Dear Friends and Fallave Gardeners 
! am writing to you from our Floradale Farms where we grow most of our flower seeds 
and create new and better varieties for your gardens. 
This year we are offering an unusual array of fine new flowers. Blaze Zinnia—the All 
Pa America Winner—the best new flower for 1954, is on the front cover of this catalog. The 
new Marigolds, including Man-in-the-Moon (the nearest to white), are on the inside front 
cover. Then on page 16 there are the new Steeplechase heat resistant and the biggest of 
a all Larkspurs, and on page 13 the new really Giant Heat Resistant Sweet Peas. 
We have been developing new flowers to withstand the heat because so many of you 
live where summers are hot. Each year we continue our efforts to improve both flowers and 
vegetables for your gardens. Varieties created at Floradale are tested at Fordhook to make 
sure they will stand hot summers. 
Most of our vegetable work is done on our Fordhook Farms in Pennsylvania and our 
Santa Paula Farms in California, and in Idaho. 
The vegetables pictured on the back cover should be in every garden. If you like “Snap” 
Beans without fiber, tender and of the finest flavor, you will like the new Burpee Golden. 
Big Boy already has become the most popular of all the Tomatoes we sell. It is a true — 
first generation hybrid and always will be expensive, for to produce the seed we have to 
emasculate and then pollinate each Tomato blossom by hand. 
The cost of your seeds is the smallest expense that goes into your gardens, and yet there 
is nothing so important as the quality of the seeds you sow. Good fertilizer, good tools and 
careful attention will not produce the best gardens for you unless the seeds you sow are 
the best. 
My famous cousin, Luther Burbank, wrote me, ‘I consider your house the most reliable 
seed house in the world, and | think this would be the verdict of the public at large.” 
That reputation is our most valuable possession. 
In the years to come we hope still further to improve vegetable and flower seeds for 
your gardens. In this catalog we offer you the best that are available for planting in 1954. 
Wishing you success and happiness in all the years ahead, 
Sincerely, 
For quickest service, order \9arnd Trew 
’ 
from Burpee’s nearest to you. Deets 
Ss . 
“ar 
W. Atlee Burpee Co. Seed Growers 
Hunting Park Ave. at 18th St., Philadelphia 32, Pa. Clinton, lowa Riverside, Calif. 
FREE DELIVERY Burpee pays all BURPEE GUARANTEE We guarantee the vitality and purity of Burpee’s 
delivery charges, anywhere in continental Seeds and Bulbs to the full amount of the purchase price. You can have 
U.S. on everything offered in this catalog your money back any time within a year if you are not satisfied with the 
except large quantities of vegetable roots and results. Even with the highest quality seeds and bulbs, success in gardening 
lawn grass seed, marked “‘not prepaid.’ On depends largely upon cultivation, soil, and weather conditions. Therefore, in no 
these, the customer pays transportation case shall W. Atlee Burpee Co. be liable for more than the amount actually paid 
charges. us for seeds or bulbs. W. Atlee Burpee Co. 
