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IOWA SEED COMPANY, DES MOINES, IOWA. 39.
FARM SEED DEPARTMENT EXPERT PRODUCTION EXPERT SUPERVISION EXPERT SERVICE Did you ever consider that our entire force of employees work for you; that you are the ultimate paymaster. Perhaps you have never looked upon the matter in this light, but this is the view our house takes in the conduct of our business. Without your patronage our business would cease to exist, and we believe you want just what we do--the very best hired help it is possible to secure. Upon this basis we ask your consideration of our claims to your trade in seeds. We offer you trained and experienced men to handle your orders. We offer you unsurpassed accommodation for housing and caring for stock. We offer you unsurpassed facilities for transportation. We offer you the service of experts in the production and selection of seed stocks. Above all, we offer you the recommendation that comes from long years of fair dealing with the public, and the private character of nearly two hundred employees whose integrity is responsible for the high reputation enjoyed by our concern. We are ready to be judged in any way you wish to make the test. We will mail you free samples of farm seeds for inspection. We will ship you seeds subject to your approval, giving you fifteen days in which to test them; and if they are not satisfactory you may return them to us and we will return to you the money paid.
[image] SEEDS BULBS ONLY ONE QUALITY. THE BEST PLANTS TOOLS
NOTICE OUR GUARANTEE BOND--DEPOSITED FOR YOUR PROTECTION. Explained on Page One of this Book. We could not afford to spend great sums of money for equipment, pay salaries for experienced men, and guarantee to please the customer unless we were sure of our ground--unless we did furnish seeds that would stand the closest inspection and give satisfaction. We have reason to believe we do give satisfaction because our business continues to expand; our sales for the months of March and April, 1912, totaling over $227,000. This is an expression of confidence which we greatly appreciate, and which should be evidence to you that we sell good seeds, and please our friends.
[image] WAREHOUSE, 208-210-212 SOUTH EIGHTH ST., WHERE ORDERS FOR FARM SEEDS ARE FILLED.
PRICES named in this department are always subject to important market changes. All quotations are net and are not subject to any premium or discount. Clover and grass seeds are constantly varying in value, and we issue a price list daily during the busy season. Please write for quotations, sending list of requirements when in need. Orders sent us will be given benefit of lowest prices on day order is received. Will take pleasure in mailing samples and quoting inside prices at any time on large orders. SHIPPING.--In this department everything that is quoted by the packet or pound is sent by mail, postpaid; all larger quantities, unless noted, are sent by express or freight at the expense of the purchaser. Prices named include bags and delivering to depot here. ABOUT WARRANTING.--We thoroughly test all our seeds and nothing is sent out which we do not believe to be good in every respect. However, we give no warranty, express or implied, as to description, quality, productiveness, or any other matter of any seed, bulbs or plants we send out, and we will not be in any way responsible for the crop. If the purchaser does not accept the goods on these terms, they are at once to be returned, and the money paid for same will be refunded. We know of no responsible seed firm in the world which guarantees seeds any further than this. Compare with other seed catalogues and you will find we are right.
THE SINCERE EFFORTS AND SPLENDID FACILITIES OF OUR ENTIRE ESTABLISHMENT ARE AT YOUR SERVICE
OUR SHIPPING WAREHOUSE Has side-track capacity for seven cars at once, and loading stations for five wagons at the same time. It houses the most modern electric cleaning machinery with capacity for 1,000 bushels of grass seed per day. It contains a seed drier which will thoroughly cure a car load of grain each day. The superintendent of this department has been with the house more than twenty years in that position, and the business has increased ten fold in that time.
OUR EXPERIMENT GROUNDS We make provision at our Altoona Farm for planting test plots of the various grains which we offer, and also to note the comparative growth of varieties offered by others. We also test new things offered, so that we may catalogue only proven sorts and be better able to answer inquiries from customers. Our customers secure the benefits of all this painstaking care, and may be assured that the varieties of grain we offer are suited for their planting. WE THOROUGHLY CURE our grain and seed corn. We purchased and erected in our warehouse a drier, especially for the purpose of kiln drying such of our seed grains and corn as might require artificial ripening to protect the germ. It will thus be seen that we have provided every possible protection for our customers so that they may be assured of clean, pure and vital farm seeds for their planting, and on this basis we ask your trade.
