HISTORY OF SEED GROWING 293 



Probably this statement of Mr. Perkins was the first formal 

 prophecy of the eminence which California would ere long com- 

 mand in the seed markets of the world. It found an echo in the 

 words of Peter Henderson, the veteran seedsman and florist, who 

 wrote in 1882 : "California will, I am certain, fifty years from now, 

 grow seeds for the world. It has all the conditions of soil and cli- 

 mate for seed growing." The progress attained during the last few 

 years justifies Mr. Perkins' enthusiastic declaration and indicates 

 that Mr. Henderson's time limit was certainly conservative and safe, 

 for in certain lines surely such a position has already been realized 

 and was reached in less than a third of his period. 



A New Start. Mr. Perkins did not continue to the demonstra- 

 tion of his problem. His intention was diverted to other matters, 

 and it remained for others to actually work the mine of which he 

 was only the prospector. Theirs have been the labors and the bur- 

 dens, and it is gratifying to add that, through carrying them intelli- 

 gently and devotedly, they have attained reward and have, in part 

 at least, realized for the state the prominence which was prophe- 

 sied by the pioneers. 



In 1875 Mr. R. W. Wilson, previously a seed grower at Ro- 

 chester, New York, began seed growing near Santa Clara, and is 

 regarded as the pioneer of the present era of California seed grow- 

 ing. He began on about fifty acres of land, growing principally 

 onion, lettuce, carrot, and beet seed. Two years later he was suc- 

 ceeded by Kellogg & Morse, who continued together, increasing the 

 dimensions of their business until 1889, when Mr. Kellogg retired 

 and C. C. Morse & Co. became the successors to the business. They 

 have extended and developed their enterprise to dimensions which 

 few Californians realize, and are not only leaders in seed growing, 

 but in the seed trade as well. Aside from this large firm there are 

 other producers who have achieved most creditable results in the 

 development of specialties which have given them wide reputations 

 and contributed to the fame of the state in advanced horticulture. 



It will be impossible to adequately describe California seed 

 growing in a single chapter. Only a few salient facts can be 

 mentioned. 



Onion Seed. This seed has held the leading place in Califor- 

 nia seed growing from the very beginning at first for local use, 

 afterward for distant sale. In spite of the eastern plaudits which 

 Mr. Perkins won for his seed, as already stated, it was a difficult 

 undertaking to induce eastern dealers to use it largely at first. When 

 Mr. Wilson offered his first crop of onion seed in the East, scarcely 

 anyone would touch it and some who did, claimed afterward that 

 the bulbs grown from it were soft, would not keep and were inferior. 

 The next year Mr. Wilson sent quite a quantity of the seed to a 

 dozen or more of the leading dealers who planted it beside eastern 

 seed. In the fall Mr. Wilson went East and personally inspected 

 the crops, compared the bulbs and was able to show that in every 



