HOME. A PERSONAL LETTER, — TO YOU. 
Dear Floral Friends, 
We are never able to answer all the friendly letters we receive. Therefore we include 
a letter to you as the introduction of each catalog. Please do not forget that this is a 
personal letter,—to you. 
We received a Christmas card this year from a friend whom I have known since my 
early college days, Dr. Joseph Cook Shaw of Topeka, Kansas, sometimes known as the 
Kansas Troubadour. 
In this card he typed his most famous poem and the one I like the best. 
Home is where the heart is, 
Where life flows along like a stream; 
Where love and hope and faith and friends 
Are everything they seem. 
Life is not in heart beats, 
Nor in wealth or gold untold. 
But in loving thoughts and kindly deeds 
Our hearts and lives unfold. 
This poetical view of the ideal home is well worth our consideration. Too often we 
do not achieve this ideal in full, but I believe and hope that many do. 
American home life is of primary importance. School and church are almost equally 
important in the development of the social fabric that helps make America great. 
The great nations of history have been composed of citizens who loved their homes. 
England and Germany are examples. When home ties weaken, the nation weakens, and 
at last fades out. We name few names but we wonder if present nations, where the state 
is stronger in influence than home, church and school, can survive a thousand years or 
longer as Britain and Germany have and as America doubtless shall. Said Jane Addams, 
“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school.” From Mrs. Sigourney, 
“The strength of a nation, especially a republican nation, is in the intelligent and well 
ordered homes of the people.” Joseph Cook, “Only the home can found a state.” 
The first family home was in a garden. That is still the best place and if one cannot 
have a home in a garden one can have a garden in the home. The best of all is when 
we can have both house plants and an outside garden. 
Every successful merchant feels that he is performing a public service. That is the 
way we feel about our business. We know you need flowers and it makes us happy to 
supply them. We want you to note our listings. Flowers help to make a home. 
Our largest selling item at present is African Violets. We believe we have the finest 
collection on the West Coast, in two air conditioned greenhouses. On catalog pages 24 
to 26, we describe their culture and following that we list 75 var. of plants and 163 
varieties of leaf cuttings. We have probably 200 or 300 other sorts in numbers too small 
to list. Don’t overlook their relatives, in the family Gesneriaceae. Episcias, Smithianthas, 
Achimenes, Gloxinias, etc., are most satisfactory house plants. 
Our next best selling item is Amaryllis. On p. 9 we tell you how we grow them, 
outside or in pots as house plants. We list the best American strain and 14 of the 
Warmenhoven (Royal Dutch) and Ludwig strains. Every one will give you the greatest 
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