December, 191 (i 
T H E G A R D E X AE A (i A Z I X E 
165 
! of life — rye, barley, peas, etc., — many of which 
grew even better here than they had seemed 
I to grow at home; and from the first a local 
exchange of seeds was carried on, which later 
gave origin to a New England seed trade which 
centred in Boston. 
In 1767, six of Boston’s twenty-six adver- 
tising merchants sold seeds. At that time, 
also, a Boston gardener offered fifty-six dis- 
tinct varieties of vegetables and flower seeds. 
Philadelphia entered the seed trade in 1775, 
at which time Dutch and English settlers 
started to advertise both imported and home- 
' grown seeds. 
The Revolutionary War temporarily blotted 
out all activity in the production of seeds in 
this country. Since the only seeds available 
were those brought from Holland or taken 
from prize ships, the industry received a 
serious setback. Between 1784 and 1790, the 
imports grew again, and soon combined with 
the local production, gave rise to a supply that 
far exceeded the actual needs of the country. 
The first seed farm in America was started 
near Philadelphia, in 1784, by David Landreth. 
! Early Swedish colonists, settling near Phila- 
delphia, brought with them considerable skill 
in gardening, and established truck or vege- 
table farms. They, in turn, educated other 
market gardeners, to whom must be given 
' the credit of the beginnings of the present 
American seed industry. 
In 1794, the Shakers around Mt. Lebanon, 
' N. Y., began growing seeds for market. Their 
» wagons went from village to village, and they 
1. also placed seeds with country store keepers, 
to be sold on commission, taking back what 
was not sold at the end of the season. 
I 1 hroughout the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century, their seeds were more popular than 
: any others. In 1839, a Shaker colony in 
' Massachusetts devoted five acres to garden 
seeds and herbs, and their yearly sales 
. amounted to more than ^3,000— big money 
’’ from five acres in those days. 
In due time, all along the eastern seashore, 
ft from Marblehead, Mass., to Maryland, Dutch 
and Swedish 
truckers en- 
gaged in the 
business of 
growing vege- 
tables and 
swappingseeds. 
Late in the sea- 
son, the saving 
of home-grown 
seeds from sur- 
plus vegetables 
became a prac- 
tice, because 
foreign supplies 
were not al- 
Although of such recent origin. California seed growing is on such a scale as to 
utilize modem machine t<x)ls. A clod-cmsher pulverizing tile ground 
3.000 acres, in New York, devoted 
to peas and beans 
50 acres, in New York, devoted to 
other vegetables 
250 acres, in New York devoted to 
flower seeds 
1,600 acres, in Michigan and 
Northern Illinois 
1.000 acres, in Pennsylvania 
1,000 acres, in New England 
small seed garden, one destined to become the 
great seed garden of the world. 
FROM 1763 TO 1900 
In 1802, Grant Tborburn opened the first 
seed store in New \’ork City. As the coun- 
try expanded so did the newly born seed trade. 
Across the Alleghanys to the Plains of Ohio 
was but a step. European onion seed was a 
thing of the past. I'he improved strains of 
Connecticut onions, developed in 1767, 
planted in 5-foot deep humus beds in Ohio, 
gave a produce the like of which the Old W orld 
had never known. Melons, tomatoes, beans, 
peas — in short, every vegetable of any conse- 
quence soon “felt at home” in one part or 
other of the New W’orld. 
The opening of the Civil W ar 
still found us largely dependent 
on imported garden seeds, but 
it stimulated increased efforts 
at home. Between i860 and 
1870, more than fifty new seed 
farms sprang into existence, as 
many as started during the 
thirty years preceding the War. 
In 1867, it is estimated that 
2,000 acres were devoted to the 
production of vegetable and 
flower seeds in this country'. By 
1878, this had increased to 7,000 
acres, distributed as follows: 
ways “on time” and so could not be de- 
pended on. Gradually, the growers realized 
that the home-grown seeds, properly selected, 
were often more dependable than the imported 
product. Thus the curtain rises upon a new 
During the next twenty-five years, American 
seed production made rapid strides. Between 
1875 and 1890, the acreage passed the 100,000 
mark, the work being pursued on nearly 600 
farms. A decade later, we find 100,000 acres 
Typical bird’s eye view of the modern seed farm on the Pacific Coast. Large areas devoted to individual crops 
