The Mayo's Cut Plug issue is a 48-card set featuring 40 different players in black and white or sepia portrait photos.  The photos are set against stark black borders with the Mayo's Cut Plug logo and slogan in the bottom border.  The backs, also black, are blank.  Black borders and backs are extremely susceptible to chipping and damage from scrapbooks; the result is a dearth of mid and high-grade specimens.

Though the issue is typically described as being from 1895, significant evidence exists that the first run of N300 cards were produced in 1894.  This card, picturing Hall of Famer Buck Ewing in a Cleveland uniform, is part of that evidence.  Ewing spent much of the 1894 season with the Cleveland Spiders, but was released in July.  That December, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, and his N300 card was updated, with "Cleveland" erased from his jersey and replaced with "Cincinnati, and his position of "RF" replaced with "FB" (perhaps reflecting his new role as the Reds' 'field boss').  This example reflects little of the chipping typically seen with this issue, a light bit of surface soiling visible upon close examination.   The black reverse is largely clean.  An important card, from an early print run of the popular N300 Mayo's baseball set.