TUB SEED BUSINESS OF THE WEST. 



Since tlint dny, I have known, in the different rarietics of grnss-sccds, twenty 

 thousniul l)ushc'Is to be the stock of one single house, besides a lieavy distri- 

 bution auionp: numerous commission houses all over the city. Such is the con- 

 trast in twenty-five years 1 In those days the Kentucky farmer would sow his 

 bushel of clover-seed, costing five dollars. Now he often sows fifty bushels, cost- 

 ing two hundred and fifty dollars. For the three years preceding that of 1831, 

 from one to two thousand dollars was about the annual investment in grass-seeds, 

 in Cincinnati. For the last three years to 1855 inclusive, as near as can be esti- 

 mated, the annual investments are over half a million of dollars! The contrast is 

 striking, but true. 



In January, 1831, a new era dawned upon the " seed business of the west." 

 iMr. S. C. Parkhurst, a clerk in the Seed and Agricultural Establishment of John 

 B. Russell, Boston, without the prestige of a name or fortune, with a pocket 

 more full of letters than money, entered the " Queen City," and essayed at once 

 to open a seed store, in all its various branches, on this same Lower Market 

 Street, and upon the same block with Mr. Parsons Gorham ! Mr. Parkhurst 

 originally contemplated only a moderate business in garden-seeds, &c. But the 

 field looked inviting, and, in true Yankee style, he commenced the issue of hand- 

 bills, containing upon them the emblems of agriculture, such as the " Plough, the 

 Shovel, and the Hoe." These were assiduously distributed among the market 

 people. The whole country round about soon became acquainted with the fact, 

 that there was a man in town, ready to buy and sell all the grass-seeds saved in 

 this region. Besides, was also prepared to supply the same with garden-seeds 

 and various kinds of implements. The New Ilaven courage of Mr. Gorham had 

 to give way to the Boston enterprise of Mr. Parkhurst. In short, Mr. Gorham 

 fell back dismayed — and for ten years Mr. Parkhurst had the entire field, and ran 

 the race alone. In 1832, Mr. Parkhurst's sale of clover and timothy-seeds was 

 about GOO bushels. The graduating scale to 1841 we omit; but this year (1841) 

 his sales amounted to G,000 bushels. 



At this period also, he had become a man of wealth, but his health declining 

 he sold out the establishment to a couple of young men named Wooley and Dal- 

 rymple. His mantle did not fall on the right shoulders, for their career was brief. 

 They were clever men — but, from a want of knowledge in the business, their 

 failure was inevitable. After eighteen months' possession, they relinquished again 

 to ;Mr. Parkhurst. 



In the interim, John F. Pair & Co., successors to Mr. Gorham, commenced 

 dealing in grass-seeds quite extensively, in connection with the grocery business. 

 The two houses were only half a block apart, and prosecuted operations on a 

 grand scale. Competition soon sharpened up to the highest pitch. The strife 

 was warm and exciting — but lasted little over a year, when Mr. Parkhurst con- 

 cluded that profits had narrowed down rather close for him; in 1845, he made 

 another sale to Ely & Campbell, and took leave of the "seed business," perhaps 

 forever. His fortune had become ample, and it was not necessary that he should 



