






Co ae 
COL. C. W. GURNEY 
Founder—1840-1913 
Pioneer seedsman and nur- 
seryman of the Northwest, 
- Col. C. W. Gurney began his 
- life work in horticulture after 
leaving service in the Civil 
War. It is from such distin- 
guished heritage that the 
Gurney Seed & Nursery Co. 
of today emanates. 

GEO. W. GURNEY 
Dear Seed & Nursery Friends: 
I always like to write you this 
letter in the catalog, because I 
like to share my many years in the 
seed and nursery business with my 
customers, You'll be glad to know, 
I’m sure, that we have a good 
many new things for you this 
year, and of course all the best of 
the old things. 
I believe that 1947 will be a 
great year for a garden. With 
ar? prices so high, and things gen- 
ne erally still hard to get, the family 
with a garden and pienty. of their 


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home grown fruit, will certainly | 
’ be independent in a way-that is | 
7 _ »~-geing to feed them better and save — 
Bed them money. 
that this year we would have 
plenty of everything, but I can’t. 
We had a wonderful growing year 
at Yankton, and the things we 
have for you are the best we ever 
had. But we just don’t have 
enough. Labor was scarce here, 
like it was everywhere. Many 
planting helps were hard to get. 
And as usual there just weren't © 
enough hours in the day. 
The early orders will be filled 
in full, and with goods that you'll 
be proud to plant, But we can’t 
guarantee orders that come in late. 
You know what that means. Order 
early. 
Guess that's all for now. Write 
me a letter when you can. Tell me 
about your garden. And send a 
snapshot, too,.so we can put it in 
the Planting Magazine. 
Sincerely, 
GEO. GURNEY. 
I had hoped to be able to say 
| Hae ee ee, 
ie SIDNEY GURNEY 
‘ Office Manager 
It seems both natural and un- 
natural to see Sid Gurney out of 
uniform, but there’s nothing 
questionable about our happi- 
aT Oe ness in having him home. Sid 
7 - takes care of your orders when 
they come in to the seedhouse. — 
Baie You've probably noticed how 
- much better Gurney service is 
-—s now that the war is over and 
_-—s«éstzihee:« boys are getting back on the 
job. If you have any 
about your orders, write Sid. 
 He’ll straighten things out 
for you. 
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Front View of Gurney Buildings at Yankton — Seed 
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& Nursery Headquarters for the Grea 

su COME SEE US 
AT YANKTON 
We're a friendly business 
here in Gurneyland. We wel- 
come visitors. So come and 
see us. And if you can’t, 
write us a letter and tell us 
about your garden. 



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t Northwest | 
If you come to see us at Yankton this is about what you’ll see. Notice our big new elevator 
where we custom clean your field seeds. Missing is the UNITED Hybrid Corn Plant and the 
Hatchery—and of course the hundreds of acres of nursery stock and corn, etc. Hope you'll 
take time to visit us soon, You’re always welcome in Gurneyland. We’re anxious to shake : 
your hand and know you better. 
For 81 Years America’s Foremost 
HELP! HELP! 
This story is for you old customers 
who like to read the Gurney PLANT- 
ING MAGAZINE. As you know, this 
little magazine comes out to you FREE 
twice a year. And what we like to fill it 
with is garden helps and pictures and 
letters from and about you customers. 
Every issue has hundreds of pictures 
‘and letters. But we need MORE. So, 
send in your snapshots (we send you 
50c if we print them) and your letters. 
We like to read them and then print 
them in the Planting Magazine. Next 
issue will come to you on March 1. 
Gurney’s Nursery Stock 
Is State Inspected 
All our nursery stock carries a state 
inspection label certifying that our 
nursery stock is clean and free of dis- 
ease and passes all state laws as to 
quality of nursery stock sold. This is 
another protection for you when you 
send your order to Gurney’s. Don’t be 
satisfied with ordinary stock. Get the 
best from Gurney’s—it*costs no more. 
EASY TO ORDER 
Buying direct by mail is the easy way 
to order. Study and look through the 
catalog. You'll find a lot of interest and 
good helps. Then simply list down what 
you need on the order blank enclosed 
and we’ll do the rest. And remember, 
every variety listed in this catalog is a 
selected, tested and approved variety. 
You take no chances on whatever you 
buy when you buy from Gurney’s. 
Gurney’s Planting 
Magazine is FREE 
to Customers 
We have a friendly business here at 
Yankton, and we want to get acquainted 
with our customers and help them with 
their gardens as much as we can. That’s 
the big reason for publishing our 
Planting Magazine. If you haven’t. seen 
a copy of it, the Planting Magazine is 
devoted to friendly tips on how to grow 
seed and nursery items. It tells how to 
garden and when, and what to do if 
trouble arises. 
More important, it’s sortuva meeting 
place for Gurney customers and friends. 

