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The improved amaryllis, with blossoms nearly a foot across and
of great brilliancy

’ CREATIONS IN
PLANT LIFE
THORITATIVE ACCOUNT

‘HE LIFE AND WORK OF
UTHER BURBANK

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All rights reserved

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PREFACE

en preparation of this volume has been
a work of particular pleasure: First,

- because of the unusual interest which has

centered in the development of the material,
material which takes its rise in primal places

and flows in a broad stream outward; and,

second, and paramount, it has been a pleasure

_ because of the contact it has brought with

the man whose life and achievements it can
but inadequately portray.

When the demands of his great work have
been most exacting, he has never shrunk from
giving still more of his strength to the illumi-
nation of obscure points ; when the work has
worn upon him so that it has taxed his
energies to the utmost, while care sought out
the strings of his nerves to play sharp discords
upon them, he has never failed in patience or

Vii

PREFACE

yielded to the irritation that must have swept -
a lesser man off his feet.

For the unfailing courtesy, for the superb
thoughtfulness, for the rare gift of clarity of
speech,—for all these, and far more, I am
under obligation to the man about whom this
book is written. If it shall be an exposition of
his great work which shall bring pleasure and
possibly some measure of profit to those who
read, and, beyond, if it shall point the way
to a still wider extension of the work of which
Luther Burbank is so conspicuous a pioneer
and leader, I shall indeed be glad.

W. S. H.

Vill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Luther Burbank, the Man .
General Methods of Work.

The Creation of New Trees

The Amaryllis and the Poppy .
The Potato and the Pomato
The Lilies ;
Plums and Prunes

The Shasta Daisy

The Thornless Edible Cactus
Certain General Features
Breeding for Perfume

Hicdesing and Adaptation

On the Origin of New Species
How May I Do It, Too;—Breeding

Commercial Aspects of the Work

ix

. 101
rie 2 |
. 130
. 147
. 159
. 173
- 192
. 207
. 226
How May I Do It, Too;—Grafting .

248

. 268

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Carnegie Institution Grant .
A Day With Mr. Burbank

His Personality .

The Plan Books . ° :
Piacies and Conclusions . .

His Plice in the World . <

PAGE

. 278

. 290

. 805
. 318°
. 335
. 352

‘1? —— = ee

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The improved amaryllis, with the blossoms almost a foot
across and of great brilliancy . . Frontispiece

"i Luther Burbank . . . . . 2

Mr. Burbank’s home at Santa Rosa, California . >

On the proving grounds at Sebastopol. “Pampas grass in
the center, various bulbous plants in the foreground .

Walnut-leaf variation. To the left, common English walnut;
to the right, the native California black walnut; in the
center, the new hybrid ‘‘ Paradox,” bred from the
other two . ¢ : ; ‘ ‘ :

One of the hybrid chestnuts bearing nuts at eighteen
months of age from the seed . 2 . :

A bed of hybrid poppies ‘ ‘ 2 > :

The central poppy, a brilliant scarlet with purple center, is
the offspring of the other two. The one to the left,
Papaver pilosum, a delicate orange; the one to the right,
Papaver somniferum, the ‘‘ Bride poppy,” a pure white.

Leaves of each are shown : « P ‘

Variation in hybrid poppy leaves. Out of two thousand

plants no two were alike F . . .

Hundreds of rare hybrid potato plants under glass nearly
ready for transplanting . Fi ° ° °

Wild Arizona potatoes used in breeding to give strength
and hardiness to the common potato . A .

xi

FACING
PAGE

16

67

78

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING

Potatoes growing upon a tomato vine after grafting upon

the potato root . . ° ‘ 4 af BS
Aérial potatoes growing upon a potato cion grafted upon a

tomato plant ‘ ° . ‘ . a), 28

A rare two-petaled hybrid seedling lily ‘ ° 00
The plumcot, created from the plum and apricot. A rare

new fruit . . ‘ . ° . ei LO

The ‘*Climax,” one of the rarest plums produced . . 220

The development of the plum. The two larger ones are
seedlings of the other two “ . ‘ ag

The Giant plum, not only of largest size but of great rich-
ness and prolific in bearing : Pe 4 - 124

The sugar prune,— larger, sweeter, earlier and more pro-
ductive than the older prunes . ‘ ‘ « 131

One of the many rows of seedling Shasta daisies from
which selection is being made. The rows are seven
hundred feet long J . . A - 142

One of the ‘‘ Shasta” daisies. The blossoms are from four
to six inches in diameter ‘ ce . . 149

Fluted daisies, one of the many curious forms developed
in the production of the Shasta daisies : - 156

What the thornless cactus will 1 re hint of desert
conditions . . ‘ . +. 163

The cactus in the foreground is the ordinary thorny kind.
Those in the rear are the thornless ones of the same
species . : Br ag . . - 114

Cactus tests.—Thornless, hybrid seedling Opuntias, now
eight weeks old from seed. They will be transplanted
later, after rigid selection r P 481

xii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING

Dine of the thornless edible cacti, three and one-half years
old, weighing, approximately, twelve hundred pounds .

Forcing new forage plants under glass to get quicker results

The pineapple quince, a greatly improved hirsos: mre
the flavor of the pineapple ‘ é

Selections from sweet vernal grass under development to
_ increase productiveness. . ° : . °

A bed of the new fragrant dahlias . ‘ é :

The fragrant verbena which has been given the odor of
the trailing arbutus : . é ‘ .

The phenomenal berry, a new species of great size and rich-
ness. Individual berries are “sometimes nearly three

inches long é ; 5 " 4 R
Leaves of blackberry hybrid, all grown from seed of one
plant, showing the remarkable variation . ‘
An outfit for an amateur breeder . F é .
The essentials for amateur grafting . 4 ‘ ‘

Upper part of a tree bearing many grafts. As many as
five hundred fruits are grown upon a single tree at
once, no two exactly alike ‘ ° ° °

Showing method of grafting . ; ; . ‘
Thousands of dollars’ worth of seeds and bulbs in the

_ packing-rom . — . ; ; ‘ ;
The original Burbank plum tree. Millions of trees have
been grown from it * ° ‘ P

General view of the proving grounds at Sebastopol. Show-
ing many thousands of plants under test ° .

xiii

PAGE

188

227

270

291

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING

Cultivating the mammoth pieplant. Some leaves are three
to four feet across. Mr. Burbank is the central
figure . > ° . ° . °

Mr. Burbank pollinating the blossoms of a plum tree.
One of Mr. Burbank’s rare roses. ‘ ® °
One of the few double hybrid clematises . ° °

‘The **Burbank” ahd “Tarrytown” cannas under test at
Santa Rosa, where they originated ° : °

The improved everlasting flower to be used in millinery .

The re-created wild onion flower, Brodiwa capitata, changed
from a deep purple to = white and greatly in-
creased in size . : ‘ . .

Rare effects developed in the transformation of the colum-
bine ; about one-fourth natural size _ <

Twenty thousand new varieties of plums in process of
development Ue ee . n e

A cactus blossom ea i. , ‘ me

Xx1V

PAGE

362
366

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New Creations in Plant Life

CHAPTER I
LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

PFUTHER BURBANK, of whose life,
achievements and methods this book is
to treat, is the foremost plant-breeder in the
world. Over two thousand five hundred dis-
tinct species are in the list of the plants upon
which he has worked, embracing a large and
comprehensive field of operations. He _ has
also produced more new forms of plant life
than any other man, and has exerted a
unique and powerful influence.
- These new forms of plant life may be
brought into two classes,—those which have
added to the wealth of nations and enriched
the dietary of the race,—as new and improved
nuts, fruits and vegetables; and those which
have made the world more beautiful,—the new
and improved forms of flowers.
- Without a university training and with only

1

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

a fundamental education upon which he has .
builded by wide reading, he yet leads the
scientific world in the department to which
he has given his life. He has suffered as few
men suffer, not only from actual physical
want and privation but from the unjust criti-
cism of those who did not comprehend; but
he has preserved through it all an unshaken
confidence in the ultimate triumph of all good
forces in human life. He has been engaged in
a line of work so novel and so profitable he
could easily have built up a fortune, yet he
has subjected himself all his life to the most
rigid self-denial and sacrifice in order that
every energy and every resource might be
devoted to the betterment of the world.
Luther Burbank was born in the town of
Lancaster, Massachusetts, not far from the
city of Boston, on the 7th of March, 1849.
Two controlling streams met in the forming
of the main current of his life. From his
father, a cultivated man of English extraction,
came an intense love for books; from his
mother, whose ancestry was Scotch, an ardent
love for all beautiful forms of life. These two
hereditary influences have been at work all

2

Se ee ee

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

4 through his life-—the one broadening, the other
_ deepening his nature.

From the earliest childhood he was passion-
ately devoted to flowers and to all forms of
plant life. Very many incidents are related
illustrative of this. His mother and sisters
had noticed that whenever he was given a

q flower, while lying in his cradle, he always held

it with a certain childish tenderness, never
crushing nor dropping it but keeping it, if
allowed, until its bloom was faded or its fra-
grance gone. One day when his sister had
given him a flower he held it in his tiny fin-
gers with his usual earnestness until a petal
fell off. ‘Then, with infinite childish patience,
he strove to put the petal back in place and
thus restore the flower. When a little older

1 and able to toddle about, he chose plants for

pets instead of animals. He was given a plant
in a pot, a so-called lobster cactus as the
variety of cactus was locally known, and for
hours at a time he trudged about house and
yard carrying the cactus plant in his little
arms. One day he stumbled and fell, broke
the plant from its stem and destroyed the
pot. It was a day of great sadness, for he

3

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

was as inconsolable in his grief over the loss |
of the pet plant as another child would have
been over the death of a bird or a faithful
dog. ‘

Strangely enough, a half century later, in
the prime of his manhood, he has given years
of his life to the study of other forms of this
pet of his childhood days, creating a series
of thornless, edible cacti, not only providing
a vast reservoir of food for man and for un-
counted millions of the beasts of the field,
but paving the way for the reclamation of the
desert places of the earth. That which was
once a dangerous foe of man and beast be-
comes, through him, a stanch friend ;—it is a
noble boon to the race.

Year by year, as he grew into boyhood, his
love for all the beautiful things in the world
around him steadily deepened. As soon as he
was old enough to be placed in school, he at
once attracted the attention of his teachers by
his love for study. The love for his school and
the love for the flowers and the trees and the
birds were always manifest. And in the ripe
days of his prime one may see him turn with
boyish eagerness from the discussion of some

4

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

deep problem of human life to listen to the
note of a lark in the sky.

By the time he had reached the age of
twelve he had come to a knowledge of the
outward forms of nature such as few lads ever
attain at such an age. All the books he could
command bearing upon any phase of science
or nature he read and reread. The habit thus
acquired has lasted. He may not be able to
tell you the plot of the latest novel, but be
sure he will be able to talk with you about the
latest discovery of the scientists and to dissect
their conclusions with consummate art. I can
in no way better illustrate the trend of the
lad’s mind at that time than to say that in
his maturer years the author which he has
read most and which he quotes more often
than any other is Ralph Waldo Emerson.

As a lad, he was not indifferent to the sports
of other children, and entered heartily into
many of them, though there was ever a
greater fascination for him in the open page of
a book than in rod or gun or ball. And great-
est of all was the fascination of the naturai
world opening to him as it opens to the heart
of a poet.

"

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

In the town of Lancaster there was a well- -
equipped academy to which he was drawn as
soon as he had finished the common school.
This he attended during the winter for several
seasons, spending the rest of the year in work.
The town had a large and well-stocked library,
and into this, and into his father’s few but care-
fully chosen books, he delved whenever there
was opportunity. His father and his father’s
brother, a minister, were personal friends of
Emerson. The uncle’s son, the boy’s cousin,
considerably older, was greatly interested in
science and was also a personal friend of
Agassiz, afterward becoming a successful edu-
cator and a writer of more than local note
on scientific topics, particularly geology. Be-
tween the two there was a strong bond of
friendship. The influence of such surround-
ings had much to do in shaping the lad’s na-
ture. Year by year environment forces were
at work, and in them may be seen the proph-
ecy of the development of this wonderful life.

During several summers the boy worked in
the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, in a fac-
tory. His wage was small and the work was
hard and irksome, but he even then had his

6

EE a SS ee

ES ey Ps ?

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

ideals toward which he was working, and he

¥ kept on and up amidst many discouragements.

He learned soon, however, that, as there were
seven days in the week and as it cost him at
least fifty cents a day to live, he could not get
along very satisfactorily on a six-day wage of
fifty cents. The bent of the boy’s mind now
seemed to be toward what his relatives and
friends thought was invention, but which,
though it included invention in the ordinary
meaning of the word, was far beyond this in
scope. When still younger, he was standing
one day by the side of a number of his elders
who were vainly trying to put together a
mower. One piece of the machinery would
not fit, and, after much trying, they were giv-
ing up, when the boy, rarely venturing a word
of advice to an elder, stepped forward and sug-
gested how the piece should go. It was put
in place and the machine moved off.

When asked how he knew the piece of iron
belonged in that particular place, he replied
laconically :

“Because you couldn't put it anywhere
else!”

Studying how he might make both ends

7

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

meet in the factory on his scant pay, he dis- .
covered a way to construct a machine which
would do away with the work of at least half a
dozen men. He made the invention, and his
delighted employers followed with a substan-
tial increase in his pay. They predicted for
him, as did his friends, a brilliant future as an
inventor, and all urged him to set about such
a life. He has disregarded the advice of his
friends in later years, as he did then; and he
has never found reason for regret, even though
the way he has traveled has led through pain
and _ sacrifice.

Day by day in the midst of the toil of the
factory, unswerved from his ideals by the
promise of greater pecuniary reward, the dom-
inant chord in his life was always sounding,
struck as it was by the supreme purpose of his
soul—to make new things better than the old,
to make the old ones better than they were.
All through a life no less scarred with sacrifice
than adorned with triumph this same chord has
sounded, deeper and broader in its harmony as
the years have come, but not more true in the
creation of marvelous forms of plant life than
in the making of a machine to quicken and

8

eS a ee ee hn a

=

SS Ye re ee

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

_ cheapen the process of manufacturing a

plow.
But there came a day he never forgot, a red-

4 letter day in his calendar. He had left the
factory and had begun market-gardening and
_ seed-raising in a small way. It was far more to

his taste and in direct line with the future.
He had noticed that there were a good many
variations in the green tops of some potatoes

__ he was raising, and that in this particular lot

there was but one which bore a seed-ball. He
had already begun a close study of the charac-
teristics of plants, and he at once reasoned
that if this seed-ball came upon but one of all
the varying plants, its product, if it should be
planted, should show still greater variation. So
he watched this seed-ball with unusual care.
One day, to his despair, he found that the seed-
ball was missing. He was about to give up
the whole matter when it occurred to him he
would make a search upon the ground. He
found the seed-ball at last, where it had been
knocked off probably by some wandering dog
rushing through the garden.

