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Planting a Seed: The Nineteenth-Century Horticultural Boom in America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2011

Cheryl Lyon-Jenness
Cheryl Lyon-Jenness
Affiliation:
CHERYL LYON-JENNESS is director of undergraduate studies in the Department of History atWestern Michigan University.
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Abstract

Between 1850 and 1880, enthusiasm for horticulture swept the nation, particularly the Upper Midwest. Nursery owners and seed traders welcomed the escalating demand for trees and flowers but soon faced consumer complaints about their questionable business practices. Customer dissatisfaction had many sources, ranging from unethical entrepreneurs to faltering industry infrastructure and underhanded dealing. The nurserymen and seed dealers worked diligently to overcome these criticisms, sharing information to improve industry methods and attempting to deflect responsibility for fraudulent practice onto disreputable competitors or inexperienced customers. The conflicts between commercial horticulturists and their broadening customer base reflected tensions within America's rapidly expanding consumer culture and suggested that traditional restraints on industry practice based on personal ties and shared values would no longer suffice when dealing with a newly diversified and seemingly intractable clientele.

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Articles
Information
Business History Review , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , Autumn 2004 , pp. 381 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 2004

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References

1 “The Nursery Business,” Prairie Farmer (July 1854): 258.

2 For an overview of the cultural circumstances surrounding this unprecedented interest in horticulture, see Lyon-Jenness, Cheryl, For Shade and For Comfort: Democratizing Horticulture in the Nineteenth-Century Midwest (West Lafayette, 2004)Google Scholar. See also “Surroundings Indicate Character,” Prairie Farmer 5 (16 Feb. 1860): 106Google Scholar; and Breck, Joseph, The Flower Garden; or Breck's Book of Flowers (Boston, 1851), 15Google Scholar.

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11 For a good discussion of the rise of Rochester seedsmen, see Parks, “The Cultivation of Flower City,” 25–45; Kabelac, Karl Sanford, “Advice for Gardeners: Vick's Monthly Magazine (The First Series, 1878–1891),” University of Rochester Library Bulletin 39 (1986): 24–35Google Scholar; and History of Monroe County, New York (Philadelphia, 1877), 113–14Google Scholar.

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14 For an overview of the number of Ohio nurserymen, see “Nurserymen, Florists, Seedsmen, and Dealers in Horticultural Stock,” American Horticultural Annual 1871, 146. Also see Hedrick, A History of Horticulture in America, 311.

15 See, for example, B. W. Steere's description of his early years as a nurseryman in Adrian Michigan, in Lyon, T. T., History of Michigan Horticulture: Being a Part of the Seventeenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Horticultural Society of Michigan (Lansing, 1887), 220–21Google Scholar.

16 See “Occupations of the Male Inhabitants,” U. S. Census of Population 1850, 1850.1–1850.3, microfilm copy, roll 1, lxxi; Kennedy, Joseph C. G., compiler, “Occupations in the United States,” in Population of the United States in 1860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census (Washington, D.C., 1864), 662, 664, 674Google Scholar; Walker, Francis A., compiler, “Persons Engaged in Each Occupation,” The Statistics of the Population of the United States from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C., 1872), 674Google Scholar; Compendium of the Tenth Census 1880, part 2 (Washington, D.C., 1885)Google Scholar, microfilm copy, roll 3, 1382–83.

17 See “A Talk about ‘Horticulture’,” American Agriculturist 19 (Oct. 1860): 305Google Scholar; and “American Taste in Gardening,” Moore's Rural New Yorker 14 (6 June 1863): 183Google Scholar.

18 “Western New York Nursery Business,” Horticulturist 22 (Nov. 1867): 350Google Scholar.

19 For mid-nineteenth-century commentary on the growth of Vick's, see “An Immense Seed Establishment,” Horticulturist 22 (Oct. 1867): 320Google Scholar.

20 See, for example, Kennicott, J., “The Late Pomological Convention at Buffalo,” Prairie Farmer 9 (Jan. 1849): 24–25Google Scholar. For brief biographies of prominent horticultural advocates, see Bailey, Liberty Hyde, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture (New York, 1937), 1563–1604Google Scholar.

