ESTABLISHED 1802 



INCORPORATED 1894 



Season, 1914 



J. M. Thorburn & Co. 



Catalogue of Bulbs and Flowering Roots, also 

 Flower and Vegetable Seeds, for Fall Planting 



EVER since the days of the great TuUp Craze 

 of the seventeenth century, when bulbs 

 changed hands at fabulously inflated prices 

 (one single Tulip being sold for $5,200) 

 world-wide interest in the cultivation of bulbs for 

 their beautiful flowers has never ceased. 



The House of Thorburn has been engaged in 

 supplying the American people with bulbs, as well 

 as seeds, for more than a centur>% such as Hyacinths, 

 Tulips, Narcissus, Lilies, etc., all of the very highest 

 quality obtainable, and at most reasonable prices. 



When Grant Thorburn sold his first plant in the 

 early days of the nineteenth century, he little 

 thought what an extensive business would arise 

 out of that transaction. 



Have you ever tried to picture how the things of 

 today looked a centur>' or more ago? No doubt you 

 have, and with interest, too. Those of you who 

 may have visited our 

 store, or are already pur- 

 chasers of our Bulbs, 

 Seeds, etc., perhaps may 

 be interested to hear a 

 little of our history: 



Back in the latter part 

 of the eighteenth century 

 (in 1796, to be exact) 

 Grant Thorburn landed 

 in lower New York, his 

 worldly wealth consisting 

 mostly of health, courage 

 and determination. 



Five years later, living 

 in a small house in what 

 is now Nassau Street, 

 then one of New York's 

 foremost business streets, he began selling plants. 



At that time plants were seldom sold, and when 

 disposed of they were carried off, usually, in poorly 

 put together boxes. 



It was Grant Thorburn who conceived the idea 

 o( painting these boxes and making them in a 

 workmanlike manner. Not perhaps a particularly 

 brilliant thought, but it "caught on," and his 

 business prospered. 



And while he had at first sold his plants to a lim- 

 ited number, a constant and ever-increasing demand 

 was soon created. 



Grant Thorburn landing in 

 New York, 1796 



Then he added to 

 his stock a supply of 

 seeds, taking good 

 care not to sell old 

 seeds; and in this 

 line, too, he pros- 

 pered. 



In 1802 his first 

 catalogue was issued; 

 a four-page affair. 

 Prominently in- 

 scribed upon it was 

 the fact that it was 

 free. 



Each year saw a 

 larger book, but no 



conspicuous change was made in business methods 

 or location until 1832, when his son was taken 

 into the firm, and it went on as "Grant Thorburn 

 & Son." 



Possibly some of our good customers have won- 

 dered at the origin of the trade-mark 



The First Store 



which we still carry on our seed bag. It is a survival 

 of the initials of the old firm of 1832. 



Commercial panics and wars made but little in- 

 roads on the business. Steadily, day by day, a 

 country-wide reputation has formed. 



Steadily, year by year, the demand for Thorburn 

 Seeds has grown. 



1. 



The Son is Taken Into the Business 



Copyright. 1914, by J. M. Thorburn & Co. 



