DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 
3 
with half the crop on the vines. It takes but a few such lessons to teach the wide awake gardener 
to look eagerly for the annual descriptions of the stocks offered for sale, that he may select the 
sorts best suited to his wants. 
Still a third reason for a fresh and inviting annual catalogue grows out of the desire of the 
seedsman to avoid most unjust and unreasonable complaints that are frequently made against him. 
We have said that the character of the product is to a great extent determined by the seed used. 
This is true, and we have no desire to escape the responsibility which this places upon the seeds¬ 
man, but it is also true that under unfavorable conditions the best of seed may fail to grow, or 
give comparatively poor results, and that a large proportion of the purchasers of gaiden seeds are 
ignorant of what constitutes suitable soil for, how, and when to plant, and what kind of culture the 
different sorts require. It could not be otherwise than that frequent failures should result from 
this cause ; failures for which the seedsman is in no wise responsible, but which are too frequently 
laid at his door ; and we aim to give in the following pages such clear and easily understood direc¬ 
tions for culture that such failures need not occur. We send you this catalogue then not as an 
advertisement simply, but with the honest purpose : 
First — Of calling your attention to our earnest desire and endeavor to secure the best seeds; 
our facilities for doing this' surely and economically, and consequent ability to offer you the choic¬ 
est seeds at the lowest prices. 
Second. — To give accurate and truthful descriptions of the varieties and stocks we have to 
offer, to aid you in selecting those best suited to your wants ; and lastly to give such directions 
for the culture of each sort, that any one following them may be reasonably sure of success. 
JIOW OUR 8EEDS A HE GROWN. 
There are certain seeds which lose their vitality after being kept but a short time, and others 
which do not produce seed until the second season, and in which the character of the first sum¬ 
mer’s growth has a marked influence upon the value of the product. Such seeds we aim to pro¬ 
duce upon 
OlII GREENFIELD SEED FARMS. 
These are located near Detroit, and extend one and a quarter miles on Grand River Avenue 
in one direction and one mile on the Joy Road in another, the entire area of which has been thor¬ 
oughly underdrained, and is annually enriched, not only with stable manure from the city, but with 
large quantities of composted blood, meat and bone from the packing houses. These farms have 
been pronounced by competent observers to be among the best cultivated fields in America ; how¬ 
ever this may be, we are certain that from them we get large crops of the finest quality, and that 
seemingly independent of the season. We have never failed of a fair crop, even in those years 
when failure was almost universal, and we are unable to buy seed at all equal to that we grow 
upon these farms. This result we attribute to thorough drainage, liberal and judicious manuring, 
careful and frequent cultivation, and general good management rather than to particularly favora¬ 
ble soil or climate. There are other sorts of seeds which not only cannot be grown profitably in 
this section, but are of much better quality when grown in more congenial soil and climate. Such 
seeds are grown for us under 
CONTRACTS WITH EXPERIENCED GROWERS. 
There is no subject connected with agriculture upon which the public are more ignorant than 
that of seed growing. Many farmers who are successful with the common field crops think they 
could make a fortune in growing garden seeds if they only had the opportunity. Among the 
many who annually apply to us for contracts, we occasionally find a man whose soil and climate 
is well adapted to a certain crop, and whose unusual success in farming warrants us in believing he 
would succeed in seed growing. We furnish him with stock, and in frequent visits and by cor¬ 
respondence, endeavor to give him all the aid in our power, but it is rarely the case that he returns 
us a first-class article or cultivates the crop to a profit, until he has had several years t perience. 
We do not hesitate to say that there is no department-of agriculture which demands mor. general 
and especial skill, and where experience is more essential to success than in seed growing. Most 
of our seeds are grown for us by men who have devoted the greater part of their lives to some 
especial crop like Sweet Corn, Peas or Melons, for which their soil and climate is well suited. To 
such men we furnish the finest procurable stock s^eed, and by frequent visits and careful inspec ion 
of the growing crop and their methods of handling them, we endeavor to maintain in such seeds 
the same high degree of excellence we secure on our own farms. In this work we derive material 
aid from • 