WE GROW OUR OWN STOCK 
The picture above gives you a glimpse of 
one of our many acres of growing nursery 
stock. All around Yankton, we have field 
after field of nursery stock all growing 
under our direct supervision and handled 
by our own experts. 
This way we KNOW what our stock is 
and are able to see that it has the best of 
care from the time it is planted until it is 
dug, ready for your gardens. 
“You are sure of better seeds and plants 
when you buy from Gurney’s. 
Every issue, and it comes out once in the 
spring and once in the fall, carries 
dozens of pictures of Gurney gardens 
and farms, and dozens more of letters 
and tips from planters who have learned 
a new way of growing this or that. 
The Gurney Planting Magazine is 
FREE to all Gurney ctstomers. Watch 
for it, and if you don’t get your copy, 
write and ask for it. The first big 1947 
issue will be published in March. If 
you’ve sent in. your order before then, 
you'll be sure of getting a copy. 
CANADIAN CUSTOMERS 
The importation of all nursery stock 
entering Canada from other countries is 
subject to a permit. Nursery stock includes 
all trees, shrubs, plants, roots, bulbs, corms, 
rhizomes, but does not include true seed. 
Permits are supplied with no charge to 
Canadian customers and they should apply 
to the Plant Protection Division, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Ottawa, for same 
before placing orders for nursery stock. It 
is not necessary to have a permit for 
garden seed. 
Your Orders Come Postage Free 
- from Gurney’s 
This year, for the first time, practically 
everything we send out to you, except field 
seeds and balled and burlapped evergreens, 
comes postage free. We think this will make 
it easier for you. You'll find more details on 
free postage on page 27. 
FREE GIFTS With Your Orders at Gurney’s 
We have always followed the practice of giving more than we bargain for, and 
we think it’s still a good practice, even in these days of high values. 
Every order at Gurney’s calls for a free gift. This goes for both garden seed 
and nursery stock. We aren’t going to tell what these gifts are ahead of time, 
but you can be sure they will be good, and really useful or-decorative in the garden. 
Our free gift policy goes for orders even lower than a dollar, but the bigger the 
order, the bigger the gift, or the more gifts. Watch for them in your orders, and 
remember you always get your money’s worth at Gurney’s—and a little bit 
more to boot. 
if AOE “ = 
2 GURNEY’S, Yankton, So. Dak.—Northwest’s Largest Seed and Nursery House” 
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NORTHERN Seed and Nursery House 
Our Business Is Based On 
Fair Measure---Plus 

~ 
You Can Be Sure of Quality -~ 
-and Hardy Stock When 
You Buy at Gurney’‘s 
It’s been our policy for three gererations 
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to give our customers fair measure—plus. -3 
That’s not only our promise to you, but our 
business creed. We believe that sending out 
the best seed and nursery stock brings in 
business twofold. That’s why our business has 
grown and prospered. We expect to continue 
this policy, as you will see when you receive 
your order 'this year. 
One thing you can be sure of at Gurney’s 
is that you will get nothing but NORTHERN- 
GROWN stock. Our country up here needs 
HARDY stock that can stand cold winters 
and hot dry summers. And this HARDINESS 
goes for all you customers, no matter how far 
South you live. There is nothing so important 
in a plant as the ability to get started right, 
and KEEP ON GROWING. That’s the type 
of stock we grow in Gurneyland—and 
nothing else. 
TRUE TO NAME 
Another thing you can be sure of is that 
everything you buy will be true to name. If 
you want Anoka apples, you can be sure of 
getting them at Gurney’s. And that goes for 
everything right down the line. 
' 24-HOUR SERVICE 
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It’s been hard to live up to our pledge of 
24-Hour Service during wartime, but this 
year we’re going to try to be back on schedule. 
This goes for garden seed and merchandise 
items. For things like nursery stock, we ship 
when it is BEST FOR YOU TO PLANT. 
SAVE MONEY 
We honestly believe that our prices are the 
lowest for the quality supplied of anywhere 
in our country. The reason we can give you 
such good prices is that when you buy at 
Gurney’s, you buy DIRECT. We grow the 
stock we sell. We have hundreds of acres of 
our own, producing for no one else, but you 
Gurney customers. 
We Believe in Doing Right 
by Our Customers 
We mean it. We believe in doing right by 
our customers. We represent our goods to be 
just what they actually are. And we back up 
this guarantee 100%. We send out thousands 
and thousands of seed and nursery orders 
every spring. We have customers who have. 
bought things of us for fifty years. And we. 
like to say that our customers speak for us.- 
That’s the best guarantee of satisfaction 
we know of. 
