Wilson - Seal-Araft - An Interesting Story 
In 1914 Mr. Clarence E. Wilson, (having worked in other nurseries since childhood days), 
started the nursery business which now bears his name in Manchester, Connecticut. His first 
endeavor in the nursery business was primarily in the production of small seedlings and 
plants, such as fruit tree seedlings, barberry hedge plant seedlings and rose bush seedlings. 
These small plants were sold to other large wholesale nurseries for further development into 
finished salable size plants. As time went by, he also started the production of the finished 
p'ants, which in some cases required 5, 6 and even 10 years. By 1925 his nursery was a rea- 
sonably complete one, handling many kinds of finished plants as well as small ones. 
At about that same time, sale of nursery stock, especially rose bushes, was started through re- 
tail store outlets, such as department stores, chain stores and seed stores. Plants packaged for 
early sale were very crudely packaged and did not remain in good condition very long in the 
hot and dry store atmosphere. Realizing this, he spent considerable time developing ways to 
improve the packaging of plants. One of his first steps was the use of heavy duplex Krinkle- 
Kraft paper, in order to retain as much moisture as possible around the roots of the plant. 
This type paper is still used today, although it is now being superseded gradually by im- 
proved packaging materials. Holding the moisture around the roots of the plants was only 
half the story, since the tops, or the canes, were not protected. As soon as plants were placed 
in the hot and dry atmosphere of a store, evaporation of moisture from the plants started and 
Scene a WILSON within just a few days, or even a matter of hours, the plants became dry and, consequently, 
ounder 
dead. At this point Mr. C. E. Wilson started working on a wax coating which might serve 
the purpose of holding within the plant the moisture so necessary to its existence. After much 
hard work and thousands of experiments, a suitable wax formula was found, and in 1931 
United States Letters Patent was granted to Mr. C. E. Wilson, covering his wax coating pro- 
cess. This patented wax coating process was trade-marked “Seal-Kraft’”. This was the first suc- 
cessful wax coating in the entire industry and has proved to be the most important contribution 
to the successful merchandising of rose bushes and other plants through retail store outlets. 
With the advent of volume sales made possible by the Seal-Kraft wax coating process the sale 
of rose bushes became an increasingly important part of the Wilson Nursery business. 
The production of rose bushes in Connecticut was not as economical, nor as practical, as in 
other parts of the country, and the natural result was to obtain rose bushes from the East 
Texas area; then and now, the largest rose bush producing area in the United States. Rose 
bushes were purchased in carload quantities in Texas and shipped to Manchester, Conn., for 
packaging and processing. It was not long before the extensive distribution created by the im- 
mediate acceptance of Seal-Kraft roses dictated the establishment of packing operations in 
Texas at the source of the rose bushes. 
In 1936 a branch packing plant was established in Jacksonville, Texas, under the direct super- 
vision of Carroll W. Wilson, oldest of three sons of Mr. C. E. Wilson. From 1936 through 
1939 operations at Jacksonville consisted only of packaging of plants grown by our contract 
grower. In 1939 growing operations were established in Texas, and C. E. Wilson Nurseries 
CARROLL W. WILSON (a Texas Corp.) was established at that time. From this time on operations at Manchester, 
President Conn., were gradually transferred to Jacksonville, Texas, which are now headquarters of the 
Sales & Administrat‘oa Wilson organization. 
During World War II growing operations in Texas were confined, as they should have been, 
to necessary war crops, and nursery operations were practically at a standstill. Immediately 
following the war an extensive production program was initiated in Texas and has continued 
to grow until a good portion of the plants packaged and processed are now our own production. 
In 1945 Hewitt E. Wilson, second son of Mr. C. E. Wilson, moved to Jacksonville, Texas, 
and joined the firm and, now along with Carroll W. Wilson, is actively engaged in the man- 
agement of the firm. At the death of Mr. C. E. Wilson in 1948, Carroll W. Wilson assumed 
the Presidency of the firm and Hewitt E. Wilson became Secretary. 
Operations at Manchester, Conn., are now sep2rately maintained as Wilson’s Nurseries under 
direct supervision of G. S. Wilson, third son of C. E. Wilson. Wilson’s Nurseries at Manchester 
are serviced both as to plants and packages by C. E. Wilson Nurseries at Jacksonville, Texas. 
Because of the production of rose bushes in Texas, a most integrated operation can be main- 
tained to the direct benefit of our customers. Our present facilities, in addition to our extensive 
growing operations, include the first cold storage warehouse built in Texas for the sole pur- 
pose of the storage and handling of rose bushes. Our operations, for the most part, are con- 
fined to rose bushes, since they represent the major portion of store sales. Our business is de- 
voted entirely to the packaging of plants for sale over the retail store counter, and is our only 
business; as a result, we are able to give close attention and personalized service to every 
aspect and detail in connection therewith. 
HEWITT E. WILSON 
Secretary 
Constant improvement of our packages is being made as new packaging materials develop, 
and improved facilities established as fast as possible. Increasing sales volume every year is 
Production sufficient indication of the progressive nature of our business. 
