Passaic City record., 1893-09-02
SELLING SEEDS.
Most Of the Seeds Sold in Amer
lea are Home Grown.
The Methods OF Cultivation, Col
lection and Sale.

OF Seeu-gfOWlug. Ior AeaI1y oH0 LUZ
dred years it has been one of the
necessary and profitable factors in the
commerce of the city, increasing year
ly in proportion to the demand for
vegetables, grasses, and-not least
flowers. From modest beginnings a
century ago, when the stock was
drawn from small garden-patches. the
amount of money invested has swelled
until now it is estimated that through
out the country not less than SO, ,00O,-
600 is represented in the business.
There were at first two firms embarked
in the enterprise, but today there are
dozens competing against each other,
all striving to excel in the production
of new and perfect seeds by the meth
ods taught in experience and expert
ment.
Two thirds of the seeds sold in
America are home grown, the rest
being almost exclusively those OF
flowers, which are imported. But
probably California will develop into
formidable rival within the next five
years, and may in time furnish all the
flower seeds demanded here. Phila-
de1phia contains the establishments of
many seedsmen, while Rochester, De-
troit and Chicago are not far behind.
During the past few years remark
able growth has been noted in the
mail order business of all the firms.
Comparatively few seeds are grown
by dealers in them, and some have no
gardens or farms at all. The yearly
supply is secured by sending a small
quantity of what is known as s'stock
seeds to a trustworthy middleman,
who lives in the country and is usually
a farmer. With instructions as to the
amount of new seed desired, he distri-
butes the ssstocks" to such other
smaller farmers as he knows have the
ground and experience necessary to
obtain the best results. They plant and
cultivate the crop, and then report to
the middleman when the seeds are
nearly ripe. The dealers are notified
at once by him, and they send out
their inspectors. If the latter are
pleased with the crop, they order it to
be gathered. When it is received in
the stores or warehouses, the middle
man gets his pay, and settles with the
actual growers.
Garden seeds are given more space
in the catalogue of the scotsman than
any other. It is estimated that there
are now about 600 varieties of them
on the market. Many Of them are
what is commonly denominated 'sfan-
cy," while others are aristocratic
growths, SO highly cultivated as to be
useless to the average gardener or
truck-farmer. Every year sees addi-
tions to the list, but the unstable
kinds are almost IS gradually dropped,
SO that the number increases slowly.
The sections where the more COM
mon vegetables are grown for their
seed extend over wide range of coun-
try. Peas and beans come mainly
from northern New York, Michigan,
and Canada; cabbage seed almost ex-
clusively from Long Island; onion
seed from Connecticut and California ;
lettuce and celery entirely from the
last-named State; corn from Connecti-
cut and Ohio; melon, cucum-
ber, squash, ETC., from New
York, New Jersey, Nebraska,
and several southern coast States; to-
mato from New Jersey and Michigan i;
turnip from Pennsylvania and Connec-
ticut; radish and beet from France ;
and spinach from this State and Ger
many. Few garden seeds are exported
and few imported. When there is a
great scarcity in Europe, small
amount of pea, onion, lettuce, tomato,
and satisfy seed is sent over. There
is an exception in the case Of potatoes,
OF which considerable quantities are
sent over for propagation. It has
been remarked upon as curious that
while potatoes exported are invariably
sound, wher reproduced on the other
side and shipped back here, they are
worthless for marketing. Transports
ton across the ocean robs them O.
their flavor - New York Post.
{ How a Drayman Made Fortune.
One day Philadelphia drayman