From it came the Burbank potato, which
comparatively few people associate with Luther

9

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

Burbank, the great plant-breeder. The potato
which he developed from this seed-ball has
not only disproved the dictum of those who
said a potato famine was at hand because of
the steady deterioration of the world’s stock,
but it has added to the wealth of this nation
alone upwards of twenty millions of dollars.
The creator of the new potato sold it to a local
seedsman for $150.

It was not long after this that he suffered
a partial sunstroke in the broiling heat of a
July day and, seeking a climate where he
might be able to live an outdoor life without
fear of a return attack, and where he might
‘hope some day to put in effect some of the
theories of the development of plant life
already stirring in his brain, he started for
California, with a slender purse and ten of his
new potatoes. He reached California in 1875,
and went north from San Francisco some fifty
miles to an unimproved valley lying between
two spurs of the Coast Range Mountains,
today a rich fruit and farming country.

He was then a little past twenty-one, slen-
der, not over-strong, and yet possessed of
much vitality and endurance. These latter he

10

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

was soon called upon to put to test. The
_ country was new, and the few ranchers and
_ farmers had not yet begun to realize the pos-
_ sibilities of their region in the way of fruit
- culture. He sought for work, that he might

_ get ahead enough to make a start as a nur-

_ seryman. He saw the possibilities of the
- country in this line and the promise of a good
living, and perhaps a competence if he could
only get established. But work was not easy
_ to get. Day after day he-sought it and failed,
and day by day his slender store of money
ran down. He did all sorts of odd jobs, many
_ of them far beyond his strength. He heard of
a new building to be put up in the frontier
town. He applied for work. He had no tools,
but, being promised a job if he had a shing-
ling hatchet, he invested nearly all of his
remaining funds in one, only to find, the next
morning, that the job had gone to some one
else.

He found more steady work at last at a
mere pittance, cleaning out chicken-coops on
a chicken-ranch. The work was disagreeable
in the extreme, but he was willing to do any-
thing that was honorable. At this time he

11

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

had no place to sleep nights, and for months
made his bed in a chicken-coop, unable to get
enough money ahead to pay for regular lodg-
ings. Occasionally, when work altogether
failed, he was reduced to absolute want. It
was his habit at such times to go to the village
meat market, secure the refuse bones saved for
dogs, and get from them what meat he could.

He found steady employment at last in a
small nursery at a beggarly wage. Not being
able to hire lodgings, he slept in a bare, damp,
unwholesome room above the steaming hot-
house, where for days and nights at a time
his clothing was never dry. He was passing
through such privations as those through
which, in the strange allotments of fortune,
many another great man has passed.

The constant exposure and lack of nourish-
ing food made rapid inroads upon a not too
strong constitution, and this, with overwork,
brought on an attack of fever. A woman in
the neighborhood, herself in straitened cir-
cumstances, found him one day in such a criti-
cal condition that she insisted on sharing with
him the small portion of milk which she could
afford to spare from the one cow that supplied

12

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

her family. He protested against taking it
_ because he might never be able to repay her,
_ and, indeed, there was scant hope in his
condition that he would live to do it. The
_ woman insisted, and the pint of milk a day
_ which she brought to him saved his life.

_ The man who was to become the foremost
_ figure in the world in his line of life, and who
_ was to pave the way by his own discoveries
_ and creations for others of all lands to follow
in his footsteps, was a stranger in a strange
land, close to starvation, penniless, beset by
disease, hard by the gates of death. And yet
_ never for an instant did this heroic figure lose
hope, never did he abandon confidence in him-
_ self, not once did he swerve from the path he
_ had marked out. In the midst of all he kept
_ an unshaken faith. He accepted the trials that
- came, not as a matter of course, not tamely,
_ nor with any mock heroics, but as a passing
necessity. His resolution was of iron, his will
of steel, his heart of gold; he was fighting in

_ the splendid armor of a clean life.

_ It was a wan and haggard figure that rose
at last from his sick bed and wandered from
place to place in search of work. Matters

13
ol

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

shaped themselves gradually, more and more .
in his favor and he went from one odd job
to another, slowly saving a little money and
regaining his health. The day came at last
when he had a bit of a balance in the bank
and soon after he was able in a small way to
set up in business for himself.

He secured a small plot of ground and
established the nursery which was to become
famous throughout not only his own state but
the country at large. His heart was in his
work now, but there was something else. All
through these years of early manhood, in the
midst of discouragement and privation, he
never let go of the plan of his life—to become
not merely a raiser of plants but an improver
and a creator. Even in those first days, as
chance offered, he began that wonderful series
of experiments which has astonished the scien-
tific men of two hemispheres and established
an epoch in the life of the vegetable i Ns”
from which the future will reckon.

One day there came to the young nursery-
man an order in the filling of which he dis-
played that boldness of plan and audacity of
execution which have many a time marked his

14

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

progress. The order was from a man who was
_ going to start a large prune ranch. He wanted
twenty thousand young prune trees to set out.
It would take in the ordinary course of events
_ from two and a half to three years for a nur-
_seryman to raise the trees, but this was a
_hurry-up order; if it was to be filled, it must
be filled in nine months.

_ He took the order. With all haste he
scoured the country for men and boys to plant
almonds. It was late in the season and the
almond seed was the only one which would
_ sprout at that time among all the trees that
were suitable for his plans. It grows very
_ rapidly, too, and this was taken into account.
_ Ina comparatively short time the young shoots
_ were big enough for budding. Twenty thou-
_ sand prune buds were in readiness, were bud-
_ ded into the growing almonds, and the young
trees started forward in their race for the prize.
_ When the nine months were up the twenty
_ thousand prune trees were ready. Nature had
_ been outwitted, or, better put, had been led to
_ outdo herself; the fruit-grower was delighted ;

_ the young nurseryman was a good many dol- |
lars in pocket. Today, twenty years afterward,

15

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE —

one of the finest prune orehards in California.
or the world is growing from these trees.

It was a concrete illustration of the re-
sourcefulness of the man and of that which
has again and again been shown in his later
life, his supreme indifference to precedent.

He early established an unvarying rule,
never to send out anything which was not, so
far as lay in his power, precisely what it was
represented to be. So his name became a
synonym for exact honesty,—if it came from
Burbank, it was to be depended upon.

An incident well illustrates the confidence
men had in him when once they came to know
him. He was in need of some extra money to
use in carrying forward a branch of his work.
He had applied for a loan unsuccessfully at
quite a number of places. His very modesty
and shrinkingness, in the eyes of a business
man, stood against him. One day, when he had
given up hope of the loan, he saw a team of
horses in the distance coming down the dusty
road. As the team drew near he recognized a
_man who lived in the region, by common repu-
tation a miserable old skinflint. Hailing from
the road as he drove up, he called out:

16

BIUAOJI[VD “BSOY vIUBG ye ‘ouIOY Ss.yuRqing “Aj

ey ger gt

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

_ Say, young feller, I’ve been watchin’ you a
long time. You’re allus attendin’ to bizness.
_ But a man that kin do what you kin do oughter
have an easier time than you're havin’. Don’t
~ you need a little extry cash once in a while?”
_ Greatly interested in such a query from
_ such a man, he answered that he could use a
_ little additional money now and then,—in fact,
_ he knew where he could put a hundred dollars
_ that very day, in a place where it would bring
- in a handsome return.

__ Pulling out an old wallet, the so-called skin-
flmt counted out two hundred dollars and
_ handed them to the astonished nurseryman.

_ No,” as he drove off, “I don’t want no
_ note, nor no intrust nuther: when you git
_ ready to pay it, all right. G’long, there!”

_ The years now rapidly passed. The business
began to yield more handsomely, and yet
_ he was less and less satisfied with the outlook.
In the midst of the exacting demands of his
work, he yet found time to devote to experi-
_ mentation with new forms of plant life,—
_ always before him the supreme purpose of his
_ life. Reticent by nature, though never secre-
_ tive, he did not talk over his new ideas with

17

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

any one. No one was to know what he was
engaged in until such time as he had some-
thing to show for it.

As he had opportunity, he read such few
practical books on botany and the breeding of
plants as he could find, but these, save in some
matters of nomenclature and detail, were of
little aid to him. He soon found out that he
stood face to face with Nature, and only
from her lips could he learn her secrets.

He read Darwin among other scientists,
and was greatly interested in the Origin of
Species. In his own mind were developing, at
the same time, important theories, which must
be noted in a later chapter. Even as he
worked the hardest, and all unknown to him-
self in large measure, his own mind was being
broadened and deepened. He saw before him
now something of the possibilities of plant
creation—his vision was strong and true,
his perspective never distorted.

There came another red-letter day in his
calendar. It was the day when he came to the
formal decision that he would give up his
nursery business and devote his entire time
and energies to plant-breeding. As soon as his

18

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

relatives and friends heard of his decision, they
entered vehement protest. What greater folly
could a man commit than to abandon a busi-
ss now netting him nearly ten thousand
s a year to embark upon a project at the
Quixotic and sure to end in financial
n? It was the same sort of reasoning he
| listened to when a boy, when his friends
nd relatives pictured a great career as an
ventor.

Ridicule, pity, scorn, harsh criticism, all
were alike unavailing. He listened with pa-
tience, but went forward in the line he had
urked out. So one day in the year 1893 he
found himself free from the exacting demands
of his business life, his extensive nursery closed
. _ He had entered upon a career which was
(0 be even more exacting than this business
ife, but he entered upon it high in hope and
a ch in resolution.

_ Slowly he put into effect his plans. Having
t asted a new fruit or flower or an improved
old one, he kept it back, following in his old
lines as a nurseryman, until he was absolutely
“sure it was going to do precisely what he said
it would do. Not until then was he ready to

19

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

put a new creation before the world. The new.
and improved varieties were sold to bring him —
revenue for the further prosecution of his
work. The sums for which they sold were
ridiculously small, considering the time con-
sumed in their production, often years of the
most patient study and experimentation, and
the large revenues that were derived from the
new creations by the dealers purchasing them.
Perhaps from one hundred dollars, at the start,
up to five hundred would be an average. Or-
ders soon began coming from Europe, where
he gradually became better known, where,
indeed, he was appreciated as he had never
been in his own country.

His income rose steadily, but it did not
match his outlay. There were laborers’ wages
to pay, supplies to be bought, funds provided
for paying for the services of collectors in for-
eign lands, on the lookout for new kinds of
plants. His reputation was advancing, but —
year by year he was falling behind and en-
croaching more and more upon the store set
by for the rainy day.

Opposition now came from many quarters.
Not only did his friends see the fulfilment of

20

eS eee o

OE i

i i a ale | a ny eileen” eit re:
punoada.10j ay} ut sjue[d snoqing —
snolWea ‘19}U90 ey} Ul ssvid svduieg ‘Jodojseqeg je spunoad Sutaoid oy ug

|
oie PEs

FORE STE

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

_ their predictions,—some of them very kindly
telling him so,—but people who had heard of
some of the strange things he had done, and
who had not the breadth of vision to see what
manner of man this was, pronounced him a
charlatan,—a man who was creating all manner
of unnatural forms of life, monstrosities, in-
deed a distinct foe to the racé. A minister in-
-vited Mr. Burbank to listen to a sermon on
his work, and when the guest was in the pew
denounced him in bitter fashion as a man who
was working in direct opposition to the will of
God, in thus creating new forms of life which
never should have been created, or if created,
only by God himself.

Now and again arose some pseudo-scientific
man who, professing unlimited friendship,
sought for means to filch the rapidly increasing
reputation. Others visited him with the cov-
ert purpose of exposing him as a charlatan
after inspecting his methods, but, confounded
by what they saw, went down. the little hedge-
bordered walk that leads to his quiet home
shamed into silence. From various sources
came offers of aid; but the keen vision of the
man read every proposition in its spirit as well

21

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

as its letter and detected unerringly the efforts.
which, while apparently in his behalf, were in
reality essentially selfish, planned so that others
might profit by his experiences. There were
strings to them; he would have none of them.
He could divide responsibility, and apportion
duty, but he could not yield authority. It
would be fatal to have any other will than his
own in command.

But he was learning now that, to accomplish
the work he had mapped out, and so to leave
it that others could take it up where he left it
and carry it forward, it was imperative that he
have assistance. Already many millions of
dollars had been added to the national wealth
because of his improved fruits. Already the
whole world was being brightened by his
flowers. And yet, if he should be able to work
without handicap, the future promised far
greater results than the past. Now and again,
too, he was bitterly admonished that he could
not work eighteen hours out of the twenty-
four. Occasional illnesses came. He found
that the nature he loved so well could chide
as well as cheer. Several times he was laid
by with dangerous nervous breakdowns.

22

LUTHER BURBANK, THE MAN

_ At this point a plan was unfolded to him,
considered somewhat at length in a later chap-
ter, for substantial assistance from the Car-
__negie Institution in a manner which would
_ leave him absolutely his own master and
- would enable that organization to become a
_ silent partner in the furtherance of his plans.
_ Thus the way opened to a maximum of
effort at a minimum of waste.

23

CHAPTER II
GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

a. passing to the individual crea-
tions of Mr. Burbank, it will be of inter-
est to consider the general plan of his life-
work, reserving for later chapters the minutiz
of the methods, so presented and so fortified -
by advice from Mr. Burbank that the ama-
teur, no less than the professional, may receive
suggestions for the prosecution of plant-breed-
ing, one of the most fascinating occupations
in the world, and one full of great practical
possibilities. Indeed, as Mr. Burbank puts it,
results of enormous value to the race may at
any time come from the work of any man
who takes up plant-breeding with patience
and intelligent interest.

