By 1957 Mr. Marble was selling seed to other seed growers. H. Woodruff & Sons of Milford, Conn., Seed Growers Inc. stated that Mr. Marble's seed ” germinated 95% or better, very excellent and high germination (H. Woodruff)."
Mr. Marble also communicated with H. M. Munger, Professor of Plant Breeding and Vegetable Crops, Cornell University. Mr. Munger told Mr. Marble that he was “in a position to produce seed of Elite and Premier with the bulbs you have on hand" and how to go about planting to achieve this (Hunger).
Empire is a new hybrid which we are just in the process of releasing and if I were in your position I Would be inclined to concentrate on Premier and Empire. "In my opinion, Empire is the most promising for New York, State (Munger).”
Mr. Marble knew the importance of taking good care of his customers, and tried hard to meet their needs. When asked, how was Mr. Marble's seed compared to other seed companies? Spencer Avery of A. A. Grinnell Co., said "we used a lot of Marble's seed. It was good seed or we wouldn't have used it (Avery).” How were you treated as a customer? "I was treated very well (Avery).“
In the early days of the seed business all work had to be done by hand, planting, weeding, billing, and harvssting. When the seed pods were mature they had to be picked by hand and then dried. When ready, the seed had to be separated from the chaff. In the beginning this too had to be done by hand. Mr. Marble saw a gravity mill being used for beans at the A.
A. Grinnell Company and thought that he might be able to use it in the cleaning process. He bought one and said it did a beautiful job (Marble). Through the years he found other machines to help him to grade and clean his seed.
According to Mr.-Marble, he was the largest onion seed grower east of the Mississippi river at one time (Marble).
One of my greatest contributions to the onion industry was the 10lb onion bag. Onions were always sold by bulk in stores or markets. Now something new had been added to the vegetable counter. This became a real shot in the arm for the onion industry as a whole. Bemis Bag Co,, Buffalo, NY, were the first to make this small bag. The idea came to me when I had to take a sample of onions to a prospective buyer. I put a few onions in a fifty pound bag and folded it over. I said to myself this looks good, a few onions in a bag. I also figured that if people would buy ten pounds of onions at a time, some would go bad before they used them all and they would have to buy more. I got a lot of flack from growers, that I would ruin the market (Marble),"
Not only did he not ruin the market, as seen in any grocery store, this started other industries. The Henry Bagging Co. of Elba, New York, made the first machine to bag onions, at a cost of five hundred dollars. Today a machine to pack onions cost one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars (Marble).
Albert and his wife Doris retired in 1961, and they still keep their home in Elba.
Mr. Marble also communicated with H. M. Munger, Professor of Plant Breeding and Vegetable Crops, Cornell University. Mr. Munger told Mr. Marble that he was “in a position to produce seed of Elite and Premier with the bulbs you have on hand" and how to go about planting to achieve this (Hunger).
Empire is a new hybrid which we are just in the process of releasing and if I were in your position I Would be inclined to concentrate on Premier and Empire. "In my opinion, Empire is the most promising for New York, State (Munger).”
Mr. Marble knew the importance of taking good care of his customers, and tried hard to meet their needs. When asked, how was Mr. Marble's seed compared to other seed companies? Spencer Avery of A. A. Grinnell Co., said "we used a lot of Marble's seed. It was good seed or we wouldn't have used it (Avery).” How were you treated as a customer? "I was treated very well (Avery).“
In the early days of the seed business all work had to be done by hand, planting, weeding, billing, and harvssting. When the seed pods were mature they had to be picked by hand and then dried. When ready, the seed had to be separated from the chaff. In the beginning this too had to be done by hand. Mr. Marble saw a gravity mill being used for beans at the A.
A. Grinnell Company and thought that he might be able to use it in the cleaning process. He bought one and said it did a beautiful job (Marble). Through the years he found other machines to help him to grade and clean his seed.
According to Mr.-Marble, he was the largest onion seed grower east of the Mississippi river at one time (Marble).
One of my greatest contributions to the onion industry was the 10lb onion bag. Onions were always sold by bulk in stores or markets. Now something new had been added to the vegetable counter. This became a real shot in the arm for the onion industry as a whole. Bemis Bag Co,, Buffalo, NY, were the first to make this small bag. The idea came to me when I had to take a sample of onions to a prospective buyer. I put a few onions in a fifty pound bag and folded it over. I said to myself this looks good, a few onions in a bag. I also figured that if people would buy ten pounds of onions at a time, some would go bad before they used them all and they would have to buy more. I got a lot of flack from growers, that I would ruin the market (Marble),"
Not only did he not ruin the market, as seen in any grocery store, this started other industries. The Henry Bagging Co. of Elba, New York, made the first machine to bag onions, at a cost of five hundred dollars. Today a machine to pack onions cost one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars (Marble).
Albert and his wife Doris retired in 1961, and they still keep their home in Elba.
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