JERSEY CITY WAREHOUSE. 

 Erected 1894. Capacity, 150,000 bushels. 



JERSEY CITY WAREHOUSE. 

 Erected 1888. Capacity, 100,000 bushels. 



A GREAT SEED HOUSE. 



(From the FLORISTS' EXCHANGE, October, 5th, 1895.) 



There are but few seed firms in existence that 

 can show such a record of growth and advancement 

 in so comparatively short a time as that of Peter 

 Henderson & Co. It seems almost incredible that 

 in so few years such a gigantic concern could have 

 been reared. . . . A great institution, magnificent 

 machinery and great numbers of people are em- 

 ployed. . . . the general public, certainly, never 

 forming the least idea of the immensity of the busi- 

 ness transacted. . . . 



The house of Peter Henderson & Co. has long 

 since established a name for itself for the reliable 

 quality and purity of the large quantities of seeds 

 handled by it. Thinking some information regard- 

 ing its working in detail would be of benefit and 

 interest to readers of the Florists' Exchange, an inter- 

 view was sought and obtained with a hearty invita- 

 tion, " Come and see." 



Our first visit was to the Hackensack trial 

 grounds, a farm of some hundred acres. . . . 



The main object of the trial grounds is to test 

 rather than to grow seed crops, which have been 

 grown in bulk by farmers throughout the United 

 States, Canada and different parts of the world. The 

 deliveries from these sources are large, and coming 

 from such varied directions, it is of vital impor- 

 tance to the house to have some knowledge of these 

 crops with regard to purity and germinating power. 

 Each delivery is tapped upon arrival, and these sam- 

 ples go to Hackensack to be grown and tried under 

 severe tests — no nursing, no coddling, no high feed- 

 ing, but a real out-and-out test upon a soil that is 

 the best possible one for such a purpose, viz.; 

 sandy loam. No irrigation or water is given, so 

 that with our dry hot summer the test is crucial. 

 Those tests that approach anywhere near a stand- 

 ard of perfection can hardly be anything but satis- 

 factory elsewhere, and thus the firm is largely pro- 

 tected by this knowledge. 



Then, again, there is the eternal craze for novel- 

 ties to be catered for, which is part and parcel of a 

 seedsman's life.' He mnst be abreast of the times, 

 and should seek to be first in the field with genuine 

 introductions. Here then comes the value of such 

 a farm — a safety-valve, as it were, to protect both 

 the seedsman and the buying public. All new 

 things are tried, their merit3 properly recorded, 

 and good or bad points carefully noted. More 

 than that, comparisons with existing novelties 

 are possible ; and more often than not the sup- 

 posed new thing is found to be a duplicate of 

 something already in existence, and perhaps not as 

 good. 



The public is spared an infliction, and the seeds- 

 man's reputation is saved, and not only his reputa- 

 tion but his pocket and that of the horticultural 

 public, for often a party offers to supply seeds of 

 some supposed new thing or seeds of extra grade, 

 which, when tried here in honest comparison, prove 

 to be greatly lacking novelty or improvement, and 

 no purchase is the result. Enthusiasts and novel- 

 ties are numerous, consequently the number of 



tests is large. " Many are sown, but few are 

 chosen." 



Eeturningto the legitimate deliveries, samples of 

 which have been tapped at the warehouse and held 

 over for the proper planting season, we may men- 

 tion that those growing crops then represent what 

 is going on on a larger scale in the fields of the 

 various growers in this and other countries. By 

 these tests the firm is able to tell what crops and 

 particular stocks they must watch most in the mat- 

 ter of "roguing" and "selection." Independent 

 of all this, a staff of trained experts visits the crops 

 in their growing stages, and what is not up to the 

 desired quality by previous pedigree selection is 

 carefully gone over, and all types foreign to the 

 variety are taken out. This is specially of the 

 utmost importance in such transplantable crops 

 as cabbages, cauliflower, celery, lettuce and toma- 

 toes, and also in peas, beans, beets, onions, etc. 

 Hence the Hackensack grounds are no mean factor 

 in assisting definite conclusions to be arrived at in 

 addition to the expert knowledge of the house. 



The list of vegetable seeds represents in all about 

 3,400 tests. . . . 