The aim of Mr. Burbank, aside from that
paramount object always overshadowing all
else, to give aid to the race, is threefold:

1. The improvement of old varieties of
fruits, flowers, grasses, trees and vegetables.

24

eee

Sete

leh

Sg Ot

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

2. The merging of wild, or degenerate, types
of plant life with tame, or cultivated ones, in
order that the union may be of service to both.

3. The creation of absolutely new forms of
life, unknown to the world before,—the highest
act of the plant-breeder.

The general character of his work is in-
cluded under two heads:

1. Breeding.—This, in its basic meaning,
consists in uniting two plants to give birth to
a third. A thousand and one things must be
taken into account, all accumulating through
hereditary influences and environment, and
reaching out through all the future life of the
plant; but, for present consideration, the chief
act is parental. Breeding is accomplished by
sifting the pollen of one plant upon the stigma
of another, this act, pollenation, resulting in
fertilization, Nature, in her own mysterious
ways, bringing forth the new plant.

2. Selection.—This consists in eternally
choosing the best and rejecting the worst.
It is co-equal in importance with breeding,
the one supplementary to the other at all
points. |

The breeding of plants is not a new act.

25

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

Generally speaking, however, those who have |
carried it on have worked in small quarters,
perhaps in gardens or conservatories, usually
with comparatively few varieties. Mr. Bur-
bank early saw that this was slow work, that
it would take the years of many lifetimes to
accomplish what he had laid out before him.
The sending of telegrams was once confined
to a single message, one way, in one direction.
Even this was a wonderful thing, but it was
slow, and so there was devised a system of
sending many messages upon the single wire
in both directions at the same time.

Some such transformation as this he has
wrought in plant-breeding.

Instead of one or two experiments under
way at the same time, he may have five hun-
dred at once, all requiring constant supervi-
sion, many of them extending over a period
of perhaps ten years before they come to frui-
tion. Instead of having a few square feet of
ground or a few pots under glass, he uses
acres of ground, if necessary, in a single test.
In place of contenting himself with a half
dozen, or even fifty plants, in making a given
test, he uses if necessary a million, all of them

26

Nf ee 2

PP ee ee Lae ee les

ll pal ll

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

pressing forward in a million similar ways,
toward the same end. And out of the million
he saves perhaps i: the last sifting but one,
and that one the best of all.

Running through all the work is the con-
stant effort to break up old habits of life. Mr.
Burbank sees two plants of the same, or it may
be widely differing, species. He sees that
neither one is living up to its opportunities.
For one reason or another they have been
slowly going down in the scale, possibly for
centuries; or else it may be they have been
as slowly going upward from some poorer
estate and have not had sufficient help. He
knows that back of each one of these plants
lies a long and varied history, full of incidents,
replete in experiences as strange in their way
and as subtle as any which come to man.
This past of the plant has produced the plant
of today—tomorrow it must be changed.

Just as into the life of a man long inured to
bad habits, the son of evil parents, tracing his
lineage backward through a century of sin,
just as there must come into this life some
tremendous shock, be it a death, a terror, a
great love or an overpowering hate, completely

27

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

changing the course of his life and making an
abrupt break in the generations of crime, so in
a gentler but none the less powerful manner
the plant must have the overpowering shock of
re-creation, it must irrevocably break with the
past. As in the case of the man, so with the
flower. The initial shock and subsequent
change may be followed by a reaction and a
return in some measure to the old order of
things; but just as care and patience and wise
living and the higher aid may help the man
back and steady him in a course of right living,
so the plant, though it rebel at first, finally
becomes fixed in its new ways and starts
forward to enrich or glorify the world.

The very least of Mr. Burbank’s labor is the
actual breaking up of the plant’s life by the
shock of re-creation, the vastest in its scope
that a life can bear, such shock as even death
. does not bring, for it is death and life in one,
the death of the old and the birth of the new.
But this, however grave a change, is only an
incident in the work. He must study the
plant in all its relations. He must know its
past intimately. He must take into account
ten thousand past tendencies. He must look

28

Walnut-leaf variation. To the left, common English walnut; to
the right, the native California black walnut; in the center, the new
hybrid ‘* Paradox,” bred from the other two.

- to the future of the new plant and see in what
manner it is to fill out its new place in the
_ world among its fellows and amidst perhaps
radically different environments. These plants
are like children. To know them you must
| i know their ancestry ; and to know their ances-
_ try affords at least some hint of their future.

wl le line 7

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

*

In a plant, this past, this heredity which Mr.
Burbank, more clearly than it has been set

q forth before, pronounces “the sum of all past

environments,” is perhaps more fixed than that
of achild’s past, because it has not had so many

obvious disturbances. It has not been subject

to the inconsistencies of human love and its
strange selections. This knowledge of the past
of the plant and this intimate study of its life
and the related life of other plants are among

the factors which help to give Mr. Burbank

the commanding place he holds in the world.
When the past of the plant has been broken
up, then comes the turning of its life forces
into its new channels. Indeed, when we begin
to search for the secret of Mr. Burbank’s
success, we find that it lies deep, and sweeps
forward with a powerful hold upon the very
sources of life itself. Perhaps the flower he is

29

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

for the time considering has had a small, insig- .
nificant blossom all its life, all the life, anyway,
that is recorded by man. Its life tendencies
have centered and culminated, so to speak, in
this pitifully inadequate bloom. The blossom
is not only small and unattractive in form but
weak in color, hard by the realm of the outcast
weeds. But he has seen in it great possibil-
ities; swiftly he sets about its improvement.
Possibly he sees that by combining it with
some near related flower friend he may make
it lovelier, perhaps he decides that the only way
to do is to pick out the very best of its kind
from among a thousand or ten thousand
plants and from this best one, poor though it
may be, go on and on in a constant succession
of upward selections from the plants that
follow the seeding, until at last he brings
forth the blossom he sought, beautiful, large,
richer in color, fine and velvety in texture, a
royal addition to the blossoms of the world.

It takes long to do this,—perhaps twenty
years. ‘Twenty years to produce a new flower?
Certainly, why not? Is it not worth it? Not
that he may spend his whole time for that
term on a single plant,—a whole series of them

30

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

is in process of development at once, hundreds
of varieties. But it is years in almost every
ease before the end is reached,—so slow the

_ work of selection from year to year, this eter-

nal choosing of the best plants from the best.
_ And there are many obstacles. When two
_ plants are united to produce a third, no human
intelligence can predict just what will follow.
- You have in the hollow of your hand a dozen
__ seeds from one of your choicest apples. It had
_ reddened in the autumn sun on a tree you had
7 known since boyhood. You had watched it
_ blossom in pink beauty in the springtime of
_ other years, had seen its fruit develop in the
- mellowing summer, had watched its bare
branches tossed in the gale when the winter
_ snows lay deep at its feet. Here in your hand
_ lie the seeds of this apple. It may be you are

a thousand miles away from the old home

_ where the apple tree,is growing. It would be
_ arare delight for you, transplanted to another
region, and for your children after you, to raise
another tree from the seeds of the old friend.

_ So you plant your twelve seeds to rear on a

new soil the old friend, and not one of them
comes into a life in any particular like the

31

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

life of the old tree at home—indeed, it may |
turn out not one of them bears fruit fit for the
tongue.

So it may be with a new life from cross-bred-
ing and selection,—the end cannot always be
foretold. But Mr. Burbank does not content
himself with the use of two or three plants as
stock, taking chances on their failure to make
progress. Many men have used a few plants
and have found certain results following, and
now and again has arisen one who, from his
few experiments, has reached certain results
which entitle his deductions, he believes, to be
known thereafter as laws. Mr. Burbank has
never worked in this way. He early saw that
to carry on his plans in the broadest and best
manner, to avoid the delays incident, to a
failure of a single plant to show improvement,
he must work with thousands where necessary,
indeed, with tens of thousands; indeed, more
than this, with a million plants if needs be.
For example, in breeding lilies he has used as
high as five hundred thousand plants in a
single test. Out of this enormous number
there naturally were great variations, and so
before his eyes spread out a vast panorama,

32

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

rich in varied opportunities for initial selec-
_ tion. Out of this initial selection he makes
- final choice of the best.

_ Sometimes he has marked out a certain
line of life for a flower. He has bred and se-
_ lected to that end. For a time all goes as he
_ had planned, but suddenly a new trait de-
_ velops, something which completely throws all
_ former plans out of gear. He does not aban-
~ don the test, but watches with the intensest
_ interest the new development. If the plant
_ persists in its way,—and the new way is
_ better,—he leaves the old and follows the new.
_ No man is quicker to give up, when convinced
_ that giving up is best. But he is not con-
_ vinced easily ;—the evidence against him must
_ be unanswerable. Now and then out of the
4 muck of some slum, reeking with moral filth,
and developing with unwholesome rapidity
_ the seeds of anarchy and crime, a white, pure
life springs up, persists, maintains its guard
_ against all temptations, comes back, mayhap,
in later years to help redeem its birthplace.
_ And so ina similar way a flower sometimes
_ breaks away from the line of life all logic and
_ reason would say it should follow.

33

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

The new plant may develop certain charac- -
teristics like those of one parent, certain others
like those of the other parent. It may inherit
length of stem from one, breadth of leaf from
the other, or it may have stem and leaf wholly
unlike either. And this latter is frequently
the end sought,—to produce a different type
from that of either and from that produce by
long selection a type superior to either parent.
Very much of breeding is breaking up.

I recall with interest a conversation with a
gentleman in the city of London concerning
the terrible depravity among the young men
of that city. There were at that time fully
eight hundred thousand young men in the
city between the ages of eighteen and twenty-
five. He was perhaps better acquainted with
the youth of the greatest city in the world
than any other man in it. He said, as the re-
sult of his years of experience, that, but for
the inflow of country blood into the veins of
London, London life would become practi-
cally extinct in three cence so vast
the vice.

Just as this, and all other great cities, are
strengthened physically, mentally and, indeed,

34

One of the hybrid chestnuts, bearing nuts at eighteen months
of age from the seed

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

rally, by the influence of those who are
rT. and reared in country places, so, many
imes, a plant which has long lived in a care-

3 civilization having lost its vitality, needs a
Beeeasion of blood. Mr. Burbank has ever
been a close student of all the outward forms
a Batirre , as well as of all her strange inner
ife. All Mboigh all the years he has been
‘king upon the flowers and plants he has
id in the open, using them frequently for
$ very purpose to strengthen the strain of
ne over - civilized plant needing the fresh
Pp of the wild, strong neighbor of the
) bptains or forest. Collectors in all quarters
of the world, too, are steadily on the lookout
‘0 provide him with plant life from their re-
a ions, sometimes wild, sometimes tame, with
whick to make combinations or developments.
So he is confined to no one species nor to
one line of combinations. The whole
world is his field, and he makes his selections
and forms his combinations in absolute dis-
regard of all precedent. The end in view is
the point, how to reach it most directly. It
may be along so-called scientific lines, it may
be in absolutely new and original paths,—
35

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

more likely the latter,— but the means are the ~

non - essentials, the end is paramount.

It will be seen that in order to accomplish
the results that are changing in many ways
the plant life of the world and opening the
way to still greater changes, something else
_must enter into the matter than mere observa-
tion, however keen, than knowledge, however
deep, than experience, however broad. And
this strange, intangible thing, for want of a
better term, we call intuition.

There comes a day each year in Mr. Bur-
‘bank’s work when the fruit trees under test,
for example, must come up for scrutiny.
Selection is to be’ put to one of its uses.
Selection, selection of the best, must be ever
operative from the time the plant is first
chosen from its fellows;—it is the continual
survival of the fittest; but now comes selec-
tion on a larger scale. Perhaps there are a
hundred thousand of these fruit trees one or
two years of age. They have been planted at
Mr. Burbank’s proving grounds at Sebastopol,
a few miles from his home in Santa Rosa.
They have been cared for with patience and
with trained minds working over them, and

36

3
:
:
j

een ee ee ee ee

——

Se ~~

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

now has come their crucial test: each one
must pass in review before the eye of their
master.

In the ordinary course of plant-breeding
each one of these hundred thousand plants
would need to be grafted, or budded, each one
would need individual care. It would require
at least five years before the final test would
come and a showing be made of the value, or
the worthlessness, of each particular tree.
While no such test in a single experiment has
ever been made, it may be stated in general
terms that to graft and carry through to the
end of the five-year period a hundred thousand
trees would involve an outlay in actual money,
and in rental value of the large area of ground
necessary at least ten dollars per tree—a total
of one million dollars.

This is saved by Mr. Burbank in one work-
ing day. It is saved by that faculty which
is best expressed by the term intuition.
With assistants to bring and carry away the
tiny slender trees, perhaps now grown to a
height of one to three feet, he passes upon the

_ hundred thousand in a single day, going over

them with lightning-like rapidity, challenging
37

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

them the instant they meet his eye, determin- .
ing instantly whether or not they are fit to
live. This is selection in one of its most im-
portant forms and carried on as it never has
been carried on before.

Instantly he detects faults and as quickly
determines excellencies. How does he do it?
How does a child know enough to shun an
evil man? How does a maiden ktiow whether
the man setting siege to her heart is to be
trusted with her life? How does a man of
sensitive fiber know instantly, without word
or sign, that his traveling companion is a cut-
throat by nature, whether or not he wear a
bandit’s garb?

Mr. Burbank decides upon his trees by in-
tuition. He puts a case this way:

You may meet a hundred men, a thousand,
or even ten thousand men upon the street of
a great city, and instantly, without taking into
account any particular feature, you know that
they are different. No matter how similar in
general, the line of difference is absolute. A
hundred men pass before a merchant seeking
a man for a position of trust—he can tell at a
glance and with seldom an error whether or

38

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

. not he is going to want any one of them. He
_ does not know how—he simply utilizes his
_ intuition; and Mr. Burbank can tell his trees

~ with even greater accuracy.