[image] OUR NEW SEED GRAIN ELEVATOR AT ALTOONA
OUR NEW ELEVATOR Erected last summer at Altoona. We did not have room in the city for the immense amounts of grain necessary for our trade and we built this elevator with numerous separate bins; with storage capacity so that we might have a place to store the excess seed grain until needed for shipment, and quickly execute large orders for car lots. It is equipped with electric cleaning and grading machinery to improve the quality of the grain as it comes in from the threshers, and we can handle a car load through the elevator in less than one hour if necessary.
We Buy Under the Microscope Our grass seeds are all subjected to a strict microscopic examination and test. Many lots are rejected because they contain weed seeds or other impurities that render them unfit for our trade. We will not offer to our farmer customers any grass seeds that we would not be willing to sow on our own farms. We give expert attention to recleaning all grass seeds received, taking out all sand, dirt and trash, and the result is that the grass seeds we offer are all good as money and skill can produce.
OUR SEED CORN HOUSE At Altoona, eleven miles east of Des Moines, is, we are sure, the best arranged and most complete building in America for this purpose. The outside walls are made up almost entirely of doors which can be lifted for ventilation and are in fact kept open all the time except during very cold or stormy weather. The interior arrangements consist mainly of very narrow high cribs with ventilators running through the entire length of them and narrow passages between the cribs. There is a very extensive system of steam pipes underneath which are used as needed for drying the corn and also to keep out moisture during foggy weather and to protect it from freezing.
[image] SEED CORN HOUSE AT ALTOONA
NO CHARGE FOR BAGS. THEY ARE FURNISHED FREE WITH SEEDS AT CATALOGUE PRICES.
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40. SEED CATALOGUE AND GARDEN GUIDE.
It costs less than 45 cents an acre to use our carefully selected SEED CORN.
SEED CORN
Do you deem it wise to risk doubtful corn when GOOD SEED is so cheap?
GROWN, SELECTED, CURED, GRADED AND TESTED BY THE IOWA SEED COMPANY
Are you making money raising corn? If not, why not? If so, can't you increase your profits? These are questions that every producer of corn should ask himself. It matters not whether the corn is sold on the market or fed to live stock; it has just so much value at the shipping station and this price must be the basis from which to figure profit and loss. Any gain from feeding or from selling for seed, or at an advance over the going price must in justice be credited to some other account than the corn fields. You are not getting the most from this crop unless you harvest a hundred bushels per acre. This may seem a strong statement, but stop and think a moment. There are more than 10,000 stalks of corn on an acre of ground, planted three in a hill in the ordinary manner. If each stalk produced one good ear it would mean more than a hundred bushels per acre. If you cannot mature three stalks per hill and good ears on each stalk there is a fault either in the soil, cultivation, or seed. We cannot supply the soil or care to correct your trouble; but we can supply the seed corn that will solve this part of the problem. If you buy your seed of us you need not fear barren stalks; and if soil and care are right the ears will be ears, not nubbins. Note carefully what we say about the different varieties in our catalogue. Ask for our advice in case you are at a loss to decide what is the best sort for your location. If you state in your order the conditions of soil and climate under which you operate, we can help you select corn that will make good for you and increase your yield materially.
[image] FARMERS' RELIANCE IOWA SILVER MINE THE PROFIT IOWA GOLD MINE
HERE IS A SAMPLE OF THE SEED CORN WE GROW AND SELL An Actual Photograph--Not "Faked"--Not Even "Retouched" Taken From Four Sample Ears, Showing the Actual Type of Different Varieties Illustrated
The question of price? There is no item that the farmer uses that is quoted at such widely different values as is seed corn. Single ears of corn have been sold for a hundred dollars or more; while many farmers consider a dollar a bushel a high price. We could make seed corn for less money than we do; we might also charge a great deal more than our present prices and still be below the actual value of the corn we sell. Quality has always been the first objective in our seed corn business; next the cost of production has been watched year after year to cut down unnecessary expense and prevent waste. There is only a limited amount of a crop fit for seed. We pay a premium to our growers to secure extra care and cultivation, and we spare neither labor or money in selecting, curing, grading and testing such of the crop as is used for seed. But we have reduced all of these processes to a system, cut out all useless features, and are thus able to and do produce the highest grade pedigree seed corn at no greater price than is charged by many dealers for crib-sorted common seed corn. The seed corn we sell you must be right or you need not keep it. We give you fifteen days after you get it to test it for vitality. We give you the privilege of returning it if it is not up to our representation, and if for any reason or without reason you are not satisfied with our seed corn send it back and we will repay the money sent us. You don't have to take our word for this statement. On page one of this book you will find that we have put up a bond of $10,000 with one of the banks of our city, as a guarantee that we will do just as we agree. Now, what more can we do? We cannot guarantee a crop, that would be folly, but we let you be the judge. Thus when we ask you to accept our advice we give you every protection.
