R. H. S HUMWAY 
Dear Customers and Friends: 
A long, long time ago before the inven¬ 
tions of the Rubber Tire Buggy—^The Bicycle 
—The Automobile—^The Radio—and the 
Airplane—my annual catalog was the Gar¬ 
den Guide that your Mother and Father 
looked anxiously forward to receiving an¬ 
nually. It was then, as it has always been 
down through the century, the leading Ameri¬ 
can Seed Catalog. 
Many who receive this, my 64th Annual 
Catalog, have been customers here for more 
than half a century. 
You younger men and women will remem¬ 
ber the joy and satisfaction your parents re¬ 
ceived in planting my Northern Grown Pedi¬ 
greed Seeds. You will recall my Motto then 
as now and always was "Good Seeds Cheap — 
None Better at Any Price." 
In keeping with the spirit of the Century 
of Progress this year at Chicago which many 
of you attended I am dedicating this, my 64th 
Annual Catalog, to the spirit of the occasion. 
When I mailed out my first seed catalog in 
1870, which by the way was the first Illus¬ 
trated Seed Catalog in America, we were just 
recovering from the effects of the Civil War 
—times were hard then as now. Some people 
in those days thought we would never recover 
and that the Nation could not endure. Well, 
you know instead of those predictions coming 
true we came out of the depression and 
hardships, and the people and the Nation 
rose to greater heights than ever dreamed of 
GreetieMs for 1934 
before. We did likewise in 1873, in 1893 
and again in 1907, and you can be assured we 
shall do so again very shortly. Right now 
while I am writing to you things are much 
improved over a year ago. Millions of men 
and women have gone back to work—prices 
are 100^ better than last year. It is my firm 
conviction before corn planting time condi¬ 
tions will be fast approaching normal. 
All during those distressing periods—1873 
—1893—1907—1933—the house of R. H. 
Shumway Seedsman has gone forward grow¬ 
ing Better Seeds and selling them for less 
money than any Mail Order Seed House in 
the world, and today in presenting you with 
this free copy of 1934 Annual Catalog I feel 
safe in saying again as I have for nearly 
three-fourths of a century, "You cannot buy 
better seeds any place on earth no matter 
what you pay.” 
Compare My Prices—1 Will Not Be Undersold 
Y first seed catalog, published in 1870, 
was a l6-page book—size 6x9, total 
edition 4,000. Today 84 pages—size 10 x 
I 3 I/ 2 —edition over a quarter of a million. 
That year Rockford had a population of 
5,000 people. Today our fair city boasts of 
90,000 inhabitants. The great Chicago fire 
did not occur until the following year—to be 
exact, October 7th, 1871. Horse and Bug¬ 
gies—Covered Wagons—Mud Roads—Log 
Cabins were the things of luxury then. Com¬ 
pare those conditions with today and surely 
you will agree with me that this has been a 
Century of Progress. ^ 
As I sit here reminiscing of the days gone 
Dy my mind prompts me to compare my first 
seed catalog with the copy I am sending you 
today. Surely everything has progressed and 
I know you will enjoy this, my 1934 Annual 
Catalog better, and find it more instructive 
and easier to order from than any catalog 
you ever received. 
May I suggest that you and your good wife 
and family look through the catalog carefully. 
—one writing on the order sheet the things 
you need—the other member of your family 
checking the items in the catalog so you will 
have a copy to check your list by when ship¬ 
ment is received. It pays to keep a copy of 
your orders, for while my force is old experi¬ 
enced help they are human and sometimes 
omit some item, and when made known I 
rectify errors promptly. 
Everybody will want a garden this year. 
No investment that you could make would 
yield returns equal to a small investment in 
good garden and flower seeds. A modest gar¬ 
den will afford you fresh vegetables all sum¬ 
mer long with sufficient quantity to can and 
store for winter consumption. Send your or¬ 
ders in early please for everything you need, 
and if there is any special information on gar¬ 
den or farming problems that come to your 
mind feel free to write me about it. 
I will include with your order a liberal as¬ 
sortment of free seeds of special merit for 
trial purposes. 
This year I wish to add some new cus¬ 
tomers from your neighborhood, so I am en¬ 
closing a postal card that I ask you to pass to 
a neighbor or friend who gardens and let 
them receive a copy of this Century of Prog¬ 
ress Catalog. 
You know when I start writing this page 
of the catalog it is hard to stop—there are so 
jftany things I desire to say to you, my old 
■-wiends. This is especially true when I re- 
\*ew before me copies of my 64 catalogs that 
really are sacred to me for they hold within 
themselves the joys and hardships of a life- 
^■ime. 
I am indeed grateful to Almighty God for 
his many blessings during all those trying 
years and likewise grateful to you my old 
friends and customers. 
It will be a pleasure to serve you again this 
year for everything you need in Seeds, Plants, 
Bulbs, Shrubs and Fruits. 
May I urge you at this period to hold fast 
to the things that are good. Have faith and 
confidence and all will yet be well. 
Yours most sincerely. 
i 