One day a loyal friend laughingly suggested
a test. He was not in doubt as to Mr. Bur-
_ bank’s word, but he would like visual demon-
stration. So a series of trees was passed
before Mr. Burbank in the usual way. These
_ he instantly separated into good, mediocre
and poor. They were all grafted or budded
_ in the usual way and then, after several years,
when the time for final test came, the results
showed that, in every instance, he had decided
the precise nature of the tree and its relative
value.
| When the long period of a given test has
been concluded, the rejected plants, shrubs
_ or trees are gathered in large bonfires and
_ burned, and the ground stands clear for an-
_ other test. In a single year as many as four-
_ teen of these huge bonfires have been lighted
_ upon the hills of Sebastopol, consuming
_ hundreds of thousands of plants. And out
of all that entered the test, probably not
more than one or two have been saved,—all

39

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE >

the rest have been rejected because they did .
not show improvement over old forms, because
they did not promise to add anything to the
beauty or the utility of the world. One plant
out of five hundred thousand, all the rest
destroyed, the results of all the labor of a
decade ending in smoke,—no wonder the
people living hard by, before they came to
know what it all meant, pronounced this
strange man going up and down their country
lanes so gently and silently, a wild, erratic
creature—indeed, more than one sagely held
him bereft of all sound judgment.

Before passing to a more detailed considera-
tion of Mr. Burbank’s great achievements it
will be of interest to note briefly some of his
leading creations. The list includes:

The improved thornless and spiculess edible
cactus, food for man and beast, to be the
reclamation of the deserts of the world; the
primus-berry, a union of the raspberry and
blackberry, the first recorded instance of the
creation of a new species, together with the —
phenomenal berry created from the California
dewberry and the Cuthbert raspberry, and the
plumcot, the union of the plum and the

40

_ GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

ap ricot, all three the lags eps mc of what
‘ie ith no pit, one with the flavor of a Bartlett
pear, one having a rare fragrance, many plums
of great value, rapidly replacing older varie-
ties; a walnut with a shell so thin that the birds
visi ed the branches and destroyed the nuts,
“necessitating the reversion of the process to
‘make the shell of the right thickness; a
‘walnut bred with no tannin in its meat, the
ec oring matter of the skin which has a dis-
agreeable taste; a tree which grows more
upidly than any other tree ever known in the
Eiecrate zones of the world; the Shasta
‘daisy, a blossom five to seven inches in diame-
_ter, made out of a wild field daisy, a Japanese
and an English daisy; gladioli of greatly
‘enhanced beauty, taught to bloom around
their entire stem like a hyacinth instead of
the old way, on one side; a dahlia with its
; ™ lis agreeable odor driven out and in its place
2 odor of the magnolia blossom; a lily with
fr ugrance of the Parma violet, and a scentless
verbena given the intensified fragrance of the
trailing arbutus; a chestnut tree which bears
nuts in eighteen months from time of seed-

41

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

planting; fruit trees which will withstand freez-. _
ing in bud and flower; a poppy so increased
in size that it measures ten inches across its
brilliant bloom; an amaryllis bred up from
two to three inches to nearly a foot in diam-
eter; a calla increased in size until it measures
ten to twelve inches in breadth, and then, the —
process being reversed, bred down to less than _
two inches; the white blackberry, a rare and
beautiful fruit and as toothsome as beautiful; —
thousands of varieties of lilies. He has greatly —
improved the plums, pears, apples, cherries, 7

grapes, quinces and peaches by selection and

breeding; has developed many varieties of
flowers, improving them in color, hardiness
and yield; and has added much to the pro- —
ductiveness and edibility of vegetables. Pie- —
plant with leaves four feet in diameter, bearing
every day in the year; a prune three or four
times larger than the ordinary French prune
and greatly enriched; the pomato, an improve-
ment on the poisonous potato ball, producing
-arare fruit which grows upon the top of a
potato; blackberries without thorns; the im-
proved Australian star flower, one of the
everlasting varieties which is to be used for

42

GENERAL METHODS OF WORK

the decoration of ladies’ hats; a. larkspur
greatly enlarged in size and given a delightful
odor; many improved varieties of grasses;
improved tobacco;—these are among the
_ works which have come from his hand; others
promising even more important results are
_ now under way.

- To study more closely some of the wonder-
ful achievements of this man is like opening
successive doors into some strange vast castle
where every apartment is the scene of a
miracle.

ee a a ee

ei
,

CHAPTER III
THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

hs Veneta the thousands of people who visit

Mr. Burbank’s home from year to year

are many who come out of idle curiosity, some
who are prominent in scientific lines, whom he
delights to welcome if they are sincere, some
who come prepared to find fault and to over-
throw, if possible, what has been built up.
One day when there came a man who had
been deeply interested in forestry, conversa-
tion fell upon the breeding of trees, the pro-
duction of new and improved varieties of trees
by means of cross-fertilization and selection.
The visitor had decided views upon the
subject, and at once raised the question of the
feasibility, even of the possibility, of any suc-
cessful experimentation in tree-breeding, such
as that Mr. Burbank had carried on in other
plant life. In the first place, the experiments
would need to be carried over through a series
of generations, and, so slow the growth of the

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THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

_ trees, the man who began them would long

have been dead before anything like important

_ results would have been attained, thus largely
eliminating continuity of effort and satisfac-

tory personal supervision. Again, what was

_ there to be gained in attempting to improve

the trees of the world as they stand? And,
again, there was the improbability of anything
like satisfactory results in any fertilization—
the whole scheme was interesting but specula-
tive. Nor was there any practical bearing,—
where could there be found any scientific
value in the plan?

In all lines of Mr. Burbank’s work the most
satisfactory answer to the arguments of those
who hold that, because such and such a thing
has never yet been accomplished, therefore, it
cannot be accomplished, is a fact. It was so
in this instance. All that was necessary to do
was to point to a single row of trees standing
in front of his home at Santa Rosa, just out-
side the white fence that surrounds his
grounds. They are noble trees, tall, wide-
spreading, stately, pleasant to look upon, dig-
nified and substantial as trees go, not weak or
irresolute, possessing that indefinable attribute

45

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

which, even in trees, we call character. These -
trees answered every argument advanced.
They were the result of breeding and selec-
tion; they had not been long in growing, not
over a dozen years; they were economically
important.

Some ten or fifteen years before, Mr. Bur-
bank had studied the question of tree improve- —
ment with great care. All sides of the plant
life of the world appeal to him. If he can see
a chance for improvement, it matters not to
him what the obstacles in the way or what the
contentions of those who are chained to tradi-
tions. He had,long seen a chance for marked
improvement in certain varieties of the wal-
nut. He took an English walnut and a com-
mon California black walnut, as types on
which to work, crossed them by fertilization,
raised seedlings from these, then selected the
very best of the progeny; and so bred for-
ward, ever picking out those which ap-
proached nearest his ideal until, at last, he
had a set of hybrid seedlings which he was
willing to trust to themselves.

A half dozen of the trees were set out in
the hard earth in front of his house in the

46

A bed of the hybrid poppies

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

street, where they would receive no cultivation
‘and no irrigation in days of drought. They
were left to shift for themselves. Fourteen
years passed and, in 1905, the trees had be-
come nearly eighty feet in height, their branch-
spread was fully seventy-five feet, their trunks
_were fully two feet in diameter at the height
of a man’s head, and not much less than that
at the point of the first branch, some twelve
to fifteen feet above the ground. The wood
“is of fine grain, hard, very compact, having a
lustrous, silky effect and taking a high polish.
Sometimes the annual growth will be an inch
or more, the successive layers giving to the
“sawn timber interesting and novel effects.
The wood is suitable for furniture manufac-
ture, for inside furnishings of houses, or for
any place where open ornamental woodwork
treatment is employed. For fuel the wood
“gives a steady, strong heat, combining com-—
“parative ease in cutting with the hardness
essential for good burning.

_ Just across the street from Mr. Burbank’s
‘home stands another row of walnut trees.
They have been growing a little over twice as
long as the ones on Mr. Burbank’s side of the

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

road. They stand about fifteen feet high, they:
are perhaps six inches in trunk diameter.
These trees belong to a past generation; the
noble trees on his side of the road are of the
progressive today. In fourteen years the new
tree grew six times as much as the older tree
had grown in thirty years. In addition to
their specifically economic value, the new
trees are very beautiful, making an ideal tree
for shade in private grounds, for an avenue
approaching some country estate, to over-arch
in gothic strength some beautiful city street. —
Along with the production of this tree,
_ which Mr. Burbank named the “Paradox” he
worked on a different combination, though
produced in the same way. The Paradox was
particularly suited to regions like California,
where winters are not severe. He wanted
another tree, as rapid in growth, as fine for
timber, as valuable for fuel, which would grow
in any climate where the hardy northern black —
walnut would grow. So he joined together the —
native California black walnut and the old- —
fashioned New England black walnut, produc-
ing a new hybrid which he named the “Royal.”
This tree has answered all the demands made

48

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

upon it, and is fully equal to the Paradox. I
recall seeing one of these Royal trees standing
isolated in the front yard of a fruit ranch on
_ the road to Sebastopol. It had been set out, a
tiny sapling, at about the same time the trees
_ were set out in the street in front of Mr. Bur-

_ bank’s home, and in the dozen years it had
_ grown to magnificent proportions, completely

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IN ta i a cee

dwarfing the other trees in the vicinity, even
the large native live-oaks which are so conspic-
uous a feature of the northern California land-
scape. Each of the new walnuts grows in
comely fashion, having no bad habits and
readily yielding to the pruning-knife or to
training, in case a branch shows any signs of
ungraceful waywardness.

In a general way, the physical characteristics
of each tree are quite like those of the other.

These trees have been bred for purely com-
mercial ends, though they possess rare beauty
as well. The nuts, at first, were not thought

to have any special value, the object in the

scheme of breeding being to develop the tree

itself rather than its fruit, but, as the experi-

ment progressed, it was found that certain of
the seedlings produced fine hybrid walnuts,

49

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

different in form from the parent nuts and far
more abundant, while possessing a unique and
delightful flavor. 'The leaves upon the trees, as
is noted in another chapter, are of many inter-
esting varieties, and when rubbed in the fingers
or crushed, or even when merely handled, give
out a delightful fragrance somewhat like that
of the apple, but as powerful and lasting as —
that of a rose or a lily.

But to come to the main life-plan of the
new trees, it appears that they are in some
ways the most important contribution Mr.
Burbank has made to the specifically commer-
cial life of the world. A simple computation
will illustrate this,—the results are so remark-
able as to challenge one’s credulity, but they
are results based solely upon facts, unadorned
by any speculation. ;

Mr. Burbank says that for the best commer-
cial purposes the trees of either variety should
be set out not less than forty feet apart, in
order to allow ample space for each. The
root system is very extensive, and there must
be plenty of room for each tree below ground,
as well as large allowance for the spread of the
branches. About thirty-six trees to the acre is

50

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

_the number he thinks will produce the best
results. At the end of twelve years each tree
_ will offer a clear trunk without branches which,
_ when stripped of its outer slabs and squared,
will be at least fifteen feet long by a foot and a
half square. This will give three hundred feet
_ of clear timber, board measure, per tree. Black
_ walnut lumber has been steadily disappearing
_ from the market. Year by year it has as steadily
- increased in price until it has now become one
of the rare woods, running in cost from $200
_ per thousand feet, board measure, to $600
_ or $700 per thousand feet for particularly fine
pieces.

_ ‘Taking but $250 as the average price of
black walnut lumber per thousand, certainly a
_ conservative figure, at the end of the twelve-
_ year period each tree is worth approximately
’ $80. The acre yield would be $2,880. For an
_ average farm of 160 acres the revenue for the
_ twelve years, with no outlay save the cost of
j planting, not over twenty-five cents per tree,
_ taxes upon the land, and interest upon money
- invested, would be a little over $460,000. This
does not take into account the value of the
_ branches, and the refuse slabs of the mill-saw-

51

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

ing, which for fuel would amount to at least:
four cords per tree— about $24,000 for the
total farm, or a grand total for the 160 acres
for lumber and fuel amounting to $485,000.

These figures seem absolutely preposterous,
but it must be borne in mind that the trees
are now to be seen growing at the end of a
fourteen-year period, and that every item has
been carefully verified ;— hence the conclusion
is legitimate, even if staggering. Naturally,
should everybody go in for hybrid walnut —
raising, the price of this now rare lumber would
be reduced, but, so valuable is it in so many
ways,—for furniture, bank and office furnish-
ings, dwelling interiors, for wainscoting and
ceilings where costly woods are sought,—and
so remarkable is it as a producer of wood for
fuel, it is not at all likely that there would
soon be a glut in the market.

In conversation with a practical manufac-
turer of lumber to whom this new work of
Mr. Burbank was a revelation, he raised the
point that, so far as his knowledge went, fast-
growing trees were usually trees of soft grain
which were not suitable for fine finishing.
The strange fact is, however, that these new

52

The central poppy, a brilliant scarlet with purple center, is the offspring
of the other two. The one to the left, Papaver pilosum, a delicate orange;
the one to the right, Papaver somniferum, the ‘* Bride poppy,” a pure
white. Leaves of each are shown.

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

trees have apparently defied all precedent,—
they are not only of phenomenal rapidity of
_ growth but they preserve all the hardness,
_ tenacity and evenness of grain of their slow-
_ growing ancestors. When I raised this point
in conversation with Mr. Burbank, he sprang
up from his chair in his characteristically ener-
_ getic manner, was out of the room in a trice,
_ and as swiftly returned from his repair-shop
_ bearing a piece from a huge branch which had
been cut off from one of the trees. It had
_ been roughly squared by the workman and
_ part of one side had been planed. The wood
_ was unusually heavy to the hand, more like
some dense tropic wood and very hard. It
_ was of a beautiful color, the finish even by the
plane alone showing its possibilities for taking
a high polish. It will make a rare wood in its
lighter color and will assume the darker wal-
nut color when it is soaked for many months
- in water, as the black walnut is soaked before
_ Sawing in order to give it the peculiar dark
hue. In point of fact, however, there are no
_ doubt many who would prefer the lighter
_ satiny tints to the darker. The heavy annual
_ growth of the tree, forming such large layers,

53

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

adds another and distinctive note of interest
to the grain of the finished wood.

In order to secure the opinion of practical
men upon the new wood, samples were sub-
mitted to wood - workers, furniture finishers,
carvers, painters, and merchant lumbermen.
It was particularly interesting to note the ex-
pression upon the faces of these matter-of-fact
men as they saw, the first of all industrialists
to look upon it, this new factor in the manu-
facturing forces of the world. After the initial
exclamation of wonderment, out would come
a pocket rule, to measure the annular growth, |
each man seeming to doubt his own eyes.
‘Then a sharp knife would be whipped out to
test the wood for hardness; or, if it were a
painter or finisher at work, brushes were at
once dropped and a close and critical exam-
ination and test of the grain of the wood
followed, volleys of questions being fired
meanwhile.

