18 
EIGHTY YEARS OF GROWING 
THE BULK SEED BUSINESS OF 
FERRY-MORSE SEED CO. 
I N THE earlier days of the garden seed industry in the United States, sales in bulk were 
comparatively small. There was no commercial canning of vegetables. Home gardeners 
purchased such small quantities that bulk sales were not practicable. A limited number of 
market gardeners grew vegetables for sale around the larger cities in the East and purchased 
their supplies from the few scattered seed stores then in existence. 
As new large centers of population sprang up, the demand for fresh vegetables increased. 
With increased demand, the number of market gardeners multiplied rapidly. Then came the 
canning industry. Beginning with peas, beans, and corn, the list of vegetables canned was 
broadened steadily. Large acreages were planted. The canning industry became a large-scale 
user of vegetable seeds. Commercial vegetable growers in the South and on the Pacific coast 
began shipping vegetables to the northern markets. Improved packing and shipping methods 
were developed. The new industry soon devoted huge acreages in the South and West to the 
growing of vegetables for northern markets. As these developments progressed, so the bulk 
seed business of D. M. Ferry & Co. and C. C. Morse & Co. increased. 
Before the consolidation, D. M. Ferry & Co. sold largely to dealers and canners; C. C. 
A member uf the Salinas Seed Breeding Station staff making a lettuce "cross." He is using sterilized instruments to trans¬ 
fer pollen from a selected lettuce plant to the stigma of this lettuce flou er. Each of these bags contains a single lettuce plant 