21 See R. O. Thompson, Nebraska City, Nebraska Territory, to John A. Kennicott, The Grove, Illinois (24 July 1860), Kennicott Business Papers no. 889; and Andrew L. Siler, Fountain Green, Utah Territory, to John A. Kennicott, The Grove, Illinois (22 Mar. 1862), Kennicott Business Papers no. 1183. Original copies of all Kennicott correspondence are housed at the Grove National Historic Landmark in Glenview, Illinois. A portion of the Kennicott Business Papers are also available on microfilm from the Illinois State Historical Society in Springfield. Hereafter, Kennicott's name and location will be abbreviated JAK, and the Kennicott Business Papers will be abbreviated KBP.

22 For commentary on economic problems in the Midwest, see Huston, James L., The Panic of 1857 and the Coming of the Civil War (Baton Rouge, 1987)Google Scholar; Gates, Paul W., Agriculture and the Civil War (New York, 1965), 5–6, and 224–25Google Scholar; and Cayton and Onuf, The Midwest and the Nation, esp. ch. 5.

23 For an evaluation of popular plants and garden designs in the mid-nineteenth century, see Cheryl Lyon-Jenness, For Shade and For Comfort, 53–86.

24 For Lay's own account of the early years of his nursery, see Holmes, J. C., “The Early History of Horticulture in Michigan,” Collection and Researches Made by the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, 2nd ed., vol. 10 (Lansing, 1908), 73Google Scholar.

25 Charles Hamilton, Ridgefield, to JAK (10 Dec. 1861), KBP 1078.

26 For a typical comment on this problem, see Kennicott, John, “Valuable Notes on Fruit Culture in Northern Illinois,” Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society, vol. 3, 1857–58 (Springfield, 1859): 60Google Scholar.

27 For a typical description of the problem, see O. B. Galusha, Lisbon, Illinois, to JAK (30 Apr. 1860), KBP 846.

28 For an early history of the express industry see, Weir, Levi C., “The Express,” in One Hundred Years of American Commerce 1795–1895, vol. 1, ed. DePew, Chauncey M. (New York, 1895), 137–40Google Scholar; and Ball, Franklin W., “Just Express It,” Railroad Magazine 47 (Oct. 1948): 94–103Google Scholar.

29 See United States Domestic Postage Rates, 1789–1956 (Washington, D.C., 1956), 33, 58–59Google Scholar; and Scheele, Carl H., A Short History of the Mail Service (Washington, D.C., 1970), 91Google Scholar.

30 For an example of complaints about packing charges, see “Packing Charges by Nurserymen,” Gardener's Monthly 16 (Sept. 1874): 277Google Scholar.

31 H. A. Terry, Crescent City, Iowa, to JAK (1 Oct. 1861), KBP 103; (31 Oct. 1861), KBP 1050; and (20 Mar. 1862), KBP 1171.

32 “Mice in the Post Office,” Gardener's Monthly 9, no. 3 (Mar. 1867): 85; and Babcock and Brothers, Summerfield, 111., to JAK (11 Apr. 1861), KBP 975.

33 See, for example, United States Express Company Bill, (10 Oct. 1856), KBP 116.

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35 See for example, “Detroit Nursery” [advertisement], Michigan Farmer 10 (Apr. 1852): 126Google Scholar.

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37 See American Agriculturist 17 (Mar. 1858): 92–94Google Scholar; and American Agriculturist 23 (Mar. 1874): 109–20Google Scholar. A number of historians have documented the history of advertising and have emphasized its increasing importance in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but almost without exception they have ignored the early advertising efforts of the horticultural industry and its effect on the establishment of a national market for horticultural goods. See, for example, Pope, Daniel, The Making of Modern Advertising (New York, 1983)Google Scholar; Goodrum, Charles A. and Dalrymple, Helen, Advertising in America: The First 200 Years (New York, 1990)Google Scholar; Jay, Robert, The Trade Card in Nineteenth-Century America (Columbia, 1987)Google Scholar; Norris, James D., Advertising and the Transformation of American Society, 1865–1920 (New York, 1990)Google Scholar; and Presbrey, Frank, The History and Development of Advertising (New York, 1929Google Scholar; reprint, 1968).

38 See Dexter Leader, 15 Apr. 1869, 21 Feb. 1873, and 19 Mar. 1875. Circulation figures are drawn from “Table VI–Periodicals,” Statistics of the State of Michigan Collected for the Ninth Census of the United States, June 1, 1870 (Lansing, 1873), 670–76Google Scholar.