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ALFALFA MOST PRODUCTIVE HAY CROP. HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS. ENRICHES THE LAND. CAN BE GROWN ANYWHERE ASK FOR CIRCULAR GIVING FULL DIRECTIONS FOR GROWING ALFALFA AND SWEET CLOVER.
FROM PHOTOGRAPH OF PLANT GROWN AT THE IOWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE LAST SUMMER
SWEET CLOVER THE BEST CROP TO RECLAIM POOR OR WORN OUT LAND. VERY PROFITABLE IF PROPERLY GROWN.
A TREAT FOR EVERY LOVER OF SWEET CORN.
TRY THE NEW GOVERNOR GILMAN SWEET CORN EARLY EXQUISITE FLAVOR PER LARGE PKT. 15¢ 4 FOR 50¢
THOROUGHBRED MARKET GARDENER'S BEET PER PKT. 10¢ OZ. 25¢
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42. SEED CATALOGUE AND GARDEN GUIDE.
ALFALFA THE WONDERFUL CLOVER THAT IS GRADUALLY EXTENDING ITS USEFULNESS TO ALL PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES
Much is being written by agricultural writers on the advantages of Alfalfa as a profitable crop in the corn belt; in fact it is now being grown with success by progressive farmers in all parts of the country. We have prepared a circular on "How to Grow and Use Alfalfa" and will mail a copy to any of our friends who request it. There is no great difficulty in its production and we know from years of observation and experience that it will thrive on the loam soils of the middle west.
The Quality of Seed As with medium red clover, the increasing demand for Alfalfa seed has caused immense quantities of low grade seed to be offered on the market. Thousands of bushels are imported each year, much of which contains impurities and foul weed seeds in such quantity as to make it really dangerous to sow. A great deal of the American grown seed is offered just as it comes from the hullers, full of weed seeds, sand, trash and immature grains so that it will not pay to use it. The crop of Alfalfa seed this year was very good and is also of good quality so that we will have a much larger proportion of Iowa Shield grade seed to offer than is possible in a poor year; and you can start with greatly increased chances for success. Prices change and we can only offer seed at market values. Ask for samples and prices when ready to buy.
IOWA SHIELD ALFALFA SEED No seed which we handle is given closer scrutiny than Alfalfa. We buy only the best offered; using the microscope and analyzing for purity. Our Iowa Shield Brand grade is the brightest, plumpest and cleanest we can find; and even this is not good enough for Shield grade until we have recleaned it through our perfected machinery and taken out everything in the way of sand, broken grains and dirt; and when it is put in the branded bags it is fit to sow anywhere. We invite the closest inspection of our Iowa Shield Brand Alfalfa from particular farmers and we will gladly mail you a small sample on request for microscopic inspection and analysis.
IOWA STANDARD ALFALFA SEED Is a good grade of Alfalfa, fully up to the standard of the Iowa pure seed law, and is in fact fully equal to most of the Alfalfa seed offered as "choice" or "prime" by other dealers. It is really nice seed and we will mail a sample for comparison if desired.
TURKESTAN ALFALFA We import the seed of this variety, but are just as careful in our buying as we are in the purchase of American seed. There is a demand for this sort in the semi-arid regions of the west and northwest as it is said to be hardier than our native sorts. The seed which we offer will be clean, plump and vital and in purity is nearly as good as our Iowa Shield Brand. If you want a hardy Alfalfa we recommend this to you without reserve.
[images] UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Upper Picture--Iowa Shield Brand Alfalfa seed. Lower Picture--Alfalfa seed as frequently offered.
