






















E. J. STEELE 
have been sent before. 


<1942> 
OTEELE’S PANSY GARDENS 
PORTLAND, OREGON, U. S. A. 

HOWDY FOLKS: 
For the first time since 1917 we are facing 
a serious situation as a result of partial crop 
Pati Ge: 
Heavy rains came late in August when the 
plants carried their heaviest crop of seed. Our 
staff kept on the job as long as possible but 
much of the seed was lost in the heavy down- 
pour. The rains continued into the middle of 
September without any let-up after which our 
good friends the bumble bees retired perma- 
nently from the fields, and with them any 
chances for more pollenization. 
It was our earnest desire to “get by” with- 
out raising prices on our Mastodon pansy seed 
though costs of labor and materials have 
shown a heavy increase. The unfavorable 
weather conditions of this past fall have made 
it impossible for us to continue business at the 
regular schedule of prices and meet our obli- 
gations as we have always done before. 
We therefore send you at this time our new price list and give you our assurance that we 
have done everything possible to cut costs to the bone excepting where it might affect the 
quality of our seed. In keeping with National Defense we are using left-over catalogs as 
far as possible and ask that our customers receive them as replacing any price list which may 
We also request that all of our good customers order the minimum of seed needed and 
exercise the greatest care in germinating seed so that none may be wasted. As an extra pre- 
caution dust your seed before sowing with disinfectant such as Semesan or copper oxide to 
guard against loss by damping off. In our plantings we get a better stand from seed which 
has been treated before sowing. Be sure that your seed bed is perfectly flat and smooth so 
that all seed rests at the same level after seed is covered. Keep bed damp but not wet and 
control watering so that beds will go into night time barely moist. 
All seed that we send you is of highest possible quality and if you fail in germinating the 
resulting loss will be a real disaster. We must all work together to conserve pansy seed so 
that as many as possible may have their required stock of Mastodon pansies which this year 
will again be bigger and better than ever before. 
Help us to carry on so that we may continue to produce larger blooms with super stems 
and substance in an ever expanding kaleidoscope of color never before seen in pansies. 
