Title: Burpee's farm annual : garden, farm, and flower seeds, thoroughbred stock
Identifier: burpeesfarmannua1884watl (find matches)
Year: 1884 (1880s)
Authors: W. Atlee Burpee Company; Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection
Subjects: Nursery stock Pennsylvania Philadelphia Catalogs; Flowers Pennsylvania Catalogs; Vegetables Pennsylvania Catalogs; Seeds Pennsylvania Catalogs
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : W. Atlee Burpee Co.
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

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2 BURPEE'S FARM ANNUAL.
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BURPEE'S SEED WAREHOUSE, located at Nos. 475 and 477 North Fifth Street, extend- ing through to Nos. 476 and 478 York Avenue, is the largest in the city of Philadelphia, and for the conducting of an extensive mail seed business is pronounced, by all who have examined the various departments, to be the most admirably arranged in this country. It occupies four building lots; is five stories high, besides basement, and has a wide frontage on both Fifth Street and York Avenue —both broad streets—thus giving ample light and ventila- tion. The illustration above represents the York Avenue frontage; the frontage on Fifth Street is shown on the back cover page of this Catalogue. Customers visiting Philadel- phia are cordially invited to call, and can reach our ware- house conveniently from any station; the Fifth Street cars pass every minute or two. It has always been our aim to serve our customers satis- factorily, not only in the quality of our seeds, but also in the prompt and careful execution of all orders entrusted to us. It is our rule to fill all orders the day after they are re- ceived. This we are enabled to do by our excellent facili- ties and large force of skilled employees, many of them practical seedsmen, of long experience. Our promptness in filling orders, together with the quality of our seeds, has gained us such a host of friends that we have the largest mail trade in Philadelphia, and the largest mail seed busi- ness of the kind in the United States. On the second and third cover pages we give some con- densed views of the interior of our seed house—our crowded space not allowing us to give all. To explain these we have numbered each view. Beginning on the second cover page :— View No. I represents a part of the fifth floor, devoted to papering seeds, and filling: a portion of the mail orders. View No. 2 shows the Offices, where a careful record of the orders belonging to this department are kept. To the right is shown the wall of the private office. Our busi- ness having extended to such large proportions, it is neces- sary to have it divided into different departments, that we may give accurate attention to each and every order. View No. 3 represents the general Mail Order Depart- ment ; here are filled many hundreds of orders every working day in winter and spring. The seeds are already done up, by the millions of packages, in packets, ounces, quarter pounds, pounds and quarts, and can readily and quickly be selected on order, from the thousands of com- partments, drawers and bins, all distinctly labled and num- bered. After the orders are filled, they are carefully ex- amined by skilled employees, whose entire time is devoted to this work, to see that no mistake has occurred ; they are then passed to men standing at large tables, to be wrapped and tied, when thty are taken to another part of the room to be weighed and stamped. Our space does not allow us to describe all the retails of filling the orders ; but we trust the illustrations and brief description given will convey some idea of the amount of care and precision exercised. Turning to 3d page cover :— View No. 4 represents the principal Counting Room, located on the first floor—entrance from Fifth street. Here the books are kept, and the orders received are recorded and arranged on reversible files, with the address, tag or label attached to each order. Here also most of the corres- pondence with retail customers is conducted. The offices of the wholesale department are adjoining, on the end nearer York avenue, and are not illustrated. All the office work is completed on the orders the day they are received ; they are then ready to be filled the day following, and the manager of each department thus knows early in the morn- ing exactly what amount of work he has to map out for the employees. View No. 5 represents the Private Office, located at the rear of the counting room. This office is placed in instant communication with all parts of the building, by means of speaking tubes and electric bells. By similar means, the chief clerk in the outer office can also readily communicate with the different managers, and with the shipping clerk's and Live Stock offices on York Avenue. Nearly four hundred feet of tubing is required for these purposes, while the electrical arrangements are the most complete. View No. 6.—The Mail Office, adjoining the private office, is the scene of quiet, but busy work ; the entire time of several persons being required to open and assort the mail; by continued practice they have become very expert, as may be judged from the fact that the mail frequently numbers several thousand letters a day. View No. 7.—Office of Thoroughbred Stock Depart- ment on York Avenue. Considerable alterations have been made in this office since the view was taken. Here all the correspondence and office work, relative to our large busi- ness in Thoroughbred Live Stock and Fancy Poultry, is conducted. Adjoining this office, we have recently erected a new Shipping Clerk's Office. Here bills of lading, etc., are made out, and from this side of the building the wagons are loaded with goods to be shipped by the various freight lines. The elevator shaft is located about twenty-five feet back from the northern door on the York Avenue side ; this, in addition to a wide, unobstructed area to the rear of the shipping office, and a clear space at the wide doorway south, allows ample room for the sorting of the sacks, boxes and barrels intended for the different railroads. View No. 8. One of our Store Rooms, where is kept a portion of our stock of Peas, Beans, Sweet Corn, and Small Garden seeds, in bags, the bulk of the seed grain being stored on other floors. , View No. 9. Seed Potato Stores. Our cellar is specially adapted for the safe storage of a large stock of Seed Potatoes, which we receive each year from our growers in Northern Vermont and New York, in the fall, and keep for the use of our customers in the spring. SHEDS FOR TRIAL. Po-e.-?; frequently so kind as to send us samples for trial, of certain Vegetable or Farm Seeds which they may have and which they think are new to US'. We are always pleased to re- ceive such samples and give them a careful test in our trial grounds. While many prove to be identical with old varieties, yet occasionally a new sort of real merit is thus brought to public notice. We also often return these compli- ments, and send, free of charge, to our friends, seeds of valu- able new varieties for trial in different sections, before offer- ing them for sale. 4^Letters and samples addressed sim- ply W. Atlee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., will reach us safely. W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Nos. 475 & 477 NORTH FIFTH STREET, Nos. 476 & 478 YORK AVENUE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

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