SWEET CLOVER A great demand now exists for sweet clover as the farmers of the middle west are beginning to realize its great value for pasture and hay. Many who use it claim it is superior to Alfalfa because it is so easily established, makes a wonderful crop, and enriches the soil with one season's growth. Three varieties are in common use. Melilotus Alba--The white-flowered sweet clover is the sort generally seen growing by the roadsides and is the most robust and heaviest cropper. Melilotus Officianalis (Yellow Flowered)--Is very similar to the commoner white-flowered sort, but blooms a little earlier and does not grow quite so rank and course [coarse]; and is claimed to be superior for this reason. The Annual Yellow Flowered Variety is low growing (10 to 12 inches high), very quick maturing, and will furnish pasturage six weeks from sowing. Its most profitable use is to prepare the land for summer seeding of Alfalfa. We have prepared a folder on Sweet Clover, explaining the methods of handling it, and the characteristics of the various kinds, and will gladly send you a copy on request.
Ask for our Special Clover Seed circular, Alfalfa circular and Sweet Clover circular and study the methods of using these crops to the best advantage.
Two Vegetables of Exceptional Excellence
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GOVERNOR GILMAN SWEET CORN Named for Governor Gilman of Minnesota, who produced it by crossing Golden Bantam on a larger early white variety of sweet corn of exceptional quality. The variety shows its origin in both the green and mature corn as it shows uneven dotting of white and golden grains as will be noted in our illustration of an ear in fit table condition. When cooked the variation does not show so plainly, and it presents a beautiful golden appearance on the table. It is the quality of this corn that induced us to give it a prominent place in our list. There is no corn offered, not even Golden Bantam, that is so sweet, so tender and fine flavored as the Governor Gilman. When to its quality we add good size, earliness and prolific yield we have in our opinion the best of all sweet corn, and urge our friends to plant it in full confidence that it will prove its superiority in every way. Pkt. 15c, ½ pt. 25c; qt. 75c.
THOROUGHBRED MARKET GARDENERS' BEET While this is not a novelty, or untried variety, its exceptional quality, almost perfect shape and extreme productiveness are the factors that induce us to feature it as a specialty of decided merit. The many words of praise for this beet from our thousands of customers is our best evidence that it will please everyone who grows it. The seed we offer is new crop and was grown on our farm at Altoona, which is sufficient assurance of its quality. More fully described on page 6 of this catalogue. Pkt. 10c; oz. 25c; ¼ lb. 60c; lb. $2.50.
[image] Include these two superior vegetables in your order without fail. They will delight you with unequalled quality.
ADDRESS ALL ORDERS AND CORRESPONDENCE TO IOWA SEED COMPANY, DES MOINES, IOWA.
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IOWA SEED COMPANY, DES MOINES, IOWA. 43.
[image] PROFIT CORN.
THE PROFIT CORN Our Oldest Thoroughbred Corn. More than Thirty Years of Pedigree. The Ideal Variety for a Heavy Yield. It Grows a Large Ear Well Up on a Large Stalk, and Produces an Immense Amount of Feed Per Acre.
What use do you make of your corn crop? This is the day of the specialist, and many farmers are growing corn solely as feed for live stock. Many others grow it only as a money crop, but the one who gets the most from his corn crop is he who conserves every part of the corn to the best uses. The silo is almost a necessity nowadays. The corn harvester and shredder are also used successfully by the most progressive farmers. On many farms the quantity of live stock kept is carefully figured at all times that the produce of the farm, including the corn, may be utilized without waste and with the greatest profit. These are advanced positions in the business of farming and with these conditions expanding from year to year, the corn to be produced must likewise improve in adaptability to the needs of advanced agriculture. Our Profit Corn is the variety best suited to meet the demands of the corn grower in central and southern Iowa, in Illinois, Missouri and corresponding zones. It will mature wherever Reid's Dent can be successfully grown, and will surpass that well known sort in size of ear, shelled corn to cob, and growth of stalk. What we aim to furnish in the Profit Corn, is a variety that will actually ripen; that will haul in ear or shelled to market at the top price; that will furnish the largest amount of stover for shredded fodder or silo as the feeder may require; that will furnish a soft grain readily eaten and digested by live stock; and one that will yield big crops of big corn. The Profit meets these requirements. It produces big ears on big stalks; containing a maximum amount of sugar and starch in each plant, and it will mature a big crop. The ears are so large and heavy that they weigh like lead. They contain 20 to 22 rows of very deep grains (long as Iowa Gold Mine), so you can get an idea as to the very large circumference of the ears. Length is 10 to 12 inches, so you can see that the greatest number of grains per ear will be found in the Profit Corn. It is rapidly growing in popularity and we recommend it without reserve.