Welding together many opinions expressed
by these practical men, these statements may
be taken as the consensus:

The production of a hard wood of the
character of this at such a phenomenal rate of

54

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

_ growth would be considered an impossibility
_ without the evidence of a man’s own eyes.
The new wood is as hard as the old-fash-
- joned black walnut, somewhat harder when
fully seasoned.

It has a finer grain than the old walnut and
takes a higher polish.

It is nearer the mahogany grades than any
other walnut and remarkably like some of
the tropic mahoganies.

Its possibilities when quartered or when
sawn for other novel effects in veneers, are
large.

The width of the annual growth makes it
_ peculiarly suitable when sawn in long strips
for wainscoting and like effects.

While the fiber of the wood is hard, it is
_ fine for working as well as for polishing.

Nearly every man spoke of the possibilities
of this new tree in rapidly re-foresting the
earth, as well as of the fact that it would give
a marked impetus to the use of hard wood
for fuel, while marking what might be called
a new era in manufacturing.

The trees of these two varieties which Mr.
Burbank has produced have been given no

55

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

attention whatever. He says that by culti-
vation and irrigation they would probably be
led to produce as much timber in eight or
ten years as they have done in fourteen. years
with no aid. The Paradox will grow in any
climate similar to that of California, anywhere
where the English walnut will grow; the
Royal will grow anywhere in the United
States, or any other country, where the hardy
New England black walnut will grow.

The secret of these wonderful trees lies in
the fact that Mr. Burbank selected them from
the most rapid-growing of all the many -
thousands of seedlings he had under test, at
the same time taking into account all the
other characteristics that were essential. Enor-
mous rapidity of growth, so to use the words,
in the early life of the seedling has been main-
tained in after years so that these two trees
now stand at the head — the most rapid - grow-
ing trees in the temperate zones of the globe.

They are deciduous, losing their leaves like
the elm and maple in the late autumn.

In this, as in so many other lines of Mr.
Burbank’s investigations, a new field is now
opened up for practical work. It now becomes

56

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

X \
possible to produce trees at will for practi-
cally any purpose,—for ornamentation, for
shade, for fuel, for manufacturing purposes;
to breed together trees from widely separated
quarters of the globe, each having some de-
sirable characteristic the other has not, uniting
the best of both in the child of the two, and
then selecting and selecting through a series
of years until the desired end is reached.
Hardiness, longevity, rapidity of growth, sym-
‘metry of form, adaptability,—all play their
“part, all may be called upon to act at the
proper moment. Mr. Burbank has given deep
thought to this branch of breeding, realizing
the vast importance to the world in any suc-
cessful plan for maintaining and increasing its
tree life. Upon this point he says:

“The possibilities of improvement in trees
are so great as to make it seem almost an ex-
-aggeration to state them. Trees may be bred
together within certain specific limits, to pro-
duce other trees of different character at will,
combining the characters of the parents or
developing wholly new ones. In human life
pre-natal influences are marvelously powerful
and extraordinarily diverse, and the spiritual

57

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

pre-natal influences are immeasurably more.
powerful than the physical ones. So that
while the future no doubt holds much for the
good of the race in the matter of an improved
human stock, these influences are at present,
at least, far too diverse and powerful to be
mastered or even taken clearly into account. —
A single and apparently very slight thing may
influence a whole human life, indeed, may
influence many lives directly and indirectly
through generations. Not so with a tree. Its
life is more fixed and stable. It has been fol-
lowing the same influences and never depart-
ing to any extent from a given course for
centuries upon centuries. It does not yield
easily. It is stubborn, persistent, it must be
pressed upon harder and harder.

“ But when it yields, it yields unreservedly.
Supply the right amount of pressure and the
thing is done. Then, when its new life is fixed,
it will persist in the new way as it has in the
old. Take, for example, a tree which produces
pitch, or maple-sugar, or tannin, or camphor,
or quinine. Now if the ability of any one of
these trees for producing its valuable product
is fixed, but its capacity meager, this capacity

58

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

_ may be increased at will simply by breeding
_ for this one trait and by selecting with this
end constantly in view. Thus, a tree or a
_ whole forest, for the principle covers all, may
_ be bred to produce a vastly increased supply
_ of any one of these commodities, double and
_ treble its former amount, thereby becoming
_ immensely more valuable. So in trees whose

bark may be valuable for coloring matter, the
coloring matter may be increased at will,
making the tree that much more important
from a commercial point of view. Any de-
sirable attribute of a tree may be increased at
will. There is work enough to be done in this
line for the government to put at work a
thousand experts, and the possibilities ahead
of them are so great that the whole face of
nature might be changed by them by an in-
telligent, patient and systematic following of
breeding and selection.

“Take the line of producing trees upon
which to graft others in order to hurry these
others onward to quicker fruitage. For exam-
ple, we will say a certain prune has very desir-
able qualities—it is high in sugar-content,
large in size, admirable for curing and packing.

59

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

But it has an~- inadequate root service, and -
when it comes to bearing on its own stock, it
soon exhausts itself and becomes unable to
support the top; it gradually produces less
and less and of a steadily deteriorating quality.
What is to be done? Why, simply give it a
new foundation upon which to build. The
almond grows very rapidly, several times as
fast as the prune. Graft the prune upon
the almond when the almond has its root
system established, say at five years of age,
and let the almond do the hard work. See
how the almond will send the prune bounding
forward! It gives the prune its needed basic
supply of food, and so the prune has nothing
to do but to go onward, bearing abundantly.

‘There are certain trees that are hustlers,—
strong, vigorous, fast-growing, self-reliant,
powerful to resist untoward circumstances.
These must be made to help their weaker
brethren, to give them better commercial
qualities. Take it in the line of a walnut bred
for fuel, to say nothing of lumber for manufac-
ture. Suppose a man buys a walnut tree large
enough to set out and pays fifty cents for it, and
in ten years it will produce ten cords of wood

60

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THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

worth five dollars a cord—isn’t the money
well invested? Isn’t it better to pay fifty
cents for such a tree and get such results than

to get another tree for nothing which in ten

_ years will produce one cord? Suppose a man
has a fine rich walnut or other nut which will

produce ten times as many nuts when grafted

upon a faster growing tree as it will pro-
_ duce upon its own roots—doesn’t it pay to

graft it?

“In considering the development of new

_ kinds of trees and in improving old ones, it

must always be borne in mind that no two
trees are alike. Two trees may start out, for
example, upon apparently precisely the same
conditions, but one will grow a foot while the
other is growing an inch. Oftentimes among
a lot of seedlings one will grow from a hundred
to five hundred times as much in a season as
its comrade raised from precisely the same kind
of seed. This fast-growing one is the one to
choose, and by selection it may be developed
still more until, as in the case of the walnut I
have bred, it stands at the head of all trees in
the temperate zones for rapidity of growth.
Both this fast-growing seedling and its slower

61

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

comrade had the same chance, but one of -
them was a hustler and the other was not.

“The fact is too often lost sight of, or not
known at all, that the tops of the trees abso-
lutely govern the roots. The leaves are the
lungs and the stomach of the tree. The food
is digested, so to speak, in the leaves and
there made accessible for the tree as a whole. —
If a tree be fine of foliage it will be powerful
in all its parts, because it has the capacity to
take so much nourishment from the air,—
four-fifths of it being nitrogen, which is the
chief source of supply for plant-food. The
sun, too, plays its important part,—condensed
sunshine and condensed air are the chief
articles of the tree’s diet.

“Each tree, too, has its own individual
characteristics and traits, as well as being
absolutely unlike all other trees in form and
structure, and these traits must be studied and
taken carefully into consideration. ‘Take the
one act of fruit-bearing. I find that in certain
instances I have bred trees to bear too much
fruit, the matter was overdone. It came about
by constantly selecting from seedling trees
which were heavy fruit-bearers, all the time

62

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

seeking to make even these increase. The
‘result has been in some cases that I have had
to go backward again to a point where the
‘tree could produce its maximum of fruit
“without imperiling its efficiency.

_ “Bear in mind that, in the production of
any new tree, selection plays the all-important
part. First, one must get clearly in mind the
_ kind of tree he wants, then breed and select to
that end, always choosing through a series of
years the trees which are approaching nearest
the ideal, and rejecting all others.

_ “There is another important feature of a
tree to be used for manufacture,—its grain.
‘It is perfectly feasible to breed a tree up to a
certain general style of grain, by constantly
selecting for this special characteristic. As no
_two trees are absolutely alike on their exte-
riors, so it is with the interior of the tree.
Cut open a series of cross-bred seedlings—
some are dark, some are light, some are close-
: grained, some are coarse, some show tenden-
cies toward beautiful markings, some are plain,
some have wavy grain, some have straight.
So pick out from them the grain you want,
and continue selecting and breeding with

63

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

this stock as a basis; finally you have the
perfected tree just as you wish it. Once pro-
duced, it is, save in minor essentials, unchang-
ing. You can change the grain of the tree,
or its bark, or its top, or its trunk, or its
leaves, or its roots, or its quantity of quinine,
or sugar, or pitch, or what not;—you can
hardly think of anything you cannot do with
it. You can make it grow tall or short, huge
of girth or slender, narrow of branch or broad,
you can change the number of leaves it will
bear upon a branch and their shape. You can
chemically transform it, too. Of course, the
habits of the tree must first be firmly enough
fixed through sufficient generations so that it
will not revert—then it will go onward in its
new course; or, by grafting, at once.

“There are certain things which do not
seem possible, certain crosses of trees of widely
separated species that seem out of the ques-
tion. Still, while these crosses may never
become what might be termed commercially
effective, not practical, in other words, yet
they may be what may be called scientifically
successful. In other words, the actual act of
crossing may be accomplished where it has

64

THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

apparently been impossible. But this much
“may be done even in these remote cases:

_ Two given species will not readily yield
to union. Make a cross between them, take
the seeds of the progeny and plant them.
_ Cross two other diverse species in the same
way and plant the seeds of their progeny.
_ Then to the progeny of the first union unite
_ the progeny of the second, and from this later
union you may sometimes get marvelously
_ satisfactory results. The outcome of either
main cross would be unsatisfactory, perhaps
- unimportant; the union of their progeny may
obviate the difficulty. The possibilities of
such crossing and its subsequent selection are
- inconceivably great.

“It is my opinion that one of the most
important, in some ways the most important
_ of all the many fields open now to the plant-
_ breeder, is this one of the production of new
and the improving of old trees. I believe it
_ to be of immense significance commercially.”
Closely allied to this production of a tree is
the improvement of the product of the tree,
its nuts. Deciding that it would be well to
have an English walnut with a thinner shell,

65

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

Mr. Burbank began a series of tests looking
to that end by constantly selecting seedling
trees whose nuts bore toward the point aimed
at. ‘They responded heartily to the demands
made upon them, so readily, indeed, that one
day the nuts were found so thin of shell the
birds could pick through them. This required
an absolutely opposite breeding, so the trees
were bred backward again along the path they
had come until just the required thickness of
shell was reached. So it was also with
almonds, the shell being bred to suit, while
similar results may be reached with other nuts.

At the same time, general excellence and
the question of productivity were under con-
sideration constantly, with the result that a
finer, larger and more prolific nut was pro-
duced. In line with what Mr. Burbank has
done with grafting a physically insignificant
tree upon a stronger one, a California nut-
grower grafted Mr. Burbank’s new soft-shelled
English walnut upon a native black walnut
of rapid growth. The average annual produc-
tion of nuts per tree in the region had been
from seventy to one hundred pounds. The
black walnut tree, when grafted with this new

: 66

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THE CREATION OF NEW TREES

‘English walnut, produced on an average four
hundred and fifty pounds of nuts per season,
in some cases as high as five hundred and
_ fifty-two pounds.

_ In the skin or outer layer of the meat of
“the walnut is more or less tannin, a substance
which, when present in considerable quanti-
"ties, relatively, gives the skin a dark appear-
ance and makes the meat more or less _ bitter
and disagreeable to the taste. In some wild
nuts when it appears in larger quantities, it
_ becomes positively dangerous. While the out-
side of the walnut is commercially changed
by bleaching, the inside is not reached and
_ the tannin has remained. Mr. Burbank thought
that if Nature had allowed this undesirable
_ substance to enter into the walnut, she could
_be induced to give it up, so he set about
_ breeding the tannin out, succeeding at last in
_ driving it entirely away, leaving the meat a
_ pure creamy white. At the same time, he
_ developed the size of the nut also, making it
from a quarter to a third larger than its
_ parents.

_ Turning his attention to the chestnut, he
| decided to relieve it of some of its bur, and

67

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

"so by years of selection and breeding, the basis
of all this work, he changed the thickness
and the substance of the bur at will, finally
demonstrating that, if necessary, the outer
portion of the bur might be wholly done
away with, leaving a smooth surface. To breed
it too thin, however, would be undesirable, the
bur being the nut’s protection against birds.

The life character of the chestnut was also
changed in marked degree. He set about
producing a chestnut that would bear nuts —
early in life. Ordinarily it would be all the
way from ten to twenty-five years before a’
chestnut tree raised from seed would begin to
bear. Mr. Burbank decided that was alto-
gether too slow for modern days, so he has
made the chestnut bear nuts at the age of a
year and a half; indeed, nuts have come upon
trees not over seven months old.

In this way the commercial possibilities are
suggested— where Nature does not move fast
enough, she must be helped to more rapid
progress.

From. the standpoint of the adornment of
the world, including with this that splendid
sentiment which is becoming more and more

68

CREATION OF NEW TREES

looking toward the preservation of
and the rapid re-foresting of denuded
as well as from the purely economic
view, looking to the creation of new
trees better than the old and bringing
ha to a higher standard of efficiency,
rbank’s work in tree- - breeding is of
nding importance. In itself it is quite
t to have made the reputation of any
eder in the world.