39 For an early example of a catalog using the list form, see Catalogue of Fruit and Ornamental Trees and Plants, Bulbous Flower Roots, Greenhouse Plants Etc., Cultivated at the Linnaean Botanic Garden, William Prince, Proprietor, 22nd ed. (New York, 1823)Google Scholar.

40 For an example of Vick's presentation and comments on the quarterly publication, see Vick's Floral Guide for 1875 (Rochester, N.Y., 1875), esp. 128Google Scholar, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.

41 See Washburn and Co.'s Amateur Cultivator's Guide to the Flower and Kitchen Garden (1868), 11; and Vick's Illustrated Floral Guide for 1871 (Rochester, N.Y., 1871), 1Google Scholar, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.

42 Vick's Illustrated Catalogue and Floral Guide for the Spring of 1865, i–iv; Catalogue of New and Rare Green House Plants, Evergreen Shrubs, Bedding Plants, Dahlias, Verbenas, Roses, Petunias, Fuchsias, Chrysanthemums, Phlox, Geraniums, Bulbs, Etc., Grown and For Sale by Hubbard and Davis (Detroit, 1871), 8–9Google Scholar, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Mich.; and Dreer's Garden Calendar for 1868 (Philadelphia, 1868)Google Scholar, National Agricultural Library, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Md.

43 See, for example, A Descriptive Catalogue of a Choice Collection of Flower, Vegetable and Agricultural Seeds Cultivated and For Sale by Benjamin K. Bliss (Springfield, Mass., 1860), 46Google Scholar.

44 See Washburn and Co.'s Amateur Cultivator's Guide to the Flower and Kitchen Garden (1868), 42–43.

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51 See, for example, G. G. Burdick, Chicago, Illinois, to JAK (31 Aug. 1863), KBP 1716. Mr. Burdick wrote to inquire about a job with Mr. Kennicott and pointed out that he had been paid $40 per month plus expenses for his labor with a Rochester nursery.

52 See William J. Green, Green Bay, Wisconsin, to JAK, (15 July 1862), KBP 1420; (10 Apr. 1862), KBP 1240; (8 Mar. 1862), KBP 1141; and (27 Aug. 1856), KBP 104.

53 For examples of problems with nursery agents, see W. B. Atkinson, Hamilton, III., to JAK (7 Sept. 1857), KBP 245; and (27 Dec. 1857), KBP 289; and John Bovee, Kankakee, III., to Charles Kennicott (12 Nov. 1856), KBP 127.

54 See Grosso, Diane, “From Genesee to the World,” 7, 9–11Google Scholar; “American Horticulture,” Gardener's Monthly 5 (June 1863): 175Google Scholar; and “Nurserymen's Association,” Prairie Farmer 3 (19 May 1859): 311Google Scholar. For information on eighteenth-century plant peddlers, see Sandy, Barbara W., “Nurserymen and Seed Dealers in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake,” Journal of Garden History 9, no. 3 (1989): 111–17Google Scholar.

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61 Kabelac, “Nineteenth-Century Rochester Fruit and Flower Plates,” 94; and “Colored Plates of Fruits and Flowers” [advertisement], Moore's Rural New Yorker 21 (22 Jan. 1870): 63Google Scholar; “Colored Plates” [advertisement], Michigan Farmer 6 (9 Aug. 1860): 92Google Scholar.

62 Dewey, The Tree Agents'Private Guide, 7–29

63 “The Tree Agents Private Guide,” Gardener's Monthly 17 (Sept. 1875): 283Google Scholar.

64 Harrington, How 'Tis Done, 246, 248; and “September Meeting,” Tenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Pomological Society of Michigan, 1880 (Lansing, 1881), 296Google Scholar.

65 See, for example, J. A. Kimberly, Neenah, Wisc, to JAK (6 May 1862), KBP 1353.

66 DeGraff Nelson and Company, Fort Wayne, Ind., to JAK (3 Mar. 1862), KBP 1132; Levi Thumb, Irving, III., to JAK (26 Feb. 1860), KBP 754.

67 See “Dishonest Tree Agents,” Horticulturist 26 (Mar. 1871): 45Google Scholar; and “Tree and Plant Swindlers,” American Agriculturist 32 (Apr. 1873): 143Google Scholar.

68 “Imposition,” Horticulturist 10 (Mar. 1855): 142Google Scholar.

69 Bailey, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 1559, 1587–88; Hedrick, A History of Horticulture in America, 490, 496.

