both using seeds that came from the same container, the obvious thing is that 
the second person was at fault. But try to convince him! 
I have said in the past and I am saying now that I make no guarantee 
whatever about my seeds. I am under no obligation whatever to replace seeds or 
to refund money should you fail to obtain any germination with my seeds 
or satisfaction with my seedlings. However I am not as hard boiled as I sound. 
Only rarely have I refused to make replacements and that because I did not 
like the tone of the person’s letter demanding a replacement. In the following 
paragraph I am giving you detailed directions for seed sowing. After you have 
followed them faithfully and have failed to obtain germination, and if you 
bring the matter to me in a calm, friendly manner, I will be happy to make 
replacements and stay with you until success has crowned your efforts. But if 
you bluster, become sarcastic, affect superior airs, become indignant, or assume 
an injured air, then your letter and your name and address will go into the 
waste basket. Failure with seeds is not a reflection upon your gardening skill; 
even experts have such failures. Nor is it a reflection upon the viability of 
the seeds.. If you are the type of person who after several years’ success meets 
with a sudden failure and immediately goes back on the seedsman, you are not 
the type of customer for me any way, and I will say good riddance. But if 
you are a person who believes that the money paid for high quality seeds is only 
a small fraction of the value of such seeds, and that you are getting something 
of the breeder’s personality, ambition, dreams, and friendship with the seeds, 
and if you reciprocate with your good will and friendship, the breeder will 
make replacements for you until you are satisfied. I did not begin to breed 
delphiniums as a means of making money; I don’t now. The contacts I have 
made are infinitely more valuable than money. Money is soon gone but kind 
memories linger! 
SEED SOWING 
Two parts of rich garden soil, one part of sand and one part of peat moss 
mixed thoroughly and sifted into flats or cold frames will give you a good 
medium for the seeds. If you don’t have peat moss, leave it out; its chief 
function is to absorb and retain moisture. If your soil comes from a place 
in the garden where other crops thrived, it needs no lime or fertilizer. You 
should not use fertilizer in the seedbed any way. 
The chief cause of seed failure is the damping-off disease. Many seedlings 
are destroyed before they come up, many others after they break the surface. 
In order to prevent this you must sterilize the soil. Soak the soil mixture with 
a 5 per cent solution of formalin (5 parts of formalin in 95 parts of water), 
Formalin comes in liquid form and may be purchased from any drug store. 
Cover the treated soil with burlap and leave for 24 hours. Then remove the 
burlap and let the flat alone for a few days until the soil is dry enough to be 
worked. Go over the soil every day, stir it, and allow it to run through your 
fingers. When all odor of formalin is gone, the soil is ready for the seeds. 
Remove a double handful of the soil and set it aside, then level the soil in the 
flat. Place a small pinch of Semesan in the seed packet and shake. Use 
enough Semesan to dust every seed without leaving very much behind. Sow 
in rows right on the surface of the soil, then by means of a flat object, such as 
a piece of 2 x 4, firmly press the seeds dowm in the soil. Cover the seeds 
using the soil set aside for this purpose. Just dust the soil on the seeds 
which should not be covered more than one eighth of an inch deep. Spread 
a double thickness of cheesecloth which has been previously washed in boiling 
water, on the surface of the soil and by means of a sprinkler water the flat 
gently but thoroughly with water that has been boiled and cooled. Invert an 
empty flat on the seed flat and keep in a cool place. Seedlings should be up 
in ten to fifteen days. Care should be taken to keep the surface of the soil 
moist. You may or may not have to water the flat once more before the seed¬ 
lings are up. The cheesecloth should then be lifted from the surface of the 
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