in the back or front of the catalog? 
Lx)gically, it should be in the front of the catalog, but this part of it 
is customarily used to such degree these days for featuring novelties 
and for other purposes, which prevent the index occupying the first 
pages of the book directly after the introduction, where it should be, 
if in the front at all, that we are inclined to think it is better to place 
it in the back of the catalog next to the cover. Those who prepare 
annual catalogs seem to l>e struck with a thundersquall of economy 
when they come to making up the index, and use small letters and 
figures, and crowd it into a small s]>ace. .\n index should always l)c 
in boldfaced letters, and figures of good size, and well spaced, for it 
should be remembered that the majority of the people who use seed 
and nursery catalogs most are no longer young. There lies before me 
one of the most beautifully illustrated plant catalogs (featuring the 
varieties of only one kind of plant) ever published in this country. It 
has no index. The reason which would probably be given is that the 
names of the varieties are arranged alphabetically under each of their 
several divisions, and, therefore, no index is necessary. It is necessary, 
nevertheless, for the ditferent varieties of this plant are arranged in 
this catalog under nearly forty divisions, and although each division 
is arranged alphabetically, it is quite difficult to find what you would 
like to find in this catalog, whereas an index would have obviated this 
difficulty. We believe that every catalog, even if it has a general alpha- 
betical arrangement, should have a full index. 
Some catalogs have two indexes, one containing tlie common, and 
the other the Iwtanical names. This is a good plan, but we should 
prefer to have one index including both, e. g., we would place xmder 
A, Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), and under S, Snapdragon (Antirrhi- 
num), under D, Dolichos (Hyacinth Bean), and under H, Hyacinth 
Bean (Dolichos). Such an index would be educative, for it is a well- 
known fact that we memdrize through association, and if the botanical 
and common names of plants appear side by side in an index, those 
who use such an index will soon learn both names through the law of 
association, without any apparent effort. 
