102 
Gardeners and Florists’ Annual for 
at post-offices, singly or in quantities, at a small advance on the postage 
rate. Stamps cut from stamped envelopes are valueless, but post- 
masters are authorized to give good stamps for stamped envelopes or 
newspaper wrappers that may be spoiled in directing, if presented in 
u substantially whole condition. 
See that every letter or package bears the full name and post- 
office address of the writer, in order to secure the return of the letter, 
if the person to whom it is directed cannot be found. A much larger 
portion of the undelivered letters could be returned if the names and 
addresses of the senders were always fully and plainly written or 
printed inside or on the envelopes. 
Boxes to which the lids are nailed or screwed may be accepted for 
mailing at the fourth-class rates of postage, if, with reasonable effort, 
the lids can be removed for the purpose of permitting examination of 
the contents. 
Seeds and other admissible articles, which are liable from their 
form or nature to loss or damage unless specifically protected, may be 
put up in sealed envelopes of material sufficiently transparent to show 
the contents clearly without opening. 
Seeds of fruit, nursery stock, and all other plant products for 
propagation, may be mailed in accordance with the instructions of the 
Department of Agriculture as promulgated by Post-Office Department 
orders. 
Parcels containing perishable articles must be marked “perishable.” 
Articles likely to spoil within the time reasonably required for trans- 
portation and delivery must not be accepted for mailing. 
The limit of weight of parcels of fourth-class mail for delivery 
within the first and second zones is now 50 pounds, and in the third, 
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth zones 20 pounds. 
The law prescribes that a package to be admitted to" the parcel post 
shall not exceed eighty-four inches in combined length and girth. In 
measuring the length the greatest distance in a straight line between 
the two ends of the parcel shall be taken, while the girth is the actual 
measurement by a tape encircling the parcel at its thickest part. 
A parcel not more than 3 feet 6 inches in length may measure as 
much as 3 feet 6 inches in girth, or around its thickest part. A shorter 
parcel may be thicker; thus, if it measures no more than 3 feet in length 
it may measure as much as 4 feet in girth, or around jts thickest part. 
Measurements can be made by means of a seven-foot tape line. So much 
of the tape as is not used in measuring the length is the measure of the 
maximum girth permissible. 
Mailing Catalogs 
Under the new regulations catalogs weighing 8 ozs. or less are put 
through the mails at 2 ozs. for one cent, and can be mailed under the 
usual permit system. Catalogs over 8 ozs., which are books, will have to 
be zoned at pound rates. Courteous treatment is the invariable rule at 
our city post offices, and seedsmen, florists and nurserymen' should 
apply for advice without hesitation. A thorough understanding, in 
advance, of the zoning system will help out mightily in the actual work 
of classification. When catalogs are mailed under the permit system 
in identical pieces and in quantities of 300 or over, it is a good idea 
