TO MY NEW OR PROSPECTIVE 
CUSTOMERS 
Hverm seeds are unpredictable; sometimes the 
finest parents yield mediocre specimens, and some- 
times ordinary parents give rise to breath-taking 
beauties. Therefore all those who plant such seeds 
may hope for the best, but should be prepared for 
the worst. Also, one gardener may obtain a perfect 
germination, while another may fail altogether with 
seeds coming from the same container. It is for these 
and similar reasons that I make no guarantees. While 
1 do everything in my power to endow my seeds with 
the highest quality, I cannot control all the laws of 
heredity: nor do I have influence over the gardening 
methods of my customers, or on their climatic and soil 
conditions. Therefore I must impress upon all my 
customers that they alone must take the chances, and 
that once the seeds leave my possession, my obligations 
end, 
I do not care to do business with persons who are 
likely to become sourees of annoyance to me; there- 
fore. | don’t want chronie kickers, fault finders, poor 
sports, cholerie personalities, bargain hunters, sus- 
picious, small minded persons who think all seeds- 
men are erooked: ill mannered men who assume that 
the purchase price gives them the privilege of becon:- 
ing abusive; self stvled delphinium experts who know 
all there is about this flower; inexperienced garden. 
ers who have never grown delphiniums; careless and 
sloppy gardeners; ‘‘]-never-have-luck-with-seeds’’ gar- 
deners, and the kind who do their gardening from 
the grandstand. All such persons please stay away 
from my door. 
Why Be Content With The Delphiniums of 
Yesterday? Grow Lyondels and See 
Tomorrow’s Masterpieces Today 
Most breeders cannot immediately place on the 
market the novelties that come to bloom for the first 
time; they must wait for years before they can build 
up sufficient stock to supply the trade. By the time 
they are ready to release them, their ‘‘novelties’”’ 
have whiskers. (A notable exeeption to this is the 
superb strain of Reimelt). My clientele is kept smal! 
beeause I do not have enough time to devote to 
large seale production. Since I have only a handful 
of customers, a few packets of seeds from each color 
class will supply my needs. A novelty of exceptional 
merit blooming for the first time this vear immediate- 
ly becomes seed or pollen parent so that its progen- 
ies will bloom in your garden next vear. This ap- 
plies to Connoisseurs’ Series of seeds available late 
in the season. The regular crosses, available in Au- 
vust, are, of necessity, one year behind the Connois- 
seurs’ Series. Beeause my novelties are the current 
season’s productions, I can say without exaggeration 
that in the Lyondels vou see the tomorrow today. 
Otherwise I an not a magician, nor do I have anv 
seeret formulae for breeding super delphiniums. My 
advantages over other breeders are my disadvantages 
which have been harnessed to productive work. Be- 
cause of my limited market, I can afford to seleet my 
breeding stock most rigidly. This is one of the reasons 
