The assortment of packets in the dealer's display depends on several factors. The number of packets depends on his potential sales. A small dealer may receive 500 packets made up of 50 to 75 varieties in his initial shipment. A large dealer could receive as many as 2 thousand packets composed of 150 to 3oo different varieties.

Certain items are more popular in some areas than others. The composition of the assortment depends on geography, nationality groups, climatic conditions, and preferences in the section.

With his assortment of seed packets, the dealer receives a display rack free, with the expectation it will be used several years. The display racks have become much more than utility holders of packets. In line with modern merchandising techniques, they are frequently substantial and attractive fixtures that are a focal point for the garden supply section of the store. Banners, posters, and leaflets also are supplied free by the distributor.

Methods of selling and servicing the dealers vary with areas and the distributor. Some firms have salesmen who solicit orders before the season and deliver the rack and packets at the proper time for display. Throughout the selling season, visits are made to make sure the display rack is kept well supplied at all times. Other seedsmen use wholesalers and jobbers or arrange with rack jobbers to service the dealers and maintain adequate packets on display. Still other seedsmen send seeds and displays to the dealer by mail and service his reorders by mail.

Purchasing seeds from the mail-order catalog is a tradition with countless gardeners. The catalog arrives soon after January 1, but work on it started months before: Pictures were taken in previous summers; decisions were made as to the best varieties to be offered; copy describing each item was written.

Some catalogs are mailed regionally. Others are distributed nationally to several million persons. Since mail-order catalogs draw orders from large areas, they can offer many special seed varieties not profitably handled by the local dealer.

A catalog may list as many as 2 thousand different varieties and give the home gardener a choice of packages of different sizes.

Even seed of unusual or exotic types can be profitably listed. Demand in any one area is small, but overall sales can make it worth while for the mail-order seedsmen. In fact, several mail-order catalogs specialize in seeds of unusual plants.

WHATEVER the seedsmen's problems and considerations in preparing the catalogs, the gardener's problem if that's what it is is quite different. His is the pleasurable task of selection from the treasures offered him, the exquisite agony of deciding between Moonglow and Silver Star and between Buttersweet and Bountiful. Maybe he ends by ordering them all, but no matter the price is low; the return is high. For the gardener, few of life's joys surpass the pleasures of perusing seed catalogs the long winter evenings when spring seems far behind.

Seeds of unusual types sometimes carry a problem. If they entail unusual problems of growing, the crop may be harvested by hand from plants growing wild, although today specialists produce most of the items in small demand.

Mail orders must be filled quickly. Most of the orders are received in a period of 3 months or so. Adequate facilities and workers to handle peak-load requirements are the perennial problems of the mail-order distributor. Most firms attempt to utilize their help and facilities to a greater extent by handling commodities that are in demand in other seasons.

Seeds are distributed to home gardeners also in several other channels, such as through schools and organizations, usually in conjunction with an educational or civic program.

THE HOME GARDENER can look to many sources for help in attaining success in his garden. The Garden Seed Sales Promotion Committee of the American Seed Trade Association offers through newspapers, radio, and magazines practical articles that give latest gardening techniques and tell what is new in seeds. All America Selections test new flowers and vegetables in trial gardens throughout the United States. Those selected by a panel of experts as outstanding are awarded All America Medals.

The writings of garden editors in magazines, newspapers, and books and bulletins of the Department of Agriculture, State colleges, and county agents are good sources of information on recommended practices.

WILLIAM B. CARTER is a vice president of Corneli Seed Co., St. Louis, Mo., and is the manager of that company's garden seed department. He joined the company in 1948, following his graduation from Washington University in St. Louis. He has been a member of several committees of the American Seed Trade Association.

EDWIN P. BUGBEE, JR., is a vice president and sales manager of the W. Atlee Burpee Co. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business and Finance, University Of Pennsylvania. He has served as president of the Pennsylvania Seedsmen's Association and chairman of the Wholesale Packet Seed Division and the Asta Division of the American Seed Trade Association.