Dear Reader: 
This folder brings you a 
New Tulip and Daffodil Se- 
lection Service based on a 
Personality Chart. Please read 
my letter of explanation. 

It is not generally known, but a great change has come over 
Tulips and Daffodils, especially the latter. Iwo things happened 
during the war which at one and the same time both deteriorated the 
bulb picture, and tremendously improved it. 
On the one hand, commercial bulb growers had no alternative 
during the war years except to let the old pre-war Tulip and Daff- 
odil stock run its course and wear itself out. The cheap bargain 
offers which feature a lot of bulbs for a little price are largely 
the remnants of this played-out, uninteresting and, in our opinion, 
worthless stock. 
Now on the other hand, the Netherlands hybridizers were doing 
their greatest work during the war years, developing new strains and 
varieties of Tulips and Daffodils in great profusion. Naturally, 
many of these new hybrids were merely signposts leading the way to 
further refinements, - experiments that served their purpose in 
ultimately producing the most gloriously outstanding Tulips and 
Daffodils ever to walk upon the stage. These, of course, are all 
post-war fresh stock of wonderful new vitality. 
This is a most refreshing situation, - and we have made the 
most of it by filling the 1949-50 Nelis Catalog with truly except-— 
ional Tulips and Daffodils - definitely the pace-setters which put 
an altogether new zest into the planting of these bulbs. In fact, 
so many of these wonderful presentations have such dominant charac- 
teristics that it is hard to know where to draw the line. 
If you were to study these highly cultured specimens as we have 
done, you would be impressed by their pronounced personalities. You 
would start to pick and choose according to how these personalities 
appealed to you. So what better service could we be to you than to 
classify these Tulips and Daffodils by their personalities? This 
we have done — and now you can enjoy the fascinating pleasure of 
letting the Nelis Personality Chart lead you directly to the Tulips 
and Daffodils that were created "just for you." 
Many of these Tulips and Daffs with dominant characteristics 
are exclusive Nelis introductions, and while we might single them 
out for dramatic promotion as exceptional specimens, that would be 
unfair to the many other fine Tulips and Daffodils presented by 
the 1949-50 Nelis Catalog - copy of which you should have. It is 
a Nelis rule to list only the varieties that are definitely super- 
ior, that being the standard expected of us by Nelis customers. 
And speaking of Nelis customers — others are welcome to have 
their horde of gullible buyers who rise to the bait of waste bulbs 
at a cheap price — but we'll stick to the quality trade. There's 
infinitely more satisfaction in planting a single Nelis bulb and 
have it produce a masterpiece of perfection than to sow a hundred 
cast-offs and get only a puny showing, if any at all. We count our 
customers’ gratification as far too precious to allow us to deal in 
anything but excellent stock. 
Your order will be much appreciated — and may we suggest that 
now is the nicest time to send it in — now when full selections are 
still available. 
Sincerely, 
Wiis 
NELIS NURSERIES, INCORPORATED 
HOLLAND, MICHIGAN 