70 See, Holmes, J. C., “Valedictory,” Michigan Farmer 7 (1 Nov. 1849): 326Google Scholar; Noble, S. B., “To Our Horticultural Readers,” Michigan Farmer 11 (Jan. 1853): 24Google Scholar; Holmes, J. C., “Salutatory,” Michigan Farmer 13 (Jan. 1855): 12Google Scholar; and “Our Horticultural Department,” Michigan Farmer 14 (Jan. 1856): 23Google Scholar.

71 John A. Kennicott, “Deprecatory,” Prairie Farmer (Nov. 1853): 417.

72 See “Taking Up and Packing Trees and Plants,” American Agriculturist 17 (Apr. 1858): 117Google Scholar; and “How to Send Plants by Post,” Michigan Farmer 11(1853): 318Google Scholar.

73 For information on the formation of other midwestern organizations, see Bailey, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 1553–55; and “State Agricultural Associations,” Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society, vol. 1, 1853–1854 (Springfield, 1855), 10–23Google Scholar.

74 For a general account of the history of the Detroit Horticultural Society, see Holmes, “The Early History of Horticulture in Michigan,” 75–79. The Society's preamble and constitution were reprinted, along with a description of the founding by Holmes, J. C., in “May Meeting,” Second Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Pomological Society of Michigan, 1872 (Lansing, 1873), 96–103Google Scholar.

75 For information on other Illinois horticultural activists, see Ernst, Erik A., “John A. Kennicott of The Grove, Physician, Horticulturist, and Journalist in Nineteenth-Century Illinois,” Illinois State Historical Society Journal, vol. 74 (1981): 109–18Google Scholar; Bardolph, Richard, Agricultural Literature and the Early Illinois Farmer (Urbana, 1948), esp. ch. 2,49–89Google Scholar.

76 See, for example, Bateham, M. B., “Floriculture for the Million,” Second Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Pomological Society of Michigan, 1872 (Lansing, 1873), 416Google Scholar.

77 Kennicott, J., “The Late Pomological Convention at Buffalo,” Prairie Farmer 9 (Jan. 1849): 24–25Google Scholar.

78 For an account of the Association, see Holmes, “The Early History of Horticulture in Michigan,” 79–83; and “Constitution of the Michigan Nurserymen's and Fruit Growers' Association,” J. C. Holmes Papers, 1849–1854, Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Michigan. See also “To Nurserymen and Fruit Growers,” Michigan Farmer 13 (Jan. 1855): 13Google Scholar; and Bailey, The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 1553.

79 “Nurserymen's Association,” Prairie Farmer 3 (19 May 1859): 311Google Scholar; “The Nursery Trade,” Prairie Farmer 14 (26 Nov. 1864): 340Google Scholar; and “Methods of Selling Nursery Stock,” Ninth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Pomological Society of Michigan, 1879 (Lansing, 1880), 306–7Google Scholar. For historical background on the development and importance of trade associations, see Galambos, Louis, “The American Trade Association Movement Revisited,” in Trade Associations in Business History, eds. Yamazaki, Hiroaki and Miyamoto, Matao (Toyko, 1988), 121–35Google Scholar; Bradley, Joseph F., The Role of Trade Associations and Professional Business Societies in America (University Park, Md., 1965)Google Scholar; and Froth, Joseph Henry, Trade Associations, Their Services to Industry (New York, 1930)Google Scholar.

80 William R. Prince, Flushing, N.Y., to JAK (10 Jan. 1862), KBP 1098.

81 J. B. Turner, Jacksonville, III., to JAK (23 Feb. 1858), KBP 321.

82 “Mr. Editor,” Horticulturist 17 (Nov. 1862): 528Google Scholar.

83 “Bad for Tree Pedlers,” American Agriculturist 26 (Feb. 1867): 50Google Scholar. See also “The Adrian Horticultural Society,” Horticulturist 10 (Mar. 1855): 151–52Google Scholar. A number of historians have commented on this process of defining itinerant salesmen as disreputable. See, for example, Spears, 100 Years on the Road, 55.

84 “Mr. Editor,” Horticulturist 17 (Nov. 1862): 528Google Scholar.

85 T. T. Lyon, South Haven, Mich., to Webster Cook, Saline, Mich., 13 July 1874, T. T. Lyon Letterbook, vol. 1, collection 345, Historical Collection and Archives, Michigan State University, East Lansing.

