SPRING CATALOGUE OF SEEDS, BULBS AND PLANTS FOR 1899. 
49 
SPECIALTIES IZST CHOICE 
^Select •» 
The ordinary commercial grades of flower seeds, such as are usually sold, can be and are sold at a very 
low price, yet at a great profit. They are grown and harvested in large crops, much like graiu. They are pro¬ 
duce! cheaply, sold cheaply, and are, in fact, cheap in every sense of the word ; and he who sows them has no 
right to complain at their poor quality. They cannot possibly be anything else. Seed of high quality can be 
produced only by thorough, careful, painstaking and expensive methods. We dd .not offer our customers the 
ordinary commercial grades of seed. Our stocks are special strains of special varieties bred up to the highest 
mark of perfection and selected with great care, and for this reason we grow and offer but a limited number of 
varieties—only those which are of the greatest merit and sure to give satisfaction everywhere. The very best 
varieties, bred up to an unequaled mark of perfection, has made our seeds known the world over as the finest 
to be had. We sell only select stocks of special varieties. 
For the best summer display the garden is dependent upon that'class of flowers known as Annuals, which are grown 
from seed sown every spring. There are thousands of varieties of them, some good, some indifferent, but the great majority 
are poor, or in some respects unsatisfactory and not desirable for general cultivation. With a view to offering our custom¬ 
ers only the very best varieties, those which cannot fail to produce good results in every part of the country we have for 
years carefully grown, tested and selected to ascertain what sorts possessed superior merits. The list here presented is the 
result of our labors. It contains the very best of all sorts and all which are really and generally desirable. We might offer 
one hundred varieties of Asters or fifty varieties of Balsams, Phloxes, Poppies, etc., but there would be no advantage in so 
doing. On the other hand it would be a decided disadvantage for our customers might therefore fail to select the best kinds. 
CULTURE : As a rule annuals may be sown in the open ground about corn-planting time, or they may be started jn 
the house or in hot-beds earlier and transplanted to the garden when danger of frost is over. A ratherlight and moderately 
rich soil, thoroughly spaded, is most desirable. Do not grow the plants too thick. Keep the weeds down and the surface of 
the soil well stirred with a hoe or rake during the summer, especially if the weather is dry. Pretty effects are produced by 
massing different colors in Asters, Phloxes, Zinnias, Verbenas, etc., yet mixed colors are always showy and pleasing. 
New 
Each 
System 
OH SELLIETG- SEEDS. 
Variety Packed in Two Sizes, One at 5c- and One at lOc. 
(or in some cases lOc. and 20c.) per pkt. 
To meet a popular demand we offer our Choicest Flower Seeds at a uniform 
price in packets of two sizes. Of most varieties a 5 and 10 cent packet is 
offered, the 10c. packet containing three times as much seed as the 5c. size. 
Those so choice and rare that a satisfactory quantity cannot be given for 5c. are 
sold at 10c. and 20c. The quantity of seed in these packets is liberal, while 
the qua ity is the very best, and substantially the same in both sizes. If we 
happen to have a small quantity only of some extraordinary good strain, it, of 
course, goes into the 10c. or 20c. packets, but this is exceptional. Our seeds 
lead the world in high quality and now that they can be had in 5c. and 1 Oc. 
packets no one need sow poor grades. 
s&geratun*. 
One of the most useful and profuse-blooming plants 
known. Its very name, “Ageratum,” meaning ever-young, 
refers to its ever being in bloom and to the long time each 
flower remains in beauty. A single head of Ageratum will 
remain fresh and perfect for a month in the open air, and 
from six weeks to three months in the window or greenhouse 
where not exposed to storm and wind. Not even the Petunia 
will give a greater quantity of bloom or last longer in flower. 
This makes the Ageratum almost, indispensable either in the 
house or garden. The new dwarf varieties are.very bushy 
and compact in habit, and exactly suited for edging, car¬ 
pet-bedding, etc.. Give light, rich soil. No trouble what- 
to grow. Per pkt. 
e Cem-A beautiful border variety. A sheet of 
delicate blue flowers the whole season, and very com¬ 
pact in growth...6 & 10 
Little Dorrit— Much like the above, but white flowered; 
best of its color.5 & 
Lasseauxl— Compact plant with charming rose colored 
flowers. An unusual shade...5 & 10 
nary— Compact in habit, light canary yellow in color. 
A very novel shade in these flowers.5 & 10 
s&rjcliiisa G a P eT t s i s * 
A rare and little-known annual of great beauty. It is a 
life-long favorite with everyone that grows it. It grows two 
feet high, and will thrive in a shady, out-of-the-way place 
where scarcely anything else will grow. It resembles a 
large, beautiful Forget-me-not, though much finer in every 
respect, especially for bouquets and cut flowers. Color, a 
most lovely shade of deep, clear, brilliant blue, with a pure 
White center. Blooms early and continues all summer. .6 & 10 
