16 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Through all these years the term " flower pots" does not ouce 

 appear. Again the record is broken ; and I very much regret 

 that the books containing the first sale of flower pots and the name 

 of the purchaser cannot be found. 



Those of you who can remembe^the year 1861, will recall the 

 depressed condition of business after war was actually declared, and 

 the discouragements that seemed to hang over nearly all branches 

 of industry and trade. The members of the Hews firm looked on 

 the dark side and felt sure that there would be no demand for 

 flower pots, they being more of a luxury than a necessity, and that 

 the factory must close. At that time I succeeded in getting per- 

 mission to make my first venture as salesman "on the road." 

 Going first to C. M. Hovey, I secured from him what was a good 

 order for those times, some 10,000 pots or more for the spring 

 trade of 1862. Several other good orders were booked that day, 

 and it is needless to say I went home happy. 



Not once after that, during the four years that the old firm 

 continued to exist, were they able during the busy seasons of 

 spring and fall to fill all their orders for flower pots. Not that 

 these orders were remai-kably large or numerous, but they were 

 beyond the capacity of the firm. 



My own records date back to October, 1866. The title of the 

 firm at that time was Horatio Hews & Son. The first sale recorded 

 was to Joseph Holmes, Grocer, of Cambridgeport ; the second to 

 Hovey & Co., of Cambridge; the third to Frank Becker. The 

 prices were from 33 1-3 to 50 per cent higher than those of today, 

 which is more than I should be willing to admit of the relative 

 excellence of the goods. 



We first got fairly under way with machinery for making small 

 flower pots in 1869. I well remember that my father, always 

 disposed to be a little cautious, thought that we should overstock 

 the country and ruin the prices. We did in that year what we 

 thought was a wonderful business in flowei* pots. We exceeded it 

 by 33 1-3 per cent in the month of October, 1894. 



It would be interesting to describe the great craze of the 

 American people in 1875 and 1876 for reproductions of art- 

 pottery — how we looked through every museum this side of 

 Washington for copies of the pie-historic shapes — and to give an 

 account of our success in reproducing from the grand collection 

 of Gen. Cesnola, and from his discoveries in ancient tombs at 



