This card, of cuttings, has two links to composting - the first is that your successful cuttings will be grown on in little pots, and then into the garden, with the assistance of fresh soil and compost - the second is that the leaves and small twigs form one of the two basic layers that make up good compost, namely the "dry" layer. This is formed of anything which crunches or feels solid to the touch. However you must remember that the pieces that go in the compost box are going to rot down, and the smaller they are the better, and the faster, that this will be accomplished.
Now this set is not the familiar one that was issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills within the British Isles, but I bet it fooled you at first glance. Nor is it one of their export issues.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists this set as :
GARDENING HINTS. Sm. 68 x 36. Nd. (50). Serial 3932. See W/227. Ref. USA/C.15
If we look at W/227, which comes from the Wills Reference Book, there are more details about the cards themselves. That reads :
227. 50. GARDENING HINTS. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in grey with descriptive text. Two grades of board (a) thin, (b) thick. Home issue [March] 1923. Similar series issued by Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada.
The other code given in the original World Tobacco Issues Index links to Jefferson Burdick`s American Card Catalog. That entry is small, and reads :
C.15 Gardening Hints. (50). Br.
We encountered "Br." elsewhere this week, and to save you looking it means a set which was also issued in Britain, but in a slightly different form by another maker.
Mr. Burdick did not value these cards very highly, only at .05 cents a card. However, reading his description, two things stand out to be missing. The first is those two grades of board that are quoted in the Wills reference book - that makes me wonder whether the Canadian version had two thicknesses, or not? Does anyone know? The second, even more curious, is lack of a serial number which is quoted in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, but not by Mr. Burdick.