THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 217 



offices and warehouses in capacity, as -well as in other particulars, without an equal. 

 They constitute of themselves a little town, with quite an army of workers to give 

 life and reality to the scene. Ou entering the retail stores, one cannot fail to be 

 struck with their light and airy appearance, and the facilities which exist for the 

 rapid execution of orders. After passing through this department, and proceeding 

 along a passage, we come to two ranges of offices, one on each side. That on the 

 right is the Ledger Office, some sixty feet in length ; and on the left, is a private 

 office for the firm, and farther on, the office for transacting business with the railway 

 and other carrying companies, and also the general foreign trade. It will, perhaps, 

 afford our readers some idea of the extent of the business transactions of the Messrs. 

 Sutton if we say that during the spring season, when seeds of all kinds are in most 

 request, from 80O to 1000 letters are received dally, entailing, it need hardly be said, 

 an immense amount of office work. 



Proceeding to the next floor by means of an iron staircase, we find first of all 

 on the right a room about sixty feet in length, devoted to stationer}'- and other office 

 stores ; and immediately in front, a large room provided for the recreation of the 

 employes. In this the people meet for prayer every morning ; and at intervals, 

 during the winter season, lectures and other entsrtalnments are given. Close by is 

 the Eeading-room, as bright and cheerful as a gentleman's library, with two noble 

 fireplaces in carved stone and encaustic tiles ; the floor comfortably carpeted, and 

 the tables well supplied with news and horticultural papers, and periodical lite- 

 rature. There are also bagatelle and chess-boards for the use of those who frequent 

 the reading-room. 



Leaving these rooms we pass on to the Garden-seed Department, and in this we 

 find that every convenience suggested by long experience has been provided for the 

 expeditious execution of the orders. The principal chamber in this department is 

 quite a hundred feet in length, lofty, and of proportionate width, and is fitted up 

 with innumerable drawers. Two of the chambers are devoted to the collections of 

 garden seeds, which are found so convenient to amateurs, and for which this firm 

 has so long been famous, both for the liberality and judgment with which they are 

 made up. In the season may be seen in these rooms some thousands of these col- 

 lections, ready for transmission when the "rush" comes — and come it does, every 

 year. Every one requires their principal stock of seed at the same time ; and few 

 indeed are those who send in their order many days before the seeds are required 

 for sowing. Consequently, the resources of the establishment — vast as they are — 

 are taxed to the utmost in the busy season ; and, unless ample preparations were 

 made beforehand, the work would undoubtedly obtain the mastery. During the 

 seed season the orders come in at the rate of between 400 and 500 a-day, and it is 

 one of the principles of the firm to have the day's work done in the day. Were it 

 otherwise, the orders would accumulate at such a rapid rate, that the execution of a 

 goodly proportion of the orders would at length become impossible until an advanced 

 period of the season. The Flower-seed Department is like the one devoted to vege- 

 table seeds, fitted up with every possible convenience ; and in the season may be seen 

 tens of thousands of packets of seeds, already prepared for packing in collections or 

 otherwise. Here a separate staff is employed, for the business in flower seeds is 

 simply enormous ; especially in the cboice strains of calceolarias, primulas, cine- 

 rarias, and cyclamens. Beyond this department are the Bulb-rooms, in which the 

 vast quantities of bulbs, as they are received from Holland, are stored. The bulb 

 season lasts from August until the beginning of the new year ; and, as a rule, those 

 who purchase late expect to have bulbs of as good a quality as those who buy early. 

 In recognition of the fact that it is the duty of the trader to always provide the 

 customer with a good article — no matter how much the customer may be to blame 

 for deferring the order until an unreasonably late period —the Messrs. Sutton have 

 in practice some ingenious methods for preserving the bulbs for a long time without 

 starting into growth, or becoming mildewed. An equable temperature is, in the 

 first place, maintained by the vast mass of stone, brick, and timber of the stores 

 themselves, and the perfect ventilation of the whole fabric. In the second place, 

 «very separate lot of bulbs is kept in a large basket of light wickerwork, which 

 admits air all round, and in the centre, passing through the mass of bulbs, is a tube 

 of wire netting, which again brings air into the mass. The reserves are then shut 

 up in compartments with sliding doors. The result of this management Is to favour 

 a dormant condition, for exhaustive evaporation is prevented, and at the same time 

 the bulbs are kept so dry and cool, that they are most reluctant to grow until potted 



July. 



