396 



HORTICULTURE 



October 13, 1906 



Seed Trade Topics 



Growers of peas are beginning to 

 send out preliminary estimates, and 

 the shortages predicted in these col- 

 umns as far bacli as July are more than 

 verified. As early as tie latter part 

 of June it was apparent that there 

 would be a heavy shortage, and 

 especial attention was directed to the 

 large podded varieties, such as Tele- 

 phones, Gradus, Impd. Stratagem, 

 Duke of Albany, Thomas Laxton, 

 Sutton's Excelsior and Dwarf Tele- 

 phones. In fact all of the large 

 podded sorts, and they are in very 

 short supply as expected, some esti- 

 mated deliveries being as low as 25 

 per cent., while nearly all garden 

 varieties will prove surprisingly low. 

 There will be a loud outcry from the 

 canners, as many of them contracted 

 for only a portion of their require- 

 ments, and if only 50 to 60 per cent, 

 of their contracts are delivered, they 

 will have to buy on the open market 

 a larger percentage than they expected 

 and within the next BU days there will 

 be such a scramble for seed peas as 

 will send prices soaring. Seventy-five 

 per cent, of all the peas canned are 

 from four varieties, while not above 

 seven or eight are ever used from 

 choice. It looks this year, however 

 and if it would not be wholly a ques- 

 tion of choice, and that many can- 

 ners will have to take what they can 

 get. The developments of the next 

 few months will be very interesting. 

 The writer was recently asked by 

 a prominent Canadian seedsman why 

 such a small percentage of Swedes 

 and Mangels are used in this country 

 as compared with Canada. A plea of 

 ignorance was entered, and this led 

 to a discussion of the value of root 

 crops as feed for stock and particu- 

 larly milch cows. My Canadian 

 friend said that if our farmers and 

 stock raisers could be shown the ad- 

 vantage of root-feeding not alone for 

 milch cows, but all breeds of cattle, 

 horses, hogs, sheep, etc., he believed 

 it would be adopted as universally as 

 in Canada. Speaking of dairy prod- 

 ucts, he said Canada was in fifth 

 place on the roll of merit while the 

 great and glorious United States was 

 nearly at the bottom. Just what our 

 number was he could not say, but he 

 attributed Canada's position very 

 largely to the liberal feeding of roots. 

 The value of root feeding in dairying 

 is so universally acknowledged as to 

 be scarcely debatable, and it is cer- 

 tainly a most Burpirising fact that 

 American dairymen should be so in- 

 different to a matter of such Impor- 

 tance to their industry. It can only be 

 attributed to the general indolence so 

 characteristic of many farmers. It is 

 just a little too much trouble to raise 

 roots, store and prepare them for feed- 

 ing. While roots have a pre-eminent 

 value for milch cows, they can 

 scarcely be over-estimated for any 

 kind of stock. Carrots are a valuable 

 feed for horses, and one or two each 

 day gives Dobbin a sleek smooth 

 coat, and tones him up. keeping him 

 in fine fettle. Could not the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture use some of the 

 money appropriated for "free seeds" 

 in an educational campaign to "show" 

 the farmers, and actually demonstrate 

 to them the value of roots for feeding 

 stock? A few thousands of dollars ex- 



pended in such a cause each year, 

 would be of almost inestimable value 

 to the dairying and stock raising in- 

 dustries of our country, while to the 

 seedsmen it would be an agreeable 

 change from the free seed graft, by 

 stimulating a demand for Swede and 

 Mangel seeds. In proportion to the 

 volumes of seed business done, Canada 

 uses fifty pounds of Swedes and Man- 



gels to one used in the United States, 

 and the quantity of the dairy products 

 of the two countries is in about the 

 same ratio. 



The writer would suggest to retail 

 seedsmen that they give this matter 

 more attention. Let them publish 

 statistics and other information bear- 

 ing on the subject, and many of our 

 farmers will no doubt appreciate the 

 facts, and an increased demand for 

 these seeds will soon follow, for it is 

 not conceivable that our farmers are 

 less intelligent than their Canadian 

 cousins. 



