September 10, 1898. “THE GARDENING WORLD 25 
VISIT TO THE SEED WAREHOUSES 
AND SEED TRIAL GROUNDS OF 
MESSRS. BELL & BIEBERSTEDT, 
LEITH. 
I wonder if it ever occurs to anybody in purchasing 
their yearly supply of seeds, whether for the garden 
or farm, what an enormous organisation there must 
be, so to speak, behind the scenes in order to supply 
the wants of a gigantic trade like the seed business. 
Grasses, Turnip and garden seeds. The floor space 
of these various buildings comprises some 70,000 
sq. ft. Passing through the commercial offices I 
noted several rows of clerks engaged, doubtless a 
necessary corollary to deal with the ramifications of 
such a business, demanding correspondence in 
nearly all European languages, besides the detailed 
work of sampling and dealing with the shipping 
orders; and my attention was especially attracted 
by the perfect system the firm has realised for the 
continually, in order to cope with the pressure dur¬ 
ing the season, so great has been the development in 
this department. Messrs. Eell & Bieberstedt, I found, 
have separate floors devoted to the storing of the 
Perennial Ryegrasses, which are brought in from all 
the growing districts in Scotland and Ireland, whilst 
the last two floors at the top of the building are 
set apart entirely for home and imported Italian Rye¬ 
grasses. The premises adjoining are occupied 
by the considerable machinery which the cleaning of 
Reflecting upon the big wholesale concerns, which 
are a necessity to the life of other trades, it occurred 
to me that a visit to some of our better known seed 
centres should be a matter of considerable interest. 
Nor was I disappointed when upon calling at the 
establishment of Messrs. Bell & Bieberstedt, at 
Leith, whom I know to be largely interested both 
Seed Trial Grounds, Lochend Road, Leith. 
actual testing of seeds in the matter of purity 
and growth. A trained botanist is occupied 
solely in this department, and finds ample - to 
occupy his time and energies, and upon this section 
of the work very much of course depends. 
In the Clover seed stores, which are capable 
of holding many hundred tons of the different 
all the various kinds of seeds go through. Some¬ 
thing like twenty or more machines are engaged at 
once, and one may be sure that these are pretty well 
up-to-date by reason of the quantity and the quality 
of the work required of them. 
What I learnt was that a new department is 
devoted to the handling of vegetable, flower and root 
Warehouses of Messrs. Bell & Bieberstedt. 
at home and abroad as wholesale seed merchants 
and growers, and whose connection mutt be as ex¬ 
tensive and varied as any. En route to the north it 
was an easy matter to drop off at Edinburgh and 
hie me to Leith, where, at the firm's offices in 
Coburg Street, one of the principals assured me of 
the interest and welcome he most cordially extended, 
and to that gentleman I am personally indebted for 
an interesting excursion through the numerous ware¬ 
houses used for the cleaning and storing of Clover, 
varieties of this genus, there were many busy 
hands engaged in the handling of seeds in 
quantity, much of which was destined for export as 
well as for the home trade. From the Clover seed 
stores we went along to other floors, utilised princi¬ 
pally for the warehousing of Natural grasses, and 
where the process of cleaning was an interesting 
thing to witness. Although considerable quantities 
can be dealt with in a day, the requirements of the 
business involves the work going forward almost 
seeds. This also necessitates a great deal of labour, 
and a considerable staff was also engaged here in the 
very necessary work of cleansing the fresh arrival of 
new seeds required for the coming season’s trade. 
The picking of garden Peas and Beans seemed to be 
quite a business in itself, whilst ihe counting of the 
various pot trials was another mystery into which I 
was initiated. As an adjunct to all this we came 
across another warehouse devoted to miscellaneous 
garden requisites. 