6Y

CHAPTER IV
THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

MONG the thousands of letters which

- Mr. Burbank receives from all quarters
of the globe are very many having unusual
interest because of the prominence of the
writers and because of their interest in the
remarkable work of which they make inquiry,
but he has seldom received one of such pecu-'
liar interest as that which came from a pro-
fessor of a far eastern college. It told of the
loss of a little son. In the depths of his great
bereavement the father had sought for some
memorial which should be a visible token of
the rare life that had gone. So he chose one
of the exquisitely beautiful amaryllis plants
which Mr. Burbank had created, to plant upon ~
the child’s grave. The letter told of the splen-
did blossoms that came and of the deep sat-
isfaction that such a monument had_ been
chosen. The flower was of rare color and
great size; it would be a lasting memorial.

10

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

He must be blind to all sense of color who

‘is not deeply impressed by the brilliancy of

these magnificent blossoms when seen in great .

‘masses. Through years of the most patient

and painstaking labor Mr. Burbank has devel-
oped the amaryllis from a flower having a few
inches of breadth until it is very nearly a foot

_ in diameter and with every shade of crimson .

or pink or scarlet and many rare and unusual
blendings, all the colors being greatly intensi-
fied. ‘The usual methods of breeding and
selecting were followed. It was found that
the huge flowers were far too heavy for the
ordinary amaryllis stem, so the complete trans-
formation of the plant itself was planned.
The stem was changed to meet the demands
of the heavy flower, a low stout plant result-
ing, not more than eighteen inches high, with
thick leaves and sturdy trunk. When a bed
of these new amaryllis is in blossom it pre-
sents a spectacle of rare beauty, the great
gorgeous blossoms illuminating the whole
surroundings as with crimson flames.

Under ground even more wonderful changes
have taken place. If you take two amaryllis
bulbs, one of the old type, one of the new,

71

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

and place them side by side, you will see an.
even greater contrast than that which ap-
pears in the blossoms. ‘The ordinary bulb
will be two to three inches in diameter at the
largest part and will weigh a pound or a little
over. The new bulb is fully eight inches in
diameter, twelve to fifteen inches in height
and weighs from six to eight pounds. It is
graceful in shape, having the form of a beauti-
ful vase. In color it is like brownish copper
with inner folds of silver.

But the most remarkable feature of the.
bulbs is their wonderful power of multiplica-
tion. In place of four or five bulbs, as in the
old plant, the new amaryllis produces all the
way from forty to fifty. When they were first
introduced the bulbs sold at six dollars each,
but by this rapid multiplication they will soon
be produced so that they may be sold for a
few cents each—then the poorest man may
glorify his garden by these magnificent blos- —
soms, and no one will be happier thereby than —
the generous-hearted man who has made them
possible.

When Dr. Hugo de Vries, the great Dutch
- botanist, visited Mr. Burbank in the summer

72

LR eT ee eae een ne

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

of 1904, called to America mainly by his in-
_ tense desire to see Mr. Burbank and to learn
_ in person something of his work, he was
_ deeply interested in the amaryllis experiments.

He wrote an exhaustive article for a Dutch
magazine comprising many thousands of words
descriptive of his visit to Mr. Burbank,—fur-
ther mention of which is elsewhere made,—
and the following appears in regard to the
amaryllis:

* Another example (of hybrids) is the ama-
ryllis, which with us is a hothouse plant, but
which, in California’s beautiful climate, may
be raised in the open. Thus it is made possible
to bring to flowering tens of thousands of
seedlings, while in Europe we can select only
from a few hundreds. In such a ratio as this,
the number of years necessary to bring about
as great improvements is much less. It re-
quired more than half a century to get the
amaryllis with their large flowers neatly closed
in with their numberless shades and stripes
which we admire so much. Burbank, of
course, is able to hasten the process.

“Years ago, when the improvement of fruit
trees almost exclusively drew his attention, he

73

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

raised and crossed the amaryllis, but only for.
curiosity’s sake and on a small scale. But soon
the results promised that more labor and ex-
pense bestowed upon them would in the end
be well rewarded. Then he commenced the
development more systematically and turned
his attention to the propagation of very de-
cided properties,—larger flowers, but, espe-
cially, more flowers on the same stem, and next
to that, all those characteristics which would
give more rapid development and a larger re-
productive power. Some bulbs which, when
starting the experiment, produced only five or
six bulbs, were forced by crossing with more
fertile species and a careful selection to double
the number of bulbs, while at the same time, —
the bulbs were increased in size and threw out
stronger stems and fuller flowers.

“But what was the most remarkable was
the shortening of the duration of life, from
seed to seed, as it is called. I mean the num-
ber of years which a seedling requires before
it blossoms and produces seed. It is clear how
much this. includes. If after every crossing
there elapse four or five years before the result
may be judged by the one flower, all that time

74

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

must be given to its care and cultivation, but
by the use of the first flowering seedlings in
crossing, the duration of life from seed to seed
_ is cut in two, so that after two or three years
_ new crossings will be ready for him to pass
_ judgment upon them. Almost all of the long
California summer we may now have the
amaryllis in flower. The flowers reach a diam-
eter of twenty to twenty-five centimeters in
different varieties, with flower leaves over-
lapping one another with their broad edges.
The colors and figures compare with the best
Kuropean kinds, while a strong- built plant, an
easy handling and rapid multiplication make
it a very desirable garden plant. It is the aim
to make it one of the most common plants
which will find its place in parks and at sum-
mer resorts, in city gardens and around the
farmer’s dwelling.

** Endeavors to cross the amaryllis with the
related Crinums are started, and from what I
saw of them, the first trials were crowned with
success. The Crinum Americanum is a wild

_ plant from the Florida swamps which proved

its fitness for crossing. At the same time a
number of other species were raised for the

75

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

same purpose (of crossing). ‘These were more -
tender and came from more tropical regions.
Some, Burbank was even obliged to keep in
his hothouse, but, when crossed with the
garden amaryllis, they gave hybrids which felt
at home in the California climate.”

De Vries, in concluding this part of his

comment, again referred to the means which

Mr. Burbank has made use of to shorten the
duration of life from seed to seed, noting that
“many a tree or shrub with us (in Europe)
only commences blossoming when it is ten or
fifteen years old,” a great obstacle especially
when repeated crossings are necessary. He
then calls attention to the means which Mr.
Burbank has utilized, threefold in character:

“The selection of California, with its beauti-
ful climate; the selection of the first flowering
seedlings, and his method of grafting.”

He then describes Mr. Burbank’s method of
hurrying hybrids forward with great rapidity
by grafting upon a vast scale, as elsewhere
described.

Down through long rows of green beds
where plants of many kinds are under test,
showing in the gradations from the small,

76

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

_ weak ones up to the strong and large growths
the endless marvel of selection, the eye wan-
_ ders, meeting a novelty at every foot until,
at last, it rests upon a plot of ground perhaps
fifty feet square wherein are growing two
_ thousand of the most marvelous plants that
ever were seen since the world began. This
plot or bed of ground contains the new hybrid
poppies upon which Mr. Burbank has been
working for many years. The chief crosses
have been between the oriental poppy, Pa-
_ paver orientale, a perennial, and the opium
poppy, Papaver somniferum, a short-lived
- annual. Out of these crosses came the bed of
_ poppies, no two of the whole two thousand
alike. In the foliage especially, and also in the
blossoms to a lesser extent, nearly every order
of plants known appears. The leaves are a
source of intense interest as a study for a
botanist or plant-breeder, presenting remark-
able combinations of old forms with pro-
duction of entirely new ones.

The object of making this great crossing

- was far more than reached—the results were

richer than could have been expected. Sci-
entifically interesting in a marked degree as

77

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

it was,—some of the plants bearing great ©
quantities of seeds but no flowers, some bear-
ing beautiful flowers in great profusion but
- not a single seed, some bearing seeds and
flowers arranged in the most fantastic shapes
with flowers surrounding the seed-capsules and
vice versa, and some curious ones bearing
neither seeds nor flowers,— yet the experi-
ment proved still more interesting to the
layman from the point of view of the adorn-
ment of the world. For among all the won-
derful improvements in floral life which Mr.
Burbank has effected, it is doubtful if any
one of them has shown what might be termed
such spectacular beauty. His creations are
each so individually characteristic and beauti-
ful that they are not easily to be compared,
but the poppy results certainly may be desig-
nated as among the most magnificent.

But look a little later upon this bed of
poppies, and even the strangeness of the new
life in seed-capsule and leaf is overshadowed
in interest by the splendid blossoms them-
selves. They are now a mass of crimson and
black and white, with many intermediate
blendings. So huge the blossoms, so wide

78

Wild Arizona potatoes used in breeding to give strength and
hardiness to the common potato

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

the mass of color, it is as though some great
_ painter of the world itself had stopped on his
_ way over this fair valley, forgetful of the rest
_ of the earth, and here had fairly exhausted
his brush. The blossoms are from eight to
_ ten inches in diameter. Place seven of them
_ side by side in a vertical row, they are as tall
as a tall man,—eight of them measure the
height of a giant. A man could hide behind
a dozen. Individually, the flowers have all
the beauty of their ancestors, only enhanced.
Effective in interior house adornment, taken
in the mass out-of-doors, they present magnifi-
cent decorative possibilities. All this is made
still more significant because of the fact that
most of the new species are perpetual bloom-
ers, lasting throughout the entire season
instead of two or three weeks at the outside,
as is the case of other poppies. They are
perennials, also.

With this new poppy a commanding figure
enters upon floral life.

Something of the remarkable character of
the work which Mr. Burbank does is seen in
his ability to take a single one of these new

poppy seed-capsules, divide it into four sec-

79

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atl)

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PRS eS ee

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

tions and, by pollinating each section, produce
from one section an annual plant, from an-
other a perennial, from the third quarter
crimson poppies, from the fourth, white ones.
In another experiment Mr. Burbank has
produced a blue poppy, a blossom unknown
to the world before. . |

Strangely interesting, also, is a new poppy
now under process of development, which
promises to become a notable addition to this
varied family. It is the result of the union
of the Papaver pilosum, and the Papaver
somniferum of the variety known as the |
“Bride” poppy. The first named is a delicate
flower, the general color being a dull orange, —
with white center. The second is pure white,
the seed-capsule in the center a shade of
green. The first one has smooth-edged petals,
the white one heavily laciniated ones. The
child of the two is a fire-red or scarlet with
purple at the base of the petals, a most strik-
ing flower. It has rejected the smooth edges
of one parent atd adopted the irregular lacin-
iations, or fringe, of the white parent. The
divisions of the frmge of the new poppy are
wider than those of the parent, though the

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

isions are not so deep. Its foliage is wholly
rent from that of either parent. The
osum is of solid color throughout its petals,

imentation, the wonder grows steadily,—
: ibilities of what he may yet accom-
plish in this one branch seem limitless; for,

h appear in the foliage of the new pop-
s, and the development of the great poppy
elf which stands apart among flowers, he
‘has done what might well be called the
impossible: he has changed the native Cali-
fornia poppy from gold to crimson. Many
s has this man done which savor of the
d aculous, none more marvelous than this.
: Onc ce, When he was looking over a field of
these gorgeous flowers that cover the Cali-
fornia hills and roadsides in the early summer
‘as with a splendid mantle of gold, he discov-
Bees one blossom which bore a faint trace of
; crimson, a slender line along down its yellow
satin chalice. It was a strange stain of Nature.
“She had done her work well to place this odd

81

mi

‘4

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

note of color where it would fall under the
eye of the man who has scrutinized her as
others have never done. Instantly he isolated
the plant, transplanted it, watched it with
jealous care. Its seeds were saved and planted.
Some of the flowers which came upon the
plants from these seeds showed a similar line ~
of red slightly widened. Again the crop of
seeds from these new plants, now much more
numerous, was planted, and a far larger har-
vest of blossoms was produced. Some of them
were true to their ancestral forms of life and
nodded their pure yellow heads in saucy
defiance. They paid sadly for their temerity,
for all of them were rejected. Others had
still more pronounced hints of the crimson,
and these were selected for further plant-
ing. So on and on the test went for years,
each successive generation showing stronger
tendencies toward the end desired, as the
petals grew more and more crimson. At last
the end was reached, the yellow poppy haa
become a deep lustrous red; it was hard by
the land of miracles.

From certain quarters,—so curious the
inconsistency of man,—came up more or less

82

‘THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

4 iolent protests against this act,—the golden
Poppy: was it not the adopted flower of the
state of gold? And here was this worker of
miracles changing it to crimson and robbing
a ne ste of its most distinctive and character-
istic adornment! But Mr. Burbank met the
: protest with a gentle smile, and the poppies
go on their gorgeous way embossing the Cali-
2 fornia hillsides, gold upon green in high relief,
| like the ornaments of some mighty shield,
while the crimson poppy which has been so
gently stolen from their midst is returned to
the world again for the adornment of the
Bpesiens of many lands.

_ Many other striking varieties are developing
: ‘in the midst of all the crossings thus secured,
exhibiting all manner of combinations of crim-
q son and gold.

_ But Mr. Burbank does not attempt ‘the
4 Bifergement of a flower just for the sake of
making it bigger than some other flower, or
even that it may be called bigger than any of
its ancestors. Bigness, as such, has no cham-
‘pi ion in him. He makes a flower larger than
its ancestors when that flower has certain
characteristics which make increased size

83

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

desirable. A lesser man might, with the same’
power in his hands, breed flowers merely to be
huge without regard to the flower’s plan in
nature or the fitness of things. Not so with
Mr. Burbank. He has as great a delight in
intensifying the color or deepening the fra-
grance of a violet as he has in making some ~
flower with distinct decorative possibilities
more noble of bloom. He might, through years
of selection, produce, no doubt, a violet much
larger in size then any now known, but he
would as soon think of preserving some ugly
monstrosity of plant life as of thus disturbing
the life habit of one of the most exquisite of
flowers. Deeper tones to the violet, yes; greater
luxuriance of growth, wider zones of cultiva-
tion, greater hardiness, intenser even if subtler
perfume, yes; but abnormality, never.

