OW TO ENJOY 
THE BENEFITS AND DELIGHTS OF 
A EULE CATALOG 
O NE of these days a wit versed in such affairs 
or a learned professor will write a definitive 
opus on flower catalogs, tell us just what pecu¬ 
liar quality is in them or in us which makes them 
perennially fascinating. For the man or woman 
who can resist their allure is past redemption. 
Those who find delight in them have also found 
the secret of perpetual youth. A flower catalog 
is a collection of magnificent dreams that can 
be made to come true with very little effort. One 
may have its delight and benefits for the asking. 
Because of their dream-evoking quality we 
prefer to read flower catalogs in bed. We have 
tried them in other places—on subways, on 
trains, on steamships, in the office, but invari¬ 
ably we have returned to nightfall, when the 
house quiets down, to reap their full delight. 
Especially is this true of bulb catalogs. 
The bulb catalog usually arrives in late 
spring, that ideal season for bed-reading, be¬ 
fore the tiny winged torments of summer nights 
arrive. They are taken up to the bedside table 
just as the postman brings them—unopened. 
Then, season after season we read them in this 
wise—first the practical suggestions (most of 
which by this time we know by heart); then 
the color description which cover the sleepy 
mind with the rainbow haze; and eventually 
we arrive at making mental selections. We mark 
this variety and that, from the May-flowering 
tulips, generally found in the front of the cata¬ 
log, to the little fellows for odd corners of the 
garden which find their place in the last pages. 
This process consumes several evenings in 
bed. What time the light goes out is no one's 
affair. We fall to sleep with the luxury of a 
Midas, for we have spent imaginary thousands. 
There comes a peace that is past understanding. 
This is the first reading of the bulb catalog. 
The second reading is later. Meantime, many 
things have been happening. Through May and 
June we visited many gardens and many gar¬ 
den shows. Our note book is filled with the 
names of varieties we want and companion 
flowers to grow with them. We wander through 
our own garden while the tulips are in bloom, 
noting mistakes we have made in color arrange¬ 
ment or the combinations that gave us such 
delight, that we surely must repeat them another 
year. With this information in hand we take up 
the catalog for its second reading. 
A balmy day in June is our favorite time. We 
drag a big, easy chair into the garden, sit among 
the flower beds with our notes scattered on the 
grass, and visualize the planting that will go in 
the autumn. Then, having made up our minds 
what we can not afford to do without, we write 
out the order and, before the imp of economy 
starts snapping at our conscience, we mail it. 
After that the reading of the catalog becomes 
occasional. We dip into it now and again, just 
as we dip into a book of poetry to refresh our 
minds on a favorite verse. 
In autumn, when the bulbs arrive, the catalog 
is used once more to remind ourselves of the 
proper planting ways. In fact, that catalog keeps 
working for us many months. It has a long life— 
if it is a good catalog. 
Yet even the most beautiful catalog is a hol¬ 
low pretense unless there stands behind it the 
dependability of the bulbs it advertises. 
There are many grades of bulbs. The fastidi¬ 
ous gardener will want only the best. To buy the 
best is the mark of aristocracy in gardening, just 
as it is the mark of taste in other affairs of life. 
Both, those who have gardens worthy of pride, 
and those who are just beginning to make a 
garden, realize that only the best bulbs are a 
paying investment. 
Moreover, once we become accustomed to 
the ways of the bulb world, we learn that early 
ordering assures prompt and complete delivery. 
Those who order early—by July 15th—need not 
experience the disappointment of receiving the 
dealer's regrets—"This variety all sold." 
Our Holland growers have frequently assured 
us that less than 5 % of the entire Holland bulb 
crop consists of that extra high quality which 
we demand from them. This is the grade listed 
in these pages. We pay the growers well for 
giving us this selected stock. Our prices in these 
lists are based upon the delivery of such 
supreme quality alone. 
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