Agricultural History Review, Volume 38 Part 2 (1990), pp. 105–116

Steady expansion in the garden seed trade throughout the period was caused by a similar increase in commercial and private gardening. In the sixteenth century, seed retailing failed to provide both the quantity and quality of garden seeds demanded. Specialist seedshops gradually developed in London in the seventeenth century and two shops are examined in some detail. Seed selling between the late seventeenth century and 1760 is discussed against a background of the rapid development of consumer goods and services at the time. The role of fashion and taste in shaping demand for garden seeds and their advertisement via the press, catalogues, books, pamphlets, and flysheets is described. The conclusion is drawn that garden seed retailing had a significant influence on the development of gardening and agriculture at this time. 

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