The whole scheme of his treatment of
floral life embraces harmony and symmetry.
He would round it out when it is angular, —
make it more graceful when it is awkward,
deepen and vary its fragrancies without
making them oppressive. No man who has
ever lived has laid out such a scheme for the
adornment of the world, indeed it may fairly 3

84

+h

as

ay

Potatoes growing upon a tomato vine after grafting upon
the potato root

THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY

_ be stated that not all the plant-breeders who
_have preceded him have ever done so much to
_ ennoble floral life. And the future holds pos-
sibilities to be still more clearly indicated
_ when his new creations, many of which are but
_ just coming into general use, shall be uni-

_ versal. Years have been necessary in his tests
_ to bring the flowers up to their high estate,
_ and years more will elapse before all the tests
_ under way will be completed, but enough has
already been done to alter the whole floral life
_ of the world. Those who were fortunate
- enough to see the magnificent display of
~ cannas at the Pan-American Exposition in the
_ city of Buffalo,— the “Tarrytown” canna, one

_ of Mr. Burbank’s creations,—could form

_ some idea of the grander possibilities of his
‘3 ‘new flowers; and at the exposition in St.
_ Louis the first prize for bedding roses, a rose
_ which has limitless possibilities for exterior
_ decoration, was a rose created by Mr. Bur-

_ bank. But the more magnificent creations are

4 not more wonderful, or more important, than

_ those which have their culmination in his

: glorification of the tiniest blossoms, be they
_ those shy wild ones which open their eyes in
; 85

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

the depths of the cool dark forest, or those
more daring ones that witchingly display their
dainty brilliancy in the gardens of the town.

It is his close and intimate touch with
nature, united with his keen sense of the
fitness of things ever manifest in all he
does, that enables him to deal with these —
flowers quite as a painter with his landscape.
He makes them not only in a certain beau-
tiful sense interpret his own thoughts, giving
to the world in the completed whole that which
he has long been planning in his own brain,
but he fits them unerringly into their natural —
place. It is, if you will, the blending of the
artisan and the artist.

CHAPTER V

THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

BIRECTLY in line with many of what
" may be called the commercial achieve-
mts of Mr. Burbank,—though these are no
; wonderful than those which have had a
re esthetic bearing,—is his work in the
duction of the potato. It was this vegeta-
as has elsewhere been noted, which
ginally brought Mr. Burbank’s name into
| minence, and all through the years that
have intervened since its creation it has had
F, ice influence not only upon the wealth of
_ the nations but upon the dietary of the people
of many countries. Recent reports from Ire-
land show that the Burbank potato bids fair
to redeem that long-distressed island from
famine, because of its ability to withstand the
- diseases which have destroyed other varieties.

- For many years Mr. Burbank has been at
Birork upon new varieties of potatoes. Even
though the one that bears his name has

. a: 87

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

proven so successful, he has not hesitated to ©

set about producing improved ones, the possi-
bilities of the potato for doing better and still
better service to the world being unusually
pronounced. With this end in view, he has
gathered varieties, both wild and tame, from
many different countries, making from them
a bewildering number of crosses and combina-
tions. Some of them are curious in character,
as, for example, the snake potato, a crescent-
shaped type from South America about three
inches long and a little over half an inch thick
in its largest part. The wild potato from Ari-
zona has a most peculiar form. One would
never believe it to be a potato. In shape and
general appearance it is a large-sized raisin.
Some of the potatoes of this variety are dark
reddish brown in color, some lighter, but all
have the distinctive shrunken look and shape
of the raisin.

Such wild potatoes as this form valuable
adjuncts to the work. Very often a wild strain
of blood supplies Mr. Burbank just the needed
element to make a weak race powerful. It

was Emerson, whom Mr. Burbank most de-

lights to quote, who said one day on this point:
88

THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

_ “The city is recruited from the country. In
the year 1805, it is said, every legitimate mon-
arch in Kurope was imbecile. The city would
have died out, rotted and exploded, long ago
_ but that it was reinforced from the fields. It
is only country that came to town day before
_ yesterday, that is city and court today.”

_ Some of the potatoes which are hurried for-
_ ward in the greenhouse are very interesting
_ because of their size. Perhaps a hundred. of
them, so small are they, may be held in a
_ child’s hand, and all of them perfect potatoes
_ and all differing in color, size and shape. One
_ new potato which has proven most toothsome
is beautifully colored throughout all its flesh.
_ The color is a magenta approaching crimson,
_ so distributed that, when the potato is cut
Open, no matter from what angle, it presents
most interesting figures, some conventional,
_ some severely geometric, some having a start-
_ ling likeness to human and animal faces.

__ Mr. Burbank says that an erroneous opinion
_ prevails that the potato has a tendency to die
- out, or run out, as the phrase is, in various
_ countries. He says this apparent running out
_ of a given variety is generally due to the intro-

89

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

duction of better varieties which slowly but

surely supplant the old ones. He makes note
of the fact, too, that the seed-ball of the
potato is less and less often found now upon
the common varieties, due to the fact that the

tuber of the potato itself is used in planting

exclusively. The continued disuse of any
organ in a plant, as in an animal, tends to its
weakening and final extinction. He notes
among plants which have gradually passed
through the same experience the sugar-cane,
banana, horse-radish, sweet potato and others.

Thousands of new potatoes are being bred
by Mr. Burbank in the midst of his new tests
in the search for better stock. Very much of
this is begun in the hothouse, in order to save
time. Selection here goes on upon an elaborate
scale, but, important as it always is in this
production of plants specifically valuable com-
mercially as well as those for adornment alone,
selection is not less important, in a commer-
cial production, than a knowledge of the needs
of the various parts of the world to which the
new production is to go. Here lie some of the
most important problems in all Mr. Burbank’s
work, the solution calling for the widest pos-

90

THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

_ sible knowledge. He studies a thousand and
_ one phases of the subject whenever he projects
anew creation. He must know the conditions
_ under which old varieties have been produced
and their life history; he must know the
character of the soil, the length of season, the
q climatic conditions, the markets, and their de-
_ mands. He never produces a new fruit or
_ yegetable without taking clearly into account
_ all these practical bearings. This adds enor-
_ mously to the sum of all his labor, but it is
_ precisely this which has made his creations so
_ successful —he knows not only how to create
but how to fit and adapt. This suggests some-
__ thing of the tremendous demands made upon
_ Mr. Burbank in the prosecution of a work of
_ such great magnitude and of so diverse a
_ character.

___ So these new potatoes are being bred to suit
all sorts of climate and soils. ,
But there is another and vitally important
_ phase of the work, the changing of the potato
__ itself— making it over into a far richer vege-
_ table than it has ever been before. Just as
_ corn may be bred, and is being bred, to pro-
i: duce a required per cent of a given element, so

91

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

a potato may be bred to increase or decrease

its chief characters. The average potato is
composed of about seventy-five per cent
water and twenty-five per cent dry matter.
This latter is, broadly speaking, composed of

starch, protein and fat; though these two
latter elements are present in but small quan-

tities, the main body of the dry matter being
the starch. In the growing potato vine there
is a very large proportion of starch, larger than
either rice or corn, approximately eighty per
cent.

Before considering the immediate plans of
Mr. Burbank in the improvement of the po-
tato as a table food, it will be of interest to
show something of the practical bearmg of
his work upon the manufacturing possibilities
of the potato in the line of starch. The
seventy-five per cent of the potato which con-
sists of water may, from the manufacturing
point of view, be considered as largely waste,
or, if not waste, at least of no commercial
value. Very much of this waste may be re-
stored, negatively speaking, by driving out the
water and putting starch in its place. Mr.
Burbank’s investigations have shown that it is

92

quyjd oyeuto} ev uodn payers uo oyejod v uodn Sutmois soozejod [euay

_ THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

‘as easy to breed potatoes for a larger amount
of starch as it is to breed for any other charac-
teristic — flavor, resistance to disease, with-
standing drought, adaptability to a given
climate, early or late maturing, and so on.

If in his experiments he develops a potato
~ which has twenty-five per cent more starch
than the normal potato,—though even a
Rieger amount is possible,—the result is of
_ marked importance from the point of view of
the manufacturer. The value of the average
annual production of potatoes in the United
States is: now, approximately, one hundred
millions of dollars. In round numbers the
United States produces each year about ten
million dollars’ worth of starch. The chief
sources of supply for this starch are Indian
_ corn and potatoes. Of the four main uses
_ to which starch is put,—for the laundry,
4 for the manufacture of glucose, for edible
_ purposes, and for use in the textile arts,—corn,
in the United States, supplies the main
" portion of the first two. In Europe the potato
_ is practically the main source of starch supply.
_ Potato starch is of much importance to the
j ‘manufacturer of cottons, woolens, silks and

93

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

linens, as sizing for the warp before it is
woven; for finishing the goods after they have
been woven, bleached and dyed, and, in the
form of dextrine, as a thickener or vehicle
for applying the colors to a fabric. The dex-
trine, or British gum, is used a great deal also
in the manufacturing of mucilages.

But the potatoes in use for starch manufac-
ture in the United States are very often poor in
quality, made up of culls, immature tubers, or
those injured in digging and sold as waste.
The starch is quite likely also to be low in
grade and lacking in uniformity, greatly vary-
ing from day to day. Still, notwithstanding
this, for use in textile arts, the potato starch
commands nearly double the price of corn
starch.

Attempts have been made to increase the
supply of starch by the use of fertilizers, but
Mr. Burbank’s plan is better than this, for it
begins with the source of the supply itself and
works directly upon the starch in the plant, as
is the case in the breeding of corn for a larger
starch-content. The potatoes which show a
somewhat larger amount of starch are selected
for further testing, and here again the supreme

94

THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

importance of selection is shown, each suc-
ding generation having an increase of the
sired characteristic over the former.

_ Nearly twelve millions of dollars are in-
vested in the United States alone in the
‘manufacture of starch. With twenty-five per
= a of starch-content added to a given thou-
and pounds of potatoes, there being no
attendant increase in the cost of manufacture,
economic importance of breeding for
rch becomes apparent. In Europe the
matter has received much attention, and efforts
hh ave been made to increase the amount of
tarch. Along with the increase in starch
yply which Mr. Burbank makes available
the whole world simply by an intelligent
lowing of the lines he has laid down, comes
rease in productivity, for he is able to
ite these two characteristics in the same

‘ ss In the production of alcohol for manufactur-

ing purposes the potato is coming more and
more into favor. The starch is converted into
FF ieose by the diastase of malt, the maltose
being easily acted upon by ferment for the
) eral production of the alcohol. An increase

95

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

in the starch-content of the potato for this
manufacture is particularly desirable.

But important as this breeding of potatoes
is from a manufacturing point of view, it is
still more important as a means of food sup-
ply. The great value of the potato as a food
lies in its being a concentrated food, supplying
both heat and energy, though needing the
foods rich in protein to make up a model bal-
anced ration. Mr. Burbank is now making over
the potato. He long ago saw its possibilities,
and only the tremendous demands of other ex-
periments upon him have prevented the com-
pletion of the work. He will leave the potato,
when he is done with it, a far more impor-
tant feature of the world’s supply of food than
it has ever been before. Already enough has
been accomplished in the preliminary test, to
foreshadow the end. He has had four main
objects in view in the work: A potato with
a better flavor, one with a relatively larger
amount of sugar, one that will be of a larger
size and all of the same uniform shape and
size, and one that will better resist disease
and be a larger yielder than any potato now
known.

96

% THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

4 While he is working with all these factors
in view, and gradually bringing the potatoes
nder test up to the standard he has set for
each, he is perhaps more deeply interested in
e production of a better flavored potato than
ir Biost any of the other features, important
tl though they are. He holds that it is highly
‘important in the production of a new fruit or
. vegetable to make it preéminently palatable,
P oat in the last analysis, it is palatability that
ides the permanence of any new food. If
ulatability be eliminated as a factor, then
* mankind is prone to consider the food,—no
, “matter what its form or character,—a medi-
4 _ cine, to be taken because it produces certain
necessary results. He has long been working,
and with satisfactory results, to breed more
‘sugar into the potato as one element of pala-
_ tability so that when cooked it will present a
far more satisfactory flavor. Several of the
new varieties now under test have already
shown a delightful advance in this respect over
_ older varieties. The question of size is also
- important, and Mr. Burbank is giving to the
_ potatoes uniformity so that they will be more
satisfactory for shipping. The old-fashioned

97

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

potatoes varied much in a given hill, rendering
them unsatisfactory for marketing without
selection. Mr. Burbank will obviate this by
making them all practically of the same size.
Uniformity will also be more satisfactory for
ccoking purposes. |

While the potato and the tomato are very
closely allied in family ties, being, indeed, not —
far separated blood relation, they are as far
apart as the poles when it comes to any satis-
factory amalgamation. Mr. Burbank has found
many similarly strange instances where two
plants which, by all the probabilities, should —
be the very ones to be most hospitable to each.
other, utterly refuse to join.

But some very remarkable results developed
in his attempts to cross the two. For ex-
ample, he has produced tomatoes from the
seeds of plants pollinated from potato pollen
only. He has produced what he has aptly
called “aérial potatoes,” most peculiar in form, —
growing on a Burbank potato vine grafted on
a Ponderosa tomato plant. These open-air —
potatoes are of many different shapes and sizes,
as well as colors. Some of them assume gro-
tesque forms and appear quite like little pigs.

98

A rare two-petaled hybrid seedling lily

a
ie

7
iy

Se oO Cie Sa oe «ee eS

THE POTATO AND THE POMATO

Reversing this act, he grafted the same kind of

‘tomato plant upon the same kind of potato
-plant and produced, underground, a strange-
looking potato with marked tomato character-

istics. ‘Two distinct species of tomatoes were

erossed, producing an exceedingly interesting
ornamental plant about twelve inches high by
fifteen inches across. It has remarkably at-

tractive and unusual leaves and compact clus-

ters of uniform globular fruit, the whole
‘presenting a unique appearance. In _ this

connection Mr. Burbank suggests the possi-
bilities for the development of the tomato on

the part of amateur and commercial plant
_breeders— opportunities for the developing of
tomatoes with greater nutrition, more _pal-

atable, and with better keeping and canning
qualities being pronounced. He looks upon
the tomato as a desirable vegetable as it
stands, but as one which by no manner of
means has been brought up to its proper
plane.