In Seed Trade Topics of last week the 

 following corrections should be m.ide- 

 For "entire seed crop" In second line." 

 read "onion seed crop"; lines 28 and 29 

 should read, "the.v may operate to lieep 

 yellows from soaring to abnormall.v high 

 figures"; in line 40 substitute acreage for 

 "average." 



THE NEW THORBURN SEED 

 WAREHOUSE. 



The new Thorburn seed warehouse 

 at 33 Barclay street. New York, which 

 we illustrate on this page, is five sto- 

 ries high and has in addition to the 

 basement a sub-cellar. It extends 

 through to 38 Park place and is 160 

 feet deep, and has a frontage of 25 

 feet on both streets. This gives 28,000 

 square feet of floor space. There are 

 over 1200 drawers and closets for veg- 

 etable seeds; about 150 bins for vege- 

 table seeds in bulk, about 2000 flower 

 seed drawers, over 250 receptacles for 

 tree and shrub seeds alone and over 

 40 bins for grass seeds. The building 

 is modern and up to date in every re- 

 spect, neither trouble nor expense 

 having been spared in making it prob- 

 ably the finest seed store in America, 



J. M. Thorburn & Co. have been en- 

 gaged in the seed business in New 

 York City for a period of 104 years, 

 and the i)ath of the advancement of 

 this noted firm has certainly been very 

 marked. The establishment was 

 founded by Grant Thorburn in 1802 

 at 20 Nassau street. "In 1814 the 

 business was totally prostrated by the 

 proprietor expending his whole capi- 

 tal and more in fruitless preparations 

 and attempts to raise seeds, etc., 

 which could not be imported during 

 tlie war" (this notice appeared as an 

 advertisement on back cover of G. 

 Thorburn & Son's catalogue of 1827). 



On back cover of 1822 catalogue ap- 

 peared the following advertisement: 

 "G. Thorburn &. Son take the liberty 

 cd' informing their friends and the 

 public that they are constantly sup- 

 !)lied at their seed warehouse. No. 20 

 Nassau street. New York, with a gen- 

 eral assortment of Garden Seeds suit- 

 able for cultivation in the U. S. and 

 West Indies: Grass seeds of every im- 

 portant and valuable kind, Hawthorn 

 Quicks for Live Fences or Hedging, 

 a great variety of flower seeds and 

 roots, procured from various parts of 

 the world; Spades, Shovels, Rakes, 

 Hoes, Hand Ploughs, etc., etc. Bird 

 Seed of every kind; English split and 

 whole peas tor boiling. American and 

 Scotch Oatmeal, English Gritts, etc., 

 etc.; a constant supply of Garden 

 Seeds put up by the Society of Shakers 

 at Lebanon, also their compressed 

 Medicinal and Culinary Herbs! 



In 1816 Grant Thorburn recovered 

 from the prostration of his business 

 as recorded in 1814, and "with the help 

 of y.'iOO advanced by a friend" he com- 

 menced anew, "having for nine years 

 past stood the attacks of several pow- 

 erful opponents, and among the last, 

 though not the least, was the great 

 Ruta Baga of Botley, the famous Wm. 

 Cobbett, of political memory." 



In 1826 G. T. & Son purchased the 

 Friends' Meeting House in Liberty 

 street; the house had been occupied 

 by a Society of P^riends (Quakers) "as 

 a place of burial, school & Meeting 

 House for upwards of 140 years." 



The catalogues between 1827 and 

 1844 were destroyed by mice. In 1867 

 the firm began to specialize particu- 

 larly grass seeds, and its catalogue of 

 that year gave very comprehensive 

 Instructions for the formation of 

 lawns from seed. The varieties of 

 grasses listed as far back as '65 In- 

 cluded about 35 varieties. Since then 

 special attention has been given this 