86 See, for example, J. B. Hunt, Tuscola, III., to JAK (22 Dec. 1862), KBP 1506; George H. Work, Carlinville, III., to JAK (7 May 1862), KBP 1357; and B. C. Church, Odell, III., to JAK (3 July 1863), KBP 1695.

87 For examples of industry practice, see “Abridged Catalogue of Select Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Cultivated and Sold by Ellwanger and Barry,” Rochester, N.Y., 1860Google Scholar, Ellwanger and Barry Company Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.; and Truett's Sons and Morgan, “Nursery Agents and Tree Peddlers,” American Agriculturist 34 (Oct. 1875): 383Google Scholar; “Methods of Selling Nursery Stock,” Ninth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Pomological Society of Michigan, 1879 (Lansing, 1880), 307Google Scholar.

88 “Advertisements,” Michigan Farmer 4 (June 1846): 56Google Scholar; and “Our Nursery Advertisements,” Michigan Farmer 11 (Mar. 1853): 81Google Scholar.

89 See, for example, “Horticultural Notes,” Michigan Farmer 16 (Mar. 1858): 80Google Scholar; and “The Toledo Nurseries,” Michigan Farmer 15 (Mar. 1857): 89Google Scholar.

90 John L. Wilson, Chicago, III., to JAK (27 March 1862), KBP, 1193.

91 “Nurseryman's Reputation,” Horticulturist 10 (June 1853): 293Google Scholar.

92 See for example, Chicago, “Nurserymen's Protective Associations,” Gardener's Monthly 17 (Apr. 1875): 126Google Scholar; and Galusha, O. B., “Nurseries of Illinois,” Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society, vol. 3, 1857–1858 (Springfield, 1859), 372–77Google Scholar. See also “Horticultural Register 1867, of Nurserymen, Fruit-Growers, Agents, Dealers and Publishers,” Transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural Society for 1866 (Chicago, 1867), 109Google Scholar 22; “List of the Principal Nurserymen, Florists, and Seedsmen,” American Horticultural Annual 1867 (New York, 1867), 147Google Scholar; and “Nurserymen, Florists, Seedsmen, and Dealers in Horticultural Stock,” American Horticultural Annual 1871 (New York, 1871), 140–52Google Scholar.

93 “Protection Against Horticultural Swindlers,” Gardener's Monthly 11 (June 1869): 182Google Scholar; “Swindle,” Prairie Farmer 44 (1 Feb. 1873): 34Google Scholar; and “Convention of American Association of Nurserymen,” Moore's Rural New Yorker 39 (3 July 1880): 442Google Scholar.

94 J.A.K., , “To Purchasers of Fruit Trees,” Prairie Farmer 13 (Jan. 1853): 5Google Scholar; and Holmes, J. C., “Itinerant Fruit Tree Peddlers,” Michigan Farmer 13 (Aug. 1855): 245Google Scholar.

95 Kennicott, John, “Orchards in Illinois,” Transactions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society, vol. 4, 1859–1860 (Springfield, 1861), 329Google Scholar; and “October, 1879,” Vick's Illustrated Monthly Magazine 2 (Oct. 1879): 289Google Scholar.

96 Adams, H. Dale, “Fruit Culture on the Farm,” Sixteenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture of the State of Michigan, 1877 (Lansing, 1878.), 321Google Scholar; “Hints to the Purchasers of Trees, Seeds, &c,” Horticulturist 10 (1 July 1855): 250Google Scholar; and “Roses, Roses, Roses” [Loud and Trask advertisement], Adrian Times and Expositor (26 Mar. 1870).

97 “October, 1879,” Vick's Illustrated Monthly Magazine 2 (Oct. 1879): 289Google Scholar; and “The Blue-Rose Fraud,” Vick's Illustrated Monthly Magazine 2 (June 1879): 184Google Scholar.

98 See Van Ravenswaay, Charles, A Nineteenth-Century Garden (New York, 1977), 18Google Scholar. By the early twentieth century, Ellwanger and Barry advertised that they hired no agents, but sold plants only through their catalogs. See Ellwanger, and Barry, Advertisement, House Beautiful 23 (Apr. 1908): 44Google Scholar.

99 See Downs, Buck, ed., Directory of National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States (Washington, D.C., 2002), 108Google Scholar. Today, the association is known as the American Nursery and Landscape Association.

100 Montgomery Ward began catalog sales in 1872, and Sears offered serious competition in the 1890s. See Danbom, David B., Born in the County: A History of Rural American (Baltimore, 1995), 149Google Scholar.