
W. ATLEE BURPEE 
Founder 1876 
Dear Pruends and Fellow Gardeners 
‘This is the Diamond Jubilee of Burpee Seeds. It is 
seventy-five years since father, at the age of eighteen, gave 
up his study of medicine and started our seed business. 
At first, he had a hard time of it. He lost money for 
the first two years and he had very little to lose. Then it 
seemed almost at once people began to realize that here 
was a man who was trying to serve them with the best 
seeds that grow. 
Business then went ahead. Before father was forty he 
had the largest mail order seed business in the world and 
we have held that position ever since. 
Many of the varieties father introduced years ago are 
still the most popular. His second year in business, in 
1877, father introduced Surehead cabbage. Golden Bantam 
sweet corn and Fordhook lima bean are among the many 
other world famous varieties first introduced by father. 
In recent years we have pioneered in the development of hybrid vegetables and 
flowers. Burpee Hybrid cucumber, Burpee’s Big Boy and other hybrid tomatoes, Silver 
Medal petunia, the Burpee Alldouble petunias and our Marigolds and Snapdragons 
are favorites of the best gardeners in America today. This year we are introducing the 
new giant zinnias— Burpee Hybrids—the loveliest new flowers ever created; Riverside 
Beauty zinnia and Glitters marigold. 
Our experimental work never ceases. At Fordhook Farms in Pennsylvania and at 
the Floradale and Santa Paula Farms in California we constantly work to improve the 
existing varieties and to create new and better vegetables and flowers for your gardens. 
On this, our Diamond Jubilee year, I wish to thank every one of you for your 
confidence in us. We shall always endeavor to supply you with the best seeds and bulbs. 
Because of the uncertain conditions today, I suggest you send us your orders as 
soon as possible. There is no advance in the price of any vegetable or flower seeds in 
this Burpee catalog. 

FREE DELIVERY Burpee pays de- 
livery charges anywhere lin the U. S. on 
everything offered in this catalog except 
large quantities of vegetable roots, lawn 
grass seed and fertilizers marked ‘‘not pre- 
paid.’’ On these, the customer pays the 
transportation charges. 

Faithfully yours, 
President 







BURPEE GUARANTEE We guarantee the vitality and purity of Burpee’s 
Seeds and Bulbs to the full amount of the purchase price. You can have 
your money back any time within a year if you are not satisfied with the 
results. Even with the highest quality seeds and bulbs, success in gardening 
depends largely upon cultivation, soil, and weather conditions. Therefore, in no 
case shall W. Atlee Burpee Co. be liable for more than the amount actually paid 
us for seeds or bulbs. 
W. ATLEE BURPEE CO. Seed Growers 
CLINTON, IOWA PHILADELPHIA 32, PA. RIVERSIDE, CALIF. 