Agricultural seeds represent 200 tests, embracing 

 clovers, grasses, mangels and other root crops, be- 

 sides an endless variety of forage plants. A special 

 feature in the trial grounds is the grass tests, which 

 are nearly all permanent, several acres of land 

 being set apart for this purpose, these being divided 

 into eighth and sixteenth parts of an acre. When 

 cut, the grass ic properly weighed and the yield per 

 acre averaged. 



Flower seeds in such an establishment play no 

 small part. The number of tests in this one branch 

 alone for this season was 1,070, and among these 

 many new and rare varieties were proved. 



Strawberries come in for an important share of 

 attention, the tests numbering 259. These were 

 planted in parallel single rows, 12 feet in length, 

 making a very imposing display, which if placed in 

 a straight line would measure over half a mile in 

 length. This test was probably one of the most 

 exhaustive trials ever made with the strawberry, and 

 included a number of imported varieties. . . . 



The Seed Warehouses. 



These are located at Garfield Avenue, Jer- 

 sey City, in close proximity to the huge block of 

 greenhouses and plant trial grounds, also owned 

 and operated by this firm in carrying on their great 

 plant trade. Two years ago it was found necessary 

 to increase the warehouse capacity, which at that 

 time was a three-story building, with cellar 60x100 

 feet. The new building is exactly the same size, 

 viz., 60 x 100 feet. Each cellar is capable of holding 

 4,000 barrels of potatoes, which, during their season, 

 fill up the whole space. The first floors are used for 

 receiving shipments as they come in, and here they 

 are arranged for their order of cleaning, etc. The 

 second floors are used for similar purposes, and the 

 I third set of floors deals with the finished article. 



In a short description like this it is impossible to 

 convey to the minds of our readers any adequate 

 idea of the business done or the size of the bulks 

 handled. . . . 



The boiler-room is located between the two build- 

 ings, and from such a point of vantage it is easy to 

 operate the different freight elevators, seed-cleaning 

 machines, etc., and for this purpose a 30-horse- 

 power boiler and a 25-horse-power engine is used. 

 On the top floor we find, perhaps, one of the most 

 interesting features of the whole establishment, 

 viz. : 



The Seed Cleaning Mills. 



For, while the great bulk of all the seeds 

 handled by this firm are well cleaned when received, 

 yet so particular are they, and so exacting are the 

 requirements of their trade, that nearly everything 

 is put through their own mills before being sold. 

 The mills are of the most approved styles, and it is 

 something marvelous the work that they will do. 

 All the mills were under full blast and discharging 

 from their various spouts, in some instances peas, 

 and in others some of the finer varieties of grass 

 seeds. In these days of keen competition, the best 

 equipped establishments forge to the front, and it 

 certainly seems to us that it would be impossible to 

 improve on the methods and machinery used by 

 this firm. In one section of the warehouse was a 

 room occupied by fifteen or twenty girls, who were 

 engaged in picking defective specimens from the 

 peas which had not been taken out by the mills. A 

 little later on double the number will be employed 

 at this same work. . . . 



One of the most important factors in the success 

 of Peter Henderson & Co. has been their system of 

 testing the germination and quality of seeds before 

 selling them ; in fact, they were the first seed house 

 in the United States to carry this out on any syste- 

 matic or extended plan. Their extensive green- 

 houses give them peculiar facilities for doing this, 

 having over four acres of greenhouse structures in 

 which all degrees of temperature are maintained, 

 thus enabling them to have at any time the precise 

 conditions required for anything they wish to test. 



The New York Store, Cortlandt Street. 



From here both the wholesale and retail 

 business is transacted. Here is also situated the 

 counting-house and all the clerical and lay depart- 

 ments. The building itself consists of Bix stories, 

 with two cellars below, the dimensions being 61 x 125 

 feet. This will give our readers some idea of the 

 size and volume of business, and from the fact that 

 during the busy season over two hundred hands are 

 employed, its magnitude will be better understood. 

 Each floor is a perfect organization in itself, and the 

 vast business seems to be transacted without the 

 least pretense to bustle or excitement. The con- 

 tents and arrangements of each floor, together with 

 the method of handling each department, would sup- 

 ply ample copy for a long article in itself. . . . 



