1838. 



DREER'S 



1888, 



-^Kolden^AniiiYeTsary.'^- 



50 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL CONTINUANCE IN THE SEED TRADE. 



Philadelphia, Jan. i, i 



CT T is with a feeling of pleasure as well as pride that we look back to 

 (v>) the year 1838; when the house now known all over the land was 

 founded under the name of Hirst & Dreer at No. 97 Chestnut St., 

 Philadelphia, with its nursery at " Woodlands on the Darby road one 

 mile south of the permanent bridge." The following year the firm dis- 

 solved, and was succeeded by Henry A. Dreer, a man of stern integrity 

 Nf: / and of liberal views, who laid the foundation of a business which has 

 . A % -^ifat "- \ steadily grown in influence and prosperity by sending out the best seeds 



and plants that it was possible to secure at fair prices. 



In 1840 our first seed catalogue was issued. This very modest 

 sheet offered a general collection of vegetable, flower and farm seeds. 

 The vegetable list embraced many of the sorts that are offered to-day, 

 showing that the varieties have changed only in the improvement of the 

 strains. The United States Gazette in an editorial in 1842 says : " Mr. 

 Dreer has an advertisement in our columns to-day calling attention to his 

 assortment of garden and field seeds. We feel a pleasure in assuring our 

 readers that they may without hesitation place implicit confidence in 

 Mr. Dreer"s recommendations. His assortment, we know, is not excelled 

 by any other in Philadelphia, and from our experience we are fully sat- 

 isfied of the genuineness and good quality of the articles he keeps on sale." 

 In 1849 the sending of seeds through the mails was instituted by this house. We copy the following advertisement : 

 " Flowers for the million. Twenty select and choice varieties of flower seeds of easy culture are put in post paper, 

 each separately and distinctly labeled, with a descriptive catalogue and practical directions for the preparation of the 

 soil, sowing and rearing, and enclosed in an envelope for sending by mail, the whole weighing under one ounce. 

 Will be forwarded to any address upon remitting postpaid one dollar in any funds current here or at the place where 

 sent from." Although this house has the credit of sending out the first combined list of seeds at a reduced price as 

 early as 1849, it has never abused the practice of ofl'erins the public worthless sorts at extravagant figures. In 1855 

 the business was removed from 59 Chestnut street to 117 Chestnut street, below Fourth, the number being afteswards 

 changed to 32-7, now the site of the Fidelity Trust and Safe Deposit Company. In 1856 the Fejee Island Tomato was 

 sent out by the house as the most remarkable and distinct variety in that day. 



In 1861 Dreer's Garden Calendar was first issued. It was 7ix4i in size, and consisted of 48 pages of printed matter 

 liberally illustrated for the time. In 1863 we sent out the Cook's Favorite Tomato, the best sort that had been placed 

 before the public up to that date. This year is also memorable in the annals of the house as the time that they moved 

 to the premises No. 714 Chestnut street. The steady increase of trade made more room necessary, so that at present 

 the whole of the four-story building which runs through to Bennett street is fully occupied, and the cry still is " more 

 room." 



The policy of the house has always been to be as liberal as possible, and to send out only the best. Our knowledge 



of what is desirable is increased by the demands made and the trials given by our nursery department.. Through the 



kindness of the Hon. Bayard Taylor, who was then Minister to Turkey, we sent out in 1868 the Casaba, or Persinn 



Melon, and Latakia Tobacco. That year the magnificent Musa Ensete, or Abyssinian Banana, was first shown in the 



(4) 



