224 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



AUGUST 3, 1899. 



DREER'S NURSERIES. 



We present herewith an excellent 

 view of the greenhouses and part of 

 the grounds of the firm of Henry A. 

 Dreer, at Riverton, N. J., that will 

 surely be of very general interest, for 

 who in the trade has not heard of or 

 had dealings with this old establish- 

 ed firm whose name is synonymous 

 with fair and honest dealing? 



As is known to all the headquar- 

 ters and general offices of the concern 

 are in Philadelphia, but the green- 

 houses and nurseries at Riverton are 

 always an objective point with the 

 trade visitor, where are to be seen 

 not only acres of palms and other dec- 

 orative plants, but house after house 

 containing stocks of all the novelties 

 and standard varieties in about every 

 line of ornamental plants grown by 

 the florist or private gardener. The 

 firm is now adding about 50,000 feet 

 of new glass, which is of course not 

 shown in the picture. At the right 

 we catch a glimpse of some of the 

 oblong aquatic ponds which have of 

 late years been such an attraction to 

 visitors, and beyond is the Delaware 

 river. 



The business was established by 

 Henry A. Dreer in 1838, sixty-one 

 years ago. The first store occupied 

 was at 97 Chestnut street (old style 

 numbers) ; in 1848 the store was re- 

 moved to No. 59 Chestnut street; in 

 1858 to No. 117 Chestnut street (new 

 number, 327), and in 1863 the present 

 roomy and attractive building, No. 

 714 Chestnut street, was bought and 

 adapted to the needs of the rapidly 

 increasing business. Thus for sixty- 

 one years the house has been located 

 on the principal business street of 

 Philadelphia. 



Mr. Henry A. Dreer died in Decem- 

 ber, 1873, leaving to his son, Mr. Wil- 

 liam F. Dreer, the task of developing 

 the seed and nursery establishment 

 and of fostering the valuable trade 

 created by a lifetime of patient and 

 conscientious effort. The quarter cen- 

 tury which has since intervened has 

 been full of busy years, and the pres- 

 ent magnitude of this establishment 

 bears witness to the faithfulness with 

 which the trust has been fulfilled. 



The Riverton Seed and Plant Farm 

 covers one hundred acres. The dis- 

 tance from the city is but nine miles 

 by either rail or steamboat. The nur- 

 series were established at this loca- 

 tion in 1868, land in the city having 

 so increased in value as to be no 

 longer available, and had then green- 

 houses containing about 20,000 feet of 

 glass. 



Since 1886 an increase of one hun- 

 dred and eighty thousand feet of glass 

 has been added, giving a total of over 

 two hundred thousand square feet, or 

 five acres, with two acres in addition 

 covered by packing sheds, cold storage 

 and lath houses. The heating of the 

 greenhouses is by twelve boilers, hav- 

 ing a capacity of seventy-five hundred 

 horse-power, both steam and hot wa- 

 ter being used. The consumption of 



Bird's-Eye View of 



coal in a winter season amounts to 

 about two thousand tons. Over six- 

 teen miles of pipes are used in radi- 

 ating the steam and hot water. 



In conducting this establishment, 

 seventy men are employed, and in the 

 spring and during the busy season as 

 many as eighty-five are required at 

 the nurseries; at the store about thir- 

 ty persons are engaged. The manage- 

 ment of the nursery is vested in Mr. 

 Jacob D. Eisele, who has risen from 

 the ranks, having begun as a boy in 

 1876. He is assisted by Mr. George 

 A. Strohlein, both of whom are mem- 

 bers of the board of directors. 



It may be interesting to conclude 

 with the personnel of this business. 

 After the death of the founder, Henry 

 A. Dreer, in 1873, the business was 

 conducted by his son, William F. 

 Dreer, who became associated with his 

 father in the concern in 1865. In 1892 

 the business was incorporated under 

 the laws of the State of New Jersey, 

 with William F. Dreer as president, 

 who still continues at its head. Mr. 

 Herbert G. Tull, who came to the 

 house in 1S80, is the secretary and 

 treasurer. 



The management of the store de- 

 partment is in the hands of Mr. J. 

 Otto Thilow, who has been connected 

 with the house since 1884. The flower 

 seed and bulb department is under 

 the management of Mr. George D. 

 Clark, who has had twenty years' ex- 

 perience in the business. The ship- 

 ping department is in charge of Mr. 

 William Duffy, who began his busi- 

 ness career with the house in 1886. 



Nearly all the managers connected 

 with the house are practical garden- 



ers, or began as boys in the establish- 

 ment. They are also generally iden- 

 tified in the success of the business 

 in holding shares of stock in a corpo- 

 ration which was formed for corpora- 

 tive purposes, all of which are held by 

 the managers. 



Among the traveling representatives 

 of the house is the ever genial and 

 ever welcome Walter Mott, whose 

 friends are found in every greenhouse 

 in the land. 



HARTFORD, CONN. 



That there is good ground for the 

 opinion of many prominent sweet pea 

 growers that the flower is deteriorating 

 in the United States, was made evident 

 by the sweet pea exhibition of the 

 Connecticut Horticultural Society 

 which was held in Hartford, July 25 

 and 26. 



Those who have had the crack ex- 

 hibits of sweet peas in former years 

 were conspicuous by the absence of 

 their flowers this year, and although 

 there was much more sweet pea seed 

 sold in this vicinity than in previous 

 years, good results were attained in 

 only a few cases, and the general re- 

 port was but one word from the dis- 

 appointed growers — failure. 



Rev. W. T. Hutchins, of Indian 

 Orchard, Mass., the well known sweet 

 pea specialist, who was to judge the 

 exhibition, was unable to be present 

 on account of ill health. He sent, 

 however, a fine display, considering 

 the season. S. T. Walker, of Forest 

 Grove, Oregon, was represented by his 

 trial varieties of sweet peas, grown 

 by different members of the society. 



