David Burpee (April 5, 1893 – June 24,1980) was a seedsman and president of the W.A. Burpee Company from 1915 until 1970. He was known for his experimentation and hybridization of vegetables and flowers that were for the general population.

Early life and education

David Burpee was born on April 5, 1893, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He attended Blight School and Doylestown High School, and later

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver Milita ...

in Indiana. In 1913, he enrolled in

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

to study agriculture until his father, W. Atlee Burpee, died in 1915. Burpee dropped out and took over the family business selling seeds. In 1937, Burpee married Lois Torrance after meeting her at a flower show.

Career

As head of Burpee Seeds, he immediately began shifting the firm's focus from

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

. In 1917 the W. A. Burpee Company was incorporated with Burpee as president. Sales were $900,000 that year, equal to $ today. Burpee initiated a ''War Gardens'' campaign during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

when overseas seed supplies were interrupted and there were food shortages. These programs were aimed at city folk, teaching them how to grow food during shortages by buying Burpee seeds. During the 1930s the company started a

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

program to produce healthier and more disease-resistant hybrids. This period also saw the development of ''Golden Gleam'', a double nasturtium, the ''Big Boy'' tomato, the ''Ambrosia''

cantaloupe The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...

, and also new varieties of

petunias ''Petunia'' is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word , 'tobacco', from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial pla ...

and marigolds. During the 1940s Burpee moved on to

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

, altering flower

chromosomes A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most importa ...

using the chemical

colchicine Colchicine is a medication used to prevent and treat gout, to treat familial Mediterranean fever and Behçet's disease, and to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction. The American College of Rheumatology recommends colchicine, nonstero ...

extracted from crocus plants. This research led to new varieties of snapdragons and

zinnia ''Zinnia'' is a genus of plants of the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to scrub and dry grassland in an area stretching from the Southwestern United States to South America, with a centre of diversity in Mexic ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

meant more shortages and another opportunity to sell seeds in the ''Victory Gardens'' campaign. By 1959 Burpee had grown his father's company into the largest seed catalog mail order house in the world with sales over $6 million, equal to $ today. In 1960 Burpee mailed 4 million seed annuals to customers. By 1960, he had hybridized the marigold to be odorless and it became the best-selling flower in the United States. He later unsuccessfully lobbied to make the marigold the national flower. In 1970, Burpee sold the company to

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post, Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, a ...

and in 1979 it was passed on to

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...

. Both companies retained David Burpee as a consultant until his death. His son Jonathan Burpee was the director of the customer service department during the 1970s. He left the company in 1993. In 1991 the Burpee company was acquired by George J. Ball, Inc. (now Ball Horticultural Company), a diversified horticultural family business. In 1995 the family split up the various holdings, with George Ball Jr. taking control of Burpee. Burpee died in Doylestown on June 24, 1980.

References

Bibliography

*
Biography of David Burpee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burpee, David 1893 births 1980 deaths American horticulture businesspeople Cornell University alumni Culver Academies alumni Delta Upsilon members