34 INTRODUCTION. 



merit of fruit and ornamental trees, especially budded peach trees, 

 of which the nursery was said to be the finest in America, consist- 

 ing of a choice collection of thirty of the best kinds for market or 

 garden culture. Red currant bushes were also extensive!}" culti- 

 vated, being offered by the dozen, hundred, or thousand. In 1823 

 they made seventeen hundred gallons of currant wine ; in 1825, 

 three thousand gallons, and, in 1826, thirt} T -six hundred gallons. 1 



Mr. Kenrick continued in this business until his decease, in 1833. 

 The old mansion in which he dwelt is believed to have been built 

 in 1720, and it still promises to do good service for another century. 

 His younger son, John A. Kenrick, continued the nursery business, 

 and occupied the paternal mansion, until his death, in 1870. The 

 grounds contain many choice specimen trees, among which is one 

 of the finest weeping beeches in the country. William Kenrick' s 

 nursery at Nonantum Hill, in Newton, established in 1823, con- 

 tinued for twenty-seven years. During a part of this period Mr. 

 Kenrick imported and disposed of more fruit trees, probably, than 

 any other nurseryman in New England, besides a large number of 

 ornamental trees. 2 



The seed establishment of David Landreth & Son, at Phila- 

 delphia, was founded by David Landreth, father of the present 

 senior partner. He came from England to this country in 1784, 

 and commenced growing seed soon after ; being one of the first, 

 if not the very first, to enter upon that work as a business in this 

 country. Instead of the small tract of thirteen acres which he 

 originally occupied, fifteen hundred acres are now cultivated under 

 the personal supervision of the firm. For many }*ears, the nursery 

 business was carried on in connection with the seed business, the 

 grounds being on Federal Street, about two miles from the centre 

 of the city. The earliest collection of camellias in America was 

 made by the Messrs. Landreth ; and their collections of valuable 

 plants and fruits, both native and foreign, were among the most 

 extensive of their time. To them the city of Philadelphia is 

 largely indebted for the early development of horticultural taste. 8 



1 The currant appears to have been extensively grown by others for wine ; for in 1824 E. 

 Copcland, jun., of Boston, advertised Groseille wine, made by Dr. Benjamin Dyer of Provi- 

 dence, who cultivated in one field forty-five acres of currants. In 1826, however, we are 

 informed that Messrs. Dyer & Co., who had previously manufactured currant wine in large 

 quantities, had relinquished the business on account of the high price of sugar. 



2 Letter of John A. Kenrick to Joseph Brcck, in 1861; New England Farmer, Vol. II. 

 pp. CO, 79, 3S3; Vol. V. p. 49. 



a Landreth's Rural Register and Almanac, 1872 and 1874; Johnson's Dictionary of 

 Modern Gardening, Am. ed. t p. 337; Hovcy's Magazine, Vol. I. p. 202. 



