In all ranks of life, the human heart yearns for the beautiful; 
and the beautiful things that God makes are His gifts to all alike. 
Harriet Beecher Stowe. 
WHAT’S WORTH DOING AT ALL IS WORTH DOING WELL 
If you’re worried in mind about all the evil shenanigans going on in the world, 
we hope to bring you a message of comfort and good cheer. You see, we’re old hands 
at the worrying business and we can give you some good pointers on how to worry 
efficiently. 
Time was, when the only hand-writing on the wall that bothered us Americans 
was what we spanked the children for. Lately there have been so many threatening 
portents that one just has to develop some resistance to bad news or first thing he 
knows his brow will be all furrowed up and the corners of his mouth will turn down 
till he looks as mournful as a bloodhound. 
It’s all right to worry for brief intervals about matters that you can do some- 
thing about, like deciding about that operation or about replacing that set of worn 
tires on the family bus, but worrying about something you can’t help won't do a bit 
of good and that lugubrious expression is bound to make your face hurt. Don’t do 
it! Make a firm resolve to turn your thoughts to the pleasant things of life often 
enough to get your nerves all rested and fresh. Then if you have to worry you'll 
have good equipment to worry with. 
YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF OPTIMYCIN? 
Our antidote for jittery nerves is the flower garden. There in the performance 
of simple down-to-earth tasks we find soothing relief from the cares of the day. It’s 
like magic! We sometimes wonder if there isn’t some nerve-soothing aura emanating 
from the soil and if maybe we should go barefoot to get the full benefit of it. Are 
you laughing? And isn’t it just too silly to be looking for all those ugly molds and 
giving them fancy names like penicillin, aureomycin, terramycin and such? 
Soil is wonderful stuff! From it comes the sustenance for every living thing on 
earth. We not only owe our existence to it but the time could come, if we were 
stricken with one of several maladies, that we might owe our life to it too. We enjoy 
thinking that maybe it also contains balm for the spirit. 
LIVING PICTURES BY LIVE ARTISTS 
Of course you don’t have to be downhearted to get benefit and pleasure from a 
garden. If you’re already in good spirits and merely want to learn the quickest and 
easiest way to convert your surroundings into a veritable fairyland, this little catalog 
ought to be right up your alley. 
And speaking of alleys, do you have one and is yours a pretty one? Or would 
you like to screen it from view and convert your back yard into a lovely outdoor 
living room, framed in flowering plants and shrubs? Or would you like to make your 
front yard a beauty spot, admired by every passer-by and the envy of your friends 
and neighbors.? 
If so, then it is practically a foregone conclusion that you will be needing some 
of our products, so what are we waiting for? Our little professional type catalog 
may not appear as impressive to you as some others you will receive, but nowhere 
will you obtain plants more chock full of vitality nor more apt to bloom the first 
season after planting. And after you get past the colored picture stage, you will 
likely acquire greater appreciation for our catalog too. You will learn that we do 
not play favorites, that we are ever on the alert for better varieties, that they are 
honestly described with a minimum of ballyhoo and priced to accord with the high 
quality of the plants we supply. 
BEGINNERS HAVE THE MOST FUN 
If you’re just a beginner ,you could be envied the thrills that are in store for you. 
Our more experienced customers have to pay a little more for their enjoyment, be- 
cause the newer varieties are more costly. And even if they have a garden full of iris 
and daylilies already, they know that it’s the new varieties they add each year that 
spices up their planting and keeps their gardening interest at high pitch. 
After all, we don’t wear the same clothes year after year. (Ede says “we do 
too”). At least, we don’t go to the same picture show year after year. Why then 
should we keep the same old flowers in our garden? Especially, when the newer 
ones are so much finer! 
FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT 
So the secret of greatest enjoyment from your garden is the same formula that 
produces the greatest enjoyment in other phases of your life—something new, a new 
car, new clothes, new furniture, new decorations. But of course such a formula 
