History of Atchison County, by Sheffield Ingalls,
(Lawrence, KS: Standard Publishing Company, 1916)
pp. 312 - 313

MANGELSDORF BROTHERS SEED COMPANY *

The Mangelsdorf Brothers Company is one of the oldest establishments in the city.  It began in 1875 as a side line in connection with the retail grocery business, by August and Willaim Mangelsdorf, and is now conducted by the sons of the founders.  It is one of the largest seed houses in the West. The business was incorporated in 1887, and the offecers in 1916 are as follows:

August Mangelsdorf, president
A. F. Mangelsdorf, vice-president
Ed. F. Mangelsdorf, vice-president
F. H. Mangelsdorf, treasurer
F. W. Mangelsdorf, secretary

The business has grown to such an extnt that is was thought advisable to close out the retail end of it and it is now conducted as an excluisvely wholesale seed house.  The new warehouse, which the firm now occupies, was erected last year and gives it on of the largest and most complete plants in the West.  The new building is modern in every way, strictly fire-proof and provides an enormous space for storing and handling the stocks, which are accumulated for the spring trade.  The seed line, perhaps more than any other, is a seasonable one, and by far the greater proportion of the year's business must be crowded into a few spring months.  It is necessary, therefore, to move goods quickly and in large quantities, when the season in on.  For this purpose, the warehouses are equipped with suitable machinery and devices, which are kept up to the highest possible efficiency for handling and cleaning the seed.  The stocks are obtained in all parts of the world.  When crops fail in one part of the country, it is the business of the seed dealers to supply the deficiency from some other sections, where conditions have been more favorable.  Thus, the source of supply and the outlet for it are constantly shifting and it requires keeping in touch with the progress of the crops and market conditions in many different producing districts.

The firm does a considerable export business also, particularly in blue grass and timothy, which are produced here, cheaper and in better quality than they are in Europe.  During each year the firm's travelers cover the States of Kansas, Oklahoma,, Missouri, parts of Nebraska, Colorado and Texas.  Its line of garden seeds may be obtained from the local merchants in nearly every town in this territory.