Bag

Object Name:

Bag

Object ID:

1983.024

Place of Origin:

New Hampshire/United States

Date:

1856-1861

Description:

Bag / Seed Packet. Corn. Linen plain weave of single ply S-twist yarns. Two 0.25" hand back-stitched seams, pressed together, on one edge and bottom. Two selvedges visible on edge seam. Top pressed under 0.25", was stitched, stitching missing. Adhered paper on front inscribed with the following: decorative box in upper left corner, " If successful save the seed you raise for future sowing, and report the result to this office."; upper right corner, "U.S. PATENT OFFICE, / Official Bussiness / signed S.T. Shugert / Acting Commissioner"; bottom, "IMPROVED KING PHILIP OR BROWN CORN, / [FROM LAKE WINNIPISIOGEE, N.H.] / Plant in a square of ground, late in May or early in June, in hills, four ker- / nels each, 3 feet by 2 feet apart, in rich soil. Yield of present crop, 104 / bushels to an acre. Well adapted for high latitudes and elevated valleys / or plains." All four corner edges missing from the label.

Material:

Textile
Linen
Paper

Provenance:

Gift of Philip Zea. Improved King Philip or Brown Corn was patented by John Brown (1792-1867) in 1843. His signature appears on the seed packet. Samuel T. Shugert was Acting Commissioner for the U.S. Patent Office from 1858 to 1861. For fifty years, Brown held the record in New Hampshire for the quantity of corn per acre (see notes).

Credit Line:

Gift of Philip Zea

People:

Brown, John (1792-1867), Shugert, Samuel T. (1809-1895)

Subjects:

Seeds, Corn, Bags, Linen, Agriculture, Patents