30 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 27, 1907. 



SEED PANSY SEED 



Brown's Extra Select Superb Giant Prize Pansies 



awarded Silver Medal, St. Louis Exposition, 1904. It is a well-known fact that my superior strain of Pansies is tfie finest in the 

 market and has won prizes wherever exhibited. Flowers are from three to four inches in diameter; in beauty they are unsurpass- 

 able and in color they are incomparable. My own grown seed, new 1907 crop ready. 



PRICE MIXED SEED: 3000 seeds, $1.00; '4-02., $1.50; 'A-oz., $2.50; 1 02„ $5.00; '4 -lb., $14.00; J.-lb., $25.00; 1 lb., $50.00. 



PLANTS READY SEPTEMBER 1. Cash with order. 



PETER BROWN, 



PANSY SEED 

 GROWER 



124 Ruby St., Lancaster, Pa. 



as you now know, ilatt'<l from 1847, at 

 ■which time riitaljajra sccil, ;u'i>or(.lin<j to 

 ii catalomio of that date, did not sell at 

 $1 ])er ])ound, hut rather at 112 IL* cents 

 Jin ouneo, at wliich jirice some sixteen 

 varieties of turnips were quoted. Tlie 

 item of black pifjs does not appear on 

 our lists, and I am sure they were not 

 c .sidered seeds in those days. In that 

 year, 1847, and for .several years there- 

 .-iftcr the seed trade in respect to tlow<>r 

 and }j'"''h'n seeds was insij^nifieant in 

 ]>roportions through ;ill of this country, 

 an<l my records show tliat the actual 

 seedsmen did not ext-eed in luunber fif- 

 teen or sixteen, and tlio.se were all of 

 modest pretensions and scattercil 1)0- 

 tween the cities of TS(mv York, Phila- 

 delphia, l^altiniore, IJocliester. Boston, 

 Cincinnati, >sew Orleans and St. Louis. 

 .Niany garden seeds were grown, however, 

 in Wethersfield. Conn., as well as in 

 Lebanon, N. Y., and vi<'inity. These lat- 

 ter were grown by tlw Shakers. In the 

 small towns garden seeds were sold prin- 

 cipally liy druggists, hardware merchants 

 and grocers. 



Probably many of you are of the opin- 

 ion that in those bygone days the va- 

 rieties of different classes of seeds were 

 small, but such really is not the case, 

 and you will be surprised to find that 

 in the catalogue of (irant Thorburn, in 

 1.S22, there are quoted some nine varieties 

 of snap beans, and amoiig them you will 

 see Six Weeks, White Kidney and Ref- 

 ugee. Now, as regards j)ole beans: They 

 also appear in some six varieties, such 

 as Dutch Caseknifc, Red Cranberry. Scar- 

 let Punner, Large Ijinia, etc. Among 

 the cabbage.^ I find there Avere twenty 

 varieties, such well known favorites as 

 Early York, Early Sugar Loaf and 

 (ilobe Savoy aiqiearing 



A Catalogue in 1817. 



Now, in 1847 the catalogues were in 

 creasing in size and the varieties of 

 vegetables were increasing in propor- 

 tion. This catalogue of 1847 shows a 

 corn list of seven varieties, some of which 

 are well known at the present day, like 

 the EarTv Golden Canada, Early Burling- 

 ton, Early Tuscarora, Early Dutton, etc. 



y -'V'Nj^-tf- jU '- - ' . a> ' W i »W;'> ' . 



flFV. 





Bought of Grant Tkorhum, 



A Thorburn Invoice of Oae Hundred Years Ago. 



In 1S04 other varieties Averc added to 

 this corn list, like Early Uwarf, Dar- 

 ling's, Eight Powed, Asylum and 

 Stowcdl's Evergreen, Sugar, etc. 



ViSan in 1847 the list of peas was 

 ((uitc an extensive one, there being at 

 least thirty sorts catalogued, but of 

 these only two sorts were wrinkled. 

 These were the Tall and Dwarf Knights, 

 and British (^ueen, and the next year 

 brought us that famous old pea, tho 

 Champion of England. In 18G4 a dozen 

 nuire wrinkled sorts were added, and 

 among tliem was the Advancer. 



I'll to a period beginning about with 

 our Civil war, nearly all garden jieas 

 were imported from England and they 

 were indeed beautiful samples. Up to 

 18.50 and for sonu^ years thereafter, all 

 such imported seeils came Viy sailing ves- 

 sel; peas and other articles in five- 

 bushel casks costing a guinea apiece. 

 Later, however, they were shipped in 

 very heavy double sacks, which were re- 

 turned to the (dd country and used over 

 and over again for several seasons. 



A Comparison of Prices. 



Our catalogue of 18(14 containetl a long 

 list of most of the leading vegetables of 

 today, and what strik<'s me as being pe- 

 culiar is — and it may be something e(iual- 

 ly curious to you, gentlemen — that the 

 juices of those days averaged about the 

 same as tlie jirices of the present day 

 and the only marked exception to these 

 ]irices was "that of the Advancer pea, 

 which had only lieen recently introduced 

 as a fine wrinkle(l sort and it was quoted 

 at .$1 a quart, while all the other varie- 

 ties were listeil at from 'JU cents to 60 

 cents a (juart. 



The high retail price for .seeils began 

 in Jst)7 and continued for some ten or 

 eleven years, during which period the 

 ruling price for N'alentine, Muhawk and 

 liefugee beans was .$10 i)er bushel. Beets 

 were then (incited at from $1 to $'J per 

 jKiund; cabbage, from .$'J..")0 to $8 jter 

 l.uund; leek, from .^4 to $7 a pound; h't- 

 tuce, from $."? to $5; onions, from ^W to 

 $(i; jieas. the comimin sorts, $10 ])er 

 bushel; Little Cem. $28 per bushel and 

 $1 a quart; Yorkshire Hero, $18 i)er 

 bushel; Champion of Englan-l, $10 per 

 bushel; pei)pers, fnun $5 to $7 a pound; 

 radish, from $1 to $1.50 a pound; tur- 

 nips, from $1 to $2 a pound. 



In 18()!> all onions were (pioted at $6 

 pel- pound. It was in 1870 that tho 

 I^yptian beet was a novelty and its seed 

 sold at no cents an ounce. In 1873 I 

 foiuid Conover's Colossal asparagus 

 listed at HO cents per ounce. Trophy to- 

 mato $10 a pound, while the other va- 



