i hae 3 TMMMMIINIAIINNI a THS stat tol) Seed Industry of The Slhcemeett cs ee Pies 5. Jewell, a ro 1901 en ee Se en “AM IMATION a hoe 3 1293 00695 4139 de le PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. DATE DUE DATEDUE DATE DUE ah? fan 0 5 1995 JUL a f 1996 ae | | | — | MSU Js An Affirmative Actior/E qual Opportunity Institution cAcirc\datedue.pm3-p. 1 FTUBSIS. The Seed Intustry ef the United States. -by- Don Bi Jewell, Class ‘02. Tei n l (f} oe 1,fe- The Seed Industry of the United States. -0-0-_ Hist Ory e The United States is recognized the world over for the size and variety ef its industries, and among these indus- tries the one connected with the seed business both in size and importance ranks not far from the tep. The industry dates bask te the first settlement of the country and its histery constitutes one of the most interesting chapters in the annals ef American Horticulture. Prem the small be- ginning of the Colonial period, the business has se grown that teday its wilue is measured by the tens of millions and is still rapidly pregressing. At first a few. seeds shared a carner of the ced fish bez or a shelf with cloth and books; now it has come to claim for itself immense ware heuses and business establishments whose interests extend to every part of the glebe. The trade has grown with the growth of the country ad its leaders have influenced popue lar taste for good vegeéables and fine flewers, which only their own enterprise can suffice to met, When our forefathers landed en the rugged sheres of Mass- achusetts they brought with them the seeds of plants they had 100242 i cultivated in their English and Dutch homes, their first care being to obtain those seeds which were absolutely necessary; as corn and barley. The fruits were considered of secondary impertance. Agricultural seeds formed an article of comerce as early as 1747, the seed most extensively imported being clover. The first record of seeds offered for sale was in 1763 when Nathaniel Bird, a dook dealer in Newport, Rhode Island, advertised gurden seeds just arrived from London. Prom this time on certain gardcners in Cemecticut began raising seeds of the commoner vegetables. The prices asked were very high. Peas and beans cost thirty shillings per quart. Cabbage forty shillings per ounce. Cawliflewer siz peunds per ounce. In New York City garden seeds were advere tized as early as 1776 but Boston being the comercial center ef that time, was the chief city fer their sale. In the Besta Gasette of 1767, six out of twenty-six advertisers were dealers in seeds and in 1768 Wm. Davidson offered fifty- six warieties of garden seeds for sale. The Revolutionary Var gave the industry a set back, and during that time, the few seeds offered for sale were import- ed from Holland er taken from prise ships. The trade mde @ slight improvement after the war but seon proved unprofit- able and after a time advertisements disappeared. altogether until about 1781 when seeds were again imported from Holland. ® ~- “ 4 ‘ - * ‘ » 1 o ® . . ot ~ 4h ~ ’ ’ o s ‘ . . ‘ : ° , tad ¢ ‘ o . oe 4 . . a -- - . : 5 4 wo, . a \ ‘ . ’ “4 ~ - ’ - e . \ 1 ° ' wi » ‘ = ° x ' . \ . “ , « 3 , . -~ | -* . e ® . . . 1 d e . . . 4 . soe : we e * . ~ 4 e _ : : >. . ‘ ’ bewe a . . . ‘ e, ‘ » ‘ ° . a However, the business did not pregress to any great extent during the remainder of the eighteenth century. The small demand being supplied by David Landreth who established a regular seed growing business in connection with his nursery farm at Philadelphia in 1784. Most of his seeds were importe ed and the American gardens had yet to learn that seeds could be grewn here as well as in England. At the opening of the present century the business again revived and from that time until the present has steadily increased. During the first twenty-five years of this centue ry, seed stores were opened in all the large cities, and besides, many seeds were sold by reguiar peddlers. While most ef the trade between 1820 and 1660 was lecal, er wholesale te country dealers, a change took place with the advent of the lecomotive. This net only opened wa vast and flourish- ing country, but made it possible te send seed catalegues and de a large mil order business. The trade changed greatly. The barrel ef peas has grewn te hundreds of sacks and the few thousand packets te millions. The large, modern seed stores are models ef convenience and system. In post of them fanning mills of the Moniter and Clipper type are constantly employed in cleaning and grading seed, everything being arranged so that erders may be filled accurately and quickly. Thirty years ago 4 4.. a hundred letters a day was considered a large business; today seme houses receive over six thousand a day during the busy season. At first a narrew strip along the Atiantice coast was devoted te the industry, now seeds are grown in every state in the Union. At present comparatively few seeds are importe ed. The United States raises all its bean, cabbage, lettuce, celery, snion, pepper, melon, squash and corn. Those importe- ed being mostly wrieties of egg plant, Kale and sugar beet. Fifty years ago there were few seedsmen who understood varie- ties. Teday the seedsmen are variety experts and note with accuracy small differences which would entirely escape the eriinary observer. fhe above has @ealt with the industry in general but its history would hardly be complete without a word regarding the seed farms. 8o far as reported there were but twe seed farms in this country previous to 1800. Of course there was land devoted te growing seeds but seeds were grown in connect- fon with somthing else. These two seed farms mentioned, grew seeds exclusively. One was established at Philadelphia in 1764 and the other at Enfield, New Hampshire in 1796.