PARK AND CEMETERY 
233 
Nursery Catalogues. 
It is well for buyers of nursery stock that most 
nurserymen who issue catalogues send out stock 
which is better than the catalogue, while a good 
'Catalogue is sure indication of good stock. 
There can be but one object in a catalogue, to 
•advertise. To do this, nurserymen seem to have one 
of two ideas in mind ; one to so praise a plant that 
a desire may be created for it, the other to state 
•exactly the character of the plant so that the buyer 
can see what it is like, and how it fills a place which 
no other plant can fill. The first way appeals to the 
ignorant buyer, the second to the thoughtful. iMosc 
catalogues are a combination of the two ideas. 
A little practice in the study of catalogues soon 
reveals their strong points and their weaknesses. 
A quotation describing a shrub is taken at random 
from the catalogue of a firm who have a national 
reputation for the excellence of their stock : “Flow- 
ers creamy-white in large bunches, very fragrant ; 
foliage large : distinct and curious in the halnt of 
growth.” Who can guess what plant is descril^ed 
or its practical value? The first clause is the onlv 
one which tells anything. Another, “A rare native 
tree, with numerous slender branches, which spread 
out horizontally, and thick rough bark. Leaves 
about the size and- form of those of an apple, but 
more pointed, and a bright shining green.” Little 
is told here. \ ery much better is the following, 
“A slender green-branched shrub, 5 to 6 feet high 
with globular yellow flowers from July to October.” 
That tells something. 
We shall leave the buyer who buys only with en- 
thusiasm to the tender mercies of the nurserymen. 
For the practical man, a useful working catalogue 
is desired. While a catalogue is primarily to at- 
tract attention and to induce people to buy, this is 
best accomplished by conveying to the buyer’s mind 
the clearest representation of the plant and its fit- 
ness for his particular situation. He wants the de- 
sription concise and pointed. He wants to know 
how high a plant will grow, in terms definite enough 
to distinguish one plant from another. He wants 
to know how high the plants are which are for sale. 
He would like information also in general terms 
as to the habit of the plant and the coarseness or 
"fineness of its leaves. Its permanent effect thus dis- 
posed of, its actual time of bloom, the color of its 
flowers, and the largeness or smallness of its color 
effect are interesting to him. The same is true of 
the fruit. It is understood that the usual classifi- 
cation unto trees, shrubs, deciduous, evergreen, etc., 
has been adhered to. Knowledge about peculiari- 
ties of culture is desired, whether shade enduring qr 
not,tenderness and preference for moist or dry, rich, 
sandy or clayey soils. He can often understand a 
-plant better if he knows its habitat. Altogether 
he wants to be able to see in mind the general ef- 
fect of the plant and to know where it will grow 
Beyond that for practical purposes he does not care 
and the less trouble he has in getting the informa- 
tion the better pleased he is. 
It is a favorable indication of the increasing 
thoughtfulness of buyers and of the resulting in- 
crease of good effects in planting, that catalogues 
are continually improving in this appeal to the 
thoughtful mind. A western firm has gone to the 
extreme of pointedness and conciseness by using 
the fewest and most descriptive words possible. 
For example, “Symplocos crataegoides, 8 ft. June. 
Japanese shrub, white flowers, showy fruit, 2 to 3 
ft.” This information is arranged in a systematic 
and attractive way so that while the important facts 
are grasped with ease, the sensibilities are appealed 
to. Accompanying the descriptions are good photo- 
graphs, which attempt to convey important fea- 
tures which words cannot express and to increase 
the artistic value of the catalogue itself. An east- 
ern firm while still holding to the old wordy descrio- 
tions still throws in enough parenthetical and other 
information to give a valuable catalogue. It also 
has adopted in both retail and wholesale catalogues, 
the practice of throwing in occasional brief and pithv 
remarks after a description which tell much and 
increase the interest of the catalogue. 
Another favorable indication of increasing care 
is the uniform use in both retail and wholesale cata- 
logues of the botanical name of the genus and 
species rather than the common names or a mix- 
ture of l)oth common and botanical names, and that 
the one in common usage by botanists. The botan- 
ical name is the onlv uniform name that can be 
adopted throughout the country, so that one can 
know exactly what plant he is buying. Now that 
we have a standard cyclopedia of horticulture in 
that of Professor Bailey the nomeclature of that 
work can be adopted. 
Too much stress cannot be laid upon the ease 
in getting information. Time is money and a buyer 
appreciates easy ways of cutting across corners. 
A firm in the middle states publishes a trade list, 
which seems almost ideal in this respect. By varia- 
tions in the size of type, the heaviness of the type 
diminishing as the expressions become more de- 
tailed and by the orderly arrangement of genera 
and spaces, the eye readily passes from genus to 
genus, yet it can see the whole of any genus dis- 
tinct from any other. Were a catalogue published 
with the conciseness and taste of the western cata- 
logue united with the orderliness of the one last 
mentioned one well-nigh perfect would seem to 
have been evolved. . t, .,xr 
A. Phelps Wyman 