BRED AND IMPROVED BY US FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS And Has Our Strongest Recommendation as a Profitable Sort
This is our oldest corn. It came to us through our Mr. Kurtzweil before he joined the firm, when he was growing seeds for the company under private contract. He insisted that this corn was so much better than the ordinary corn as then planted that we ought to offer it for sale. Inspection proved him to be correct and the corn was catalogued, but with indifferent success, as nobody seemed to want to buy seed corn. When Mr. Kurtzweil joined the company as a partner in 1888 he brought this corn with him and has kept it in the family ever since. It is still grown under his personal supervision, and he watches very closely the individual ears that are selected for stock seed each year. It originated from a carefully prepared cross of two well known sorts and when first introduced contained many grains showing a light cap, thus giving it a rather mixed appearance. This still exists but in a very small degree, as from the steady and careful handling this feature has been gradually eliminated until at present it is but little noticeable and hardly appears at all in the shelled corn. It is really one of our handsomest corns when shelled, and like Iowa Gold Mine sells readily on sight. We will be glad to mail you a sample if you want to see it. The improvement in appearance has not been made at the expense of any valuable qualities. The purpose of the originator was to fix a type of field corn for profit, superior to any in cultivation, and profit in corn growing, as we understand it, means the largest crop of shelled corn (not cobs), maturing in a reasonably short time, and of the best quality. Ears of large size, grain is very deep, cob small for size of ear and dries out rapidly, thus making it a sure cropper. Corn is solid on the cob, the kernels appearing driven in, and it shells out immensely. This variety does not mature so quickly as either Gold Mine or Silver Mine, requiring 110 days, and we do not recommend it for planting in the extreme northern districts of Iowa, if a crop of grain only is desired, or if the corn is to be sold in the ear, but we think it is the best corn for silage in the northern districts, as it will mature sufficiently for that purpose. It will do well in the two central and southern districts for all purposes, and we believe it will produce more bushels of shelled corn than any variety with which we are acquainted.
The Profit is the Kind for Profit For all farmers, no matter whether it is for feeding or for market. It will not disappoint the grower who gives it good soil and care. PRICES: Pkt. 5c, lb. 25c, 3 lbs. 60c, 7 lbs. (will plant one acre $1.00, by mail or express prepaid. By frt. or express, not prepaid, pk. 90c, bu. $3.00, 2 bu. or more at $2.85 per bu., 10 bu. for $26.00.
JUST A FEW OF THE REPORTS ABOUT PROFIT A prominent Polk County (Iowa) farmer says: "Profit corn has outyielded every other variety on my place. Ears are large, extremely solid, and grain is deep. It shells out more than other sorts." A customer in Sullivan County, Mo., writes: "Your Profit corn was very satisfactory this year, although I planted it quite late in the season." A neighbor to the west of us, living in Guthrie County, Iowa, says of the Profit Corn: "I like it and shall plant entirely of it next season. It is solid and heavy and feels profitable while you are husking it. Matured better than any other corn there being less loose or chaffy ears than usual with other varieties this season. From over in Illinois comes the following report: "The Profit Corn I received from you last spring has the right name. It is the best corn for stock. It grows large and is solid and also contains a greater proportion of fat than any corn in our country." Still further east, over in Ohio, we have a customer who writes us: "I was much pleased with your Profit Corn this season, as it gave an exceedingly large yield." Across the Missouri river in Nebraska the Profit has made friends. One of our customers reports: "You Profit corn proved a great drouth resister. Every stalk had a good ear while other varieties of corn yielded but very little. If I had planted my fifty acres with Profit, even at your high price as I thought for seed, I would be many dollars ahead on my crop."
ONE-HALF PECK OF ANY VARIETY OF CORN PREPAID TO YOUR ADDRESS FOR $1.00.