1822 
To Our Friends and Customers 
1917 
OR nearly a century the Brecks (father, sons, grandsons and £reat-£randsons) have striven 
to furnish the choicest seeds, the most up-to-date implements and machines and to £ive the 
best possible service in every department of their business. In this they have been ably 
seconded by men carefully selected and especially trained for the purpose. 
From Joseph Breck’s garden in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and the little Boston seed 
store of 1822, the business under this management has attained to very creditable pro¬ 
portions, occupying at present warehouses in Boston with a floor space of 80,000 square 
feet, and In connection with Mr. A. E. Robinson, operating nurseries and trial grounds in Lexington 
covering 88 acres. 
Our business has £rown proportionately; employing over 250 persons during the busy months. 
The practice of dealing honorably and liberally with customers, growers, manufacturers and 
employees alike, adopted 95 years a&o, is rigidly adhered to and will be so long as anyone “ by 
the name of Breck” is connected with the house. 
That the expression “Breck’s Seeds are Best” has become a common saying among cultivators 
is not to be wondered at when one thinks what the intensive work of four generations in the 
same business means. In no line are knowledge and experience more necessary than in the 
seed business. 
From planting to harvest, from harvest to distribution to customers every process is under the 
supervision of experts. Moreover all seeds that we sell are tested in our laboratory and greenhouses 
and field-tested in our trial grounds at Lexington so that we KNOW what we are selling. When our 
friends plant Breck’s Seeds or use their Implements, Fertilizers, etc., they do so with the assurance 
that they are planting and using the best that an experience of 95 years can furnish. 
We solicit your favors confident in our ability to serve you faithfully and well. 
CHARLES HENRY BRECK LUTHER ADAMS BRECK 
JOSEPH FRANCIS BRECK C. HENRY BRECK BRACKETT 
(Grandsons of Joseph Breck) (Great-Grandsons of Joseph Breck) 
JOSEPH BRECK & SONS, Corporation, 
Per 
Pres. 
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A LTHOUGH the volume of the 191 6 crops In the United States was much below the normal, yet their value was 
record-breaking; amounting to nearly S9.000.000,000, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, 
and AGRICULTURE, be it remembered, IS THE very FOUNDATION OF PROSPERITY. 
™ hat the reduction in volume means; for example, “INSUFFICIENT FOOD 
MENACES THE WORLD. FAILURE OF 1917 HARVEST WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE. Every nation will have 
to exercise close economy In Wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats and Corn In order to show margin of surplus food left at the 
beginning of the next harvest year, according to calculation made by the International Institute of Agriculture In Rome.” 
This startling report, printed In a recent Issue of the New York Commercial Bulletin, brings forcibly to mind the 
Importance of planting as large an acreage during 1917 as the farm, supply of labor, seed and fertilizer will permit. 
A large well-planted home garden Is the best way to lower the present abnormally high cost of food and at the 
same time to Increase the general supply, thereby helping, not only the Individual family, but the world at large. 
Fortunately for the farmer and gardener, reliable stocks of seeds, with the exceptlor o Beans, Potatoes, Sweet Corn and 
a few varieties of Flower Seeds, are in good supply with prices not much advanced over 1916. 
Having placed contracts years In advance, and with world-wide sources of supply, we have secured large and 
reliable stocks of seeds, plants, bulbs and fertilizers,and are now In position to fill orders for Spring shipment with goods 
of our usual high quality. 
Transportation, both by rail and express. Is badly congested by the huge volume of business being transacted the 
country over. Conditions are not much Improved over last year, therefore we urge our friends and customers to favor 
us with their orders as soon as possible after the receipt of this catalogue. We can defer shipment, If requested, but by 
placing orders early, customers will be reasonably sure of having their favorite selections on hand when planting 
time arrives. 
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OUR NURSERY AND SEED TRIAL GROUNDS ARE CONDUCTED BY 
BRECK-ROBINSON NURSERY CO., Munroe Station, Lexington, Mass. 
Especial Attention paid to Landscape Designing, Planting , Forestry, Horticulture , Etc. Catalogs Free. 
.. . 
JOSEPH BRECK & SONS, Corporation 
New England Agricultural Warehouse and Seed Store 
47 to 54 NORTH MARKET STREET 
TELEPHONE 2360 RICHMOND. Private Branch Exchange Connecting All Departments. 
BOSTON, MASS. 
ESTABLISHED 1822 
( Copyright, 1917, by Joseph Breck & Sons Corp.) 
