why the Lyondels are now selling as well as ever while 
a number of commercial strains well known and wide- 
ly purehased in former years have passed, or are 
rapidly passing out of the picture, 
I am tied down to a elimate that is very unkind 
to delphiniums. and to a soil that has everything 
except what a good soil should have. The principle 
of the survival of the fittest operates among my del- 
phiniums with ruthless efficiency. However, I do 
not wish te convey the notion that the Lyondels are 
more resistant or more lasting than other strains. 
although it does seem that survival under my econdi- 
tions is not likely without a certain amount of in- 
herent stamina. We have lone. warm summers. often 
drv in July and August; our winters are quite mer- 
eurial; the thermometer may shiver for days many 
deerees below the zero mark, and then it may climb 
dizzily to 50 or more above. This cannot be kind to 
weak constitutions. 
All my seeds, without exception, result from cross- 
pollenizing by hand. While this is a slow and tedious 
process, it msures seeds of high quality, and has 
enabled the poor to have as gorgeous delphiniums as 
the rich. Once one has tried the magie of seeds cross 
pollinated by hand, he will never again insult his 
varden by planting seedlings produced by open poll- 
mated seeds, 
Being very unorthodox in my methods, I make 
many far-fetched crosses; as a result, unexpected 
shades and shapes result from my assorted crosses, 
sometimes to the chagrin, and more often to the de- 
light of the breeder or the grower. 
Unlike most breeders. I do not hesitate to intro- 
duce ‘“‘new blood’’ into my strain. As soon as some- 
thing new, different, or of some desired quality be- 
comes available on the market, I get it, test it, seleei 
such seedlings as appeal to me, and cross them with 
some of mine, or just cross them with each other with- 
ont introducing any Lyondels into them. This goes on 
vear after year, so that my customers get, in addition 
to typieal Lyondels, other desirable strains and cont- 
hbinations of strains. This is another reason why 
so many dehehtful surprises await vou in my seeds. 
MY SEEDS AND YOU 
eer five to ten customers in everv hundred will 
have poor Juck, or no luck at all with delphinium 
seeds regardless of the source of seeds. Even those 
who have been successful for years may suddenly come 
face to face with failures. The causes of failures 
are numerous, but the least of these is the seed it- 
self. No seedsman can afford to send out non-viable 
seeds and expect to continue in business. The Lyondel 
seeds are tested for perfect germination before ship- 
ping. If you do not obtain at least one hundred seed- 
lings from each packet, then YOU have done some- 
thing wrong. But some of you will never admit this 
and will think that I put one over on you. Then all you 
have to do to end our relationship is to hint that I 
sold vou old seeds, or immature seeds; or tell me 
that your own seeds, or the seeds of some other breed- 
er came up one hundred percent while the Lyondels 
failed to form a single seedling; or ask me to be 
sure to send you the current season’s seeds; or my best 
seeds; or it is my duty to make good your losses. 
My seeds are always from the current season’s crop: 
all my seeds have just one quality and differ only 
