American seedsman who founded the world's largest mail-order seed company.

After completing two years at the University of Pennsylvania, Burpee set up a seed business with two partners in 1876, but two years later he struck out on his own and founded the company that continued to bear his name, W. Atlee Burpee & Co. He sold his seeds through the mail, and as his firm grew, he extended his holdings to three seed farms located in Bucks county, Pa., Gloucester county, N.J., and Santa Barbara county, Calif. Much of his company's success resulted from his work in developing new hybrids and strains of flowers and vegetables.