HISTORY AND EVOLUTION 15 



" Decrites et peintes d'apres nature par M. Jaume Saint 

 Hilaire, Paris, 1809." 



Returning again to work accomplished in the United 

 Kingdom we shall in a few words bring our notes to 

 more recent times. Earlier in this chapter reference 

 was made to the first trade offer of seed by Robert 

 Furber in 1730. Subsequently in 1754 H erren Dirk 

 and Voorhelm also achieved some notoriety in this 

 respect. 



From the year 1793, however, we may trace the 

 beginning of better things, although at that period there 

 may not have been much to denote the fact. At the 

 sign of the Orange Tree in Fleet Street, London, John 

 Mason (the original founder of the business of Cooper, 

 Taber & Co.) issued a catalogue wherein were quoted 

 quite an interesting variety of Sweet Peas. Black, 

 purple, scarlet, white and Painted Lady, were then 

 available for the enthusiasts of that period. This was 

 clear evidence that progress was being made and that 

 intelligent work had been done during the previous 

 thirty-nine years. There is nothing to show who was 

 responsible for the improvements. Catalogues sub- 

 sequently issued by the same house showed no 

 alteration. In 1837 Mr James Carter (the founder of 

 the well-known firm in High Holborn, London) in his 

 first catalogue quoted black, Painted Lady, purple, 

 scarlet, white, striped and yellow varieties. Thirteen 

 years later, in 1850 Messrs Noble, Cooper & Bolton, 

 successors to John Mason and predecessors of the 

 present firm of Cooper, Taber & Co., added new large, 

 dark purple, and mixed, showing that from the parent 

 variety, two selections had been made. In the years 

 immediately following, it was the custom for wholesale 

 seed merchants, when quoting for vegetable seeds, to 

 to quote also, with other annual flowers, Sweet Peas 

 mixed, named, and white. The system which began in 