But important as is the work of Mr. Bur-
bank in potato culture, both in the production
of the world-famous potato which’ bears his
name and in the large tests now under way in

99

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

the transformation of this vegetable, it appears
probable that it will be rivaled, even if it is
not surpassed, by the new fruit which grows
upon the potato which he has named the “po-
mato.” Among all his many interesting and
novel creations this certainly takes high rank,
not only for its novelty but for its practical
value. Looking to the common origin of the
tomato and the potato, and considering the
general appearance of the new fruit, he has
happily combined the two names in designat-
ing this new creation. —

The pomato is a fruit, not a vegetable, |
though growing upon a vegetable. It is what
might be termed the evolution of a potato
seed-ball. It first appears as a tiny green ball
upon the potato top, and develops as the sea-
son progresses into a fruit the size and general
shape of a small tomato. The flesh is white,
bearing, usually, a few small seeds. It is de-
lightful to the taste, having the suggestion of ~
quite a number of different fruits and yet not
easily identified as any particular one. It may
be eaten either raw or cooked. It is fine eaten
- raw out of hand, delicious when cooked, and
excellent as a preserve.

100

CHAPTER V1
THE LILIES

¢ {URELY, since the world began, Nature
_~ never presented a stranger spectacle than
_ that seen several years ago on Mr. Bur-
_bank’s proving grounds at Sebastopol, when a
hundred thousand seedling hybrid lilies were
‘in blossom at the same time. And never
before did so vast a volume of perfume,—
“there is no other figure to express it,—rise
toward the summer sky. So intense was the
fragrance that ranchmen a mile away could
distinctly detect it, while all the country round
about and the little town that lies at the
_ entrance to this wondrous place was saturated
with the odor. It was a strange composite °
fragrance, too, a thousand scents blended into
_ one; for with the tens upon tens of thousands
_ of different lilies came not only a well-nigh
_ infinite variety of flower, but an indescribably
_ rare and complex odor unlike anything the
_ world had known before. |
j 101

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

A visitor to the lily-testing grounds at ©
Sebastopol, Mr. Charles Howard Shinn, in a
newspaper article printed at the time, spoke
thus of the general effect:

“This great mass of a hundred thousand
lilies in full bloom, on a California hillside, in
mid-June, surrounded by orchards, wheat fields
and fringes of forest, is peculiarly enchanting.
As one approaches, the golden, orange and
red tints which predominate, mingled with
various shades of green, produce the effect of
some huge product of Oriental looms. Little
by little, as one draws closer, the colors sepa-
rate, and widely diverse types of flowers are
seen to be growing side by side. One finds
lily stems varying in height from six inches to
nine feet, all bearing open flowers. Some
plants have many stems, others but one, and
a few present stems with distinct branches
like the branches of a tree. Flowers, leaves,
stems and roots show every conceivable varia-
tion. The biologist would find material for a
volume in this lily field.

“Some lilies have but one petal, rolled like
a cigar and half-open like the broader end of
acypripedium. Others have two petals spread-

102

THE LILIES

‘ing apart like wings. Others, again, have three
or four or five petals. The great bulk, how-
ever, have the normal six. The variation in
color is extreme, ranging from white to dark
purple, through surprising changes of com-
-binations. The methods of growth are equally
curious. Many stems bear all the flowers at
‘the top, almost level, a new system for lilies,
“and especially useful in garden grouping. One
- such plant two and a half feet high carries
fifty-six flowers. A tall spike of golden brown
lilies, of L. Humboldtii type, carries ninety-one
flowers and is four feet high.

_ “In form, size, color, fragrance, this field of
Riteidized lily flowers is a revelation. There
is certainly nothing like it elsewhere in
_ America, and I do not know of any place in
- Europe where such a collection can be found.
We came out of the field yellow and brown
from head to foot with lily pollen.”

_ Comparatively little had been done by any
one to treat lily culture in a broad manner,
until Mr. Burbank took it up;—certainly no
_ one had ever attempted it upon such a gigan-
_ tie seale as this. The lily was recognized as
an exceedingly difficult plant upon which to
. 103

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

work, and, while possibilities were admitted,
it was shunned because of the obstacles in
the way. Many had pronounced it incapable
of any satisfactory hybridization. To one of
Mr. Burbank’s temperament the very fact
that possibilities were promised in the face
of difficulties made the outlook all the more
attractive; for he had found that in nature,
as well as in all departments of endeavor, the
things which are most easy of accomplishment
quite often are the least desirable; those
which are the most difficult, the ones which
yield the most important results.

But here, as in so many departments, he
had a distinct and commanding advantage
over all others in the magnitude of the work.
He had also the advantage of a superb climate
and soil where lilies from different zones could
meet upon a common congenial plane and
where each one would be at its best. The
lilies showed an unusual tendency to depart
from their former life habits. Sports or
abnormalities were very common. Some of
them were valueless, save as curious testi-
monials to the eccentricities of Nature when
her life forces are disturbed and have not yet

104

THE LILIES .

_ time to adjust themselves ; some had

greater things. Such as had a prophecy of
ne new and desirable trait,—added_ vigor,
y greater hardiness, adaptability, unusual form,
or xr great beauty,—were preserved, and work
upon them has steadily progressed.

a __ Nearly fifty different kinds of lilies were
_ chosen from widely separated parts of the
4 Droid These were planted, and from the
. blossoms elaborate crossings by pollination
_were made through a series of years. The
q work was mainly done by means of the finger-
- tips, with a watch-crystal or small saucer to
“hold the pollen. It was what might be called
‘pollination by wholesale; it had never been
equaled in extent before. For several years
this work proceeded, until Mr. Burbank
was planting several pounds of seed per
_ year. At last there were enough plants to
_ begin the great test, and a hundred thousand
of them were transplanted to the proving
i grounds at Sebastopol. Here they occupied
_ two acres of ground.

In the carrying forward of the work more
than a million lily bulbs had been produced
. 105

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

up to this time, and a vast number have since '
been grown.

In strangeness of form these lilies rivaled
anything Mr. Burbank has ever produced.
For example, one seedling from a native wild
California lily which grows only ten inches
high produced all the way from twenty to
forty blossoms on each of the short stalks put
forth, whereas the usual number was from
three to eight. One small dwarf lily, the
result of a cross, bore twenty-eight flowers;
while another, a branching lily with eight
stems coming from one bulb, bore over two
hundred buds and flowers. One plant of this
cross showed thirty-seven stems.

Speaking of the curiously interesting vari- —
ations in flower, plant and bulb, Mr. Burbank
says:

“One blossom is white; another pale straw
or creamy white with thick recurving, chan-
neled petals, studded with numerous papille
with light yellow anthers; another is per-
fectly green throughout in appearance, very
much resembling a trillium in form and
general character; some are tigridia - like;
others open their petals in such curious

106

THE LILIES

manner that the flowers resemble sprekelias
in form; some are crimson or yellow or
darkest orange- yellow, with leopard spots or
plain. Many grow six to eight feet high,

fifth are fragrant, some slightly, others power-
fully so. Some bear only two or three flowers
to each stalk, while others have twenty to
o sity or more. The leaves are broad or narrow,
long or short, light green or dark green, and
q some beautifully striped with white. Some
varieties have branching stems.

_ “The bulbs are almost as much of a study
'as the flowers. Some have flat, thin, open
scales like a rose or clematis flower ; others
7 have close, thick, incurved scales, some many-
_ jointed, others entire and some crenated; a few
_ with pink or red bulbs,—but oftener yellow,
_ orange or white—some of them being nearly
globular, others conical or flat. Some throw
_ out numerous long moniliform, underground
- runners. Some varieties have a tendency to
_ start early, others late.”

_ The calla was bred for larger size, combined
_ with strength of stalk and great beauty, a

_ blossom being produced at last nearly a foot

107

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

across. When carried in the other direction, a
perfect calla was made not more than an inch
and a half in diameter and perfect in every
detail.

Another calla was bred having handsome
golden variegated leaves, in interesting contrast
with the leaves which formerly had borne
white spots. Before this great work, the
common garden calla had had no odor, or, at
best, only a faint and rather disagreeable one.
As Mr. Burbank was examining a series of calla
seedlings, he detected one which bore a fra-
grance with the hint of violets and the sugges-
tion, too, of the water-lily. This calla was
isolated and bred for its perfume. Rigid
selection and exclusion followed, and little by
little the perfume was increased and intensi-
fied until at last it was fixed, a rare and
delightful attribute. The new flower also grew
in marked profusion, and blossomed earlier
than the calla from which it has been bred.

Upon the general subject of new lilies, Mr.
Burbank says:

“Twenty-six years ago I began to cross our
native Pacific Coast lilies, adding from time
to time all the exotic species and. varieties ©

108

THE LILIES

seemed to promise favorable results,
il my collection was the most extensive in

Fi ieost important results ever hired
sn lilies are now an embodied fact. Of
_ some of the older hybrids and seedlings I have
as many as a thousand bulbs of each variety
_ and have also half a million kinds yet to un-
fold their petals for the first time, and am
: still planting from one to three pounds of
hybridized lily seed every season. The best
a the world’s lily: experts who visited my
unds decided that there were at least two
hundred and fifty thousand lilies which were
.. hybrids among the millions of lilies
_ then blooming on my grounds.
_ “Can my thoughts be imagined, after so
many years of patient care and labor, as, walk-
_ ing among them on a dewy morning, I look
_ upon these new forms of beauty, on which
_ other eyes have never gazed? Here a plant
_ six feet high with bright yellow flowers, beside
_ it one only six inches high with darkest red
_ flowers, and, further on, one of pale straw, or
_ snowy white, or with curious dots and shad-
109

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

ings; some deliciously fragrant, others faintly
so; some with upright, others with nodding
flowers; some with dark green, woolly leaves
in whorls, or with polished, light green, lance-
like, scattered leaves.

“As the fresh, dew-laden petals of these
new creations, which had never been spread
out to the light of day, were unrolled before
me, a new world of beauty seemed to have
been found and a full recompense for all the
care bestowed upon them.

“The bulbs are a study, and had not some
of them been in value ten times greater than
their weight in gold, photographs would have
been obtained to show their peculiar forms.
Nearly all these new lilies are crosses from
parent species selected for vigor, hardiness,
easy management and rapid multiplication, as
well as fragrance, beauty of coloring, grace
and abundance of flowers. In these hybrids a
broad foundation has been laid for endless
variations which will reward lovers of flowers
for ages to come.”

The development of the various lilies is
going on under Mr. Burbank’s direction upon
a still more extensive scale.

110

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ysoiet oy} JO UO , *xPUITD,, OW], ay} pue wind oy} Wor poyeoto ‘yoounsd ayy,

CHAPTER VII

PLUMS AND PRUNES

z q ‘'T would be difficult to reach a satisfactory
™ estimate of the amount Mr. Burbank’s

the world’s wealth. This is particularly diffi-
_ cult both because of the rapid progression of
anew fruit through multiplication in different
- lands, replacing old fruits of its kind season
_ by. season, and because of the large number
Pot varieties in his list, each one filling a sepa-
rate field. For example, he has introduced
_ over twenty varieties of plums and prunes,
each with some distinctive and valuable char-
acteristic, while he has made several thousand
_ hew plum and prune combinations, many of
_ which are now under test. The potato which
bears his name has increased the wealth of
_ the United States by many millions of dollars,
but the new plums and prunes promise to
exert a still wider commercial and economic
‘ influence. One entire town in California,

lll

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

for example, has been built up very largely:

upon one or two of his plums. The plums
introduced by a few trees in a region which

was by nature and climate suited to them

rapidly increased as growers saw their good
points, until they became the center of a
packing and shipping industry employing

thousands of people in the growing and

preparation of the fruit.

Something of the wide-reaching influence
of the new plums is seen in the fact that
several of them are now being extensively

cultivated on the island of Borneo, supplant-.

ing largely the native fruits of this type and
promising to revolutionize the fruit culture

of the island. They are also shipped from

Borneo to surrounding countries. The late
_Cecil Rhodes became so much interested in

the work of Mr. Burbank that he ordered ©

some plum grafts for his extensive fruit ranch

near Cape Town. One day several years —
afterward, a consignment of the plums which ~
grew from these cuttings was shipped 18,000 —

miles by steamer and rail from Cape Town
to San Francisco, as a test, arriving after their
long journey in prime condition. From many

112

PLUMS AND PRUNES

other points, particularly in Europe, have
ec me testimonials from those who have intro-
duced various of Mr. Burbank’s plums, all the

nore significant because the stock was bought
not of him but of some dealer to whom in
' other years Mr. Burbank had sold the original
stock. His letter files are full of the heartiest
_ thanks from American fruit-raisers for having
made plums and prunes which have very
iz greatly increased their revenues. One man
_ enumerated the following points about a plum
_ he had bought of Mr. Burbank, and his esti-
_ mate of the fruit may be taken as the conden-
_ sation of hundreds of letters: 1. A more rapid
_ grower. 2. An earlier bearer. 3. An earlier
Yipener. 4. Larger fruit. 5. Richer in sugar.
6. Its great size gives it a distinct commercial

value over others.
_ The new plums and prunes have been pro-
3 duced both by crossing and by selection of
_ seedlings. Sometimes six or even more plums
_ are combined in crossing to get just the char-
acteristic desired. In other cases, the new
_ plum has come from the seed. Hundreds
_ of thousands of the pits are planted and, out
_ of the young trees which grow, the most

113

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

promising ones are chosen for grafting. These
are grafted upon older trees, scores of them,
perhaps, on a single tree, and all showing
variations of leaf and fruit, presenting a curi-
ous and striking appearance as they develop
upon the same parent tree. As the grafts
develop fruit the choicest ones are saved for

further: testing in order that, out of hundreds —

of thousands originally planted as seed, only
the very best may be eventually saved. Color

and size of leaf, shape of branch, size, color —

and taste of fruit, general appearance as to
hardiness and thrift, prolificness,—all these
and other points Mr. Burbank has under con-
_ sideration as he makes his selections from

season to season in his search for the best of —

all. Selection here, as in the production of his —
flowers, is imperative,—always the best from
the best.

The production of a new plum is not lightly

to be entered upon, particularly when the —

scale of the work is that of Mr. Burbank’s.
First there must be a definite pattern, so to
speak, in mind. If prevailing types of plums
lack symmetry of form or beauty of color, the
new plum must be planned to supply these

114

PLUMS AND PRUNES

SieAbiencies. If present plums are too small,
- larger ones must be made; if bearing scantily,
more prolific ones; if injured by early frosts
i and adaptable only to certain regions, then a
_ hardening of fruit and tree and an expansion
of the zone of culture. Or it may be that the
_ aim is to make a plum which assembles all
Fiiese essentials in itself.

To accomplish all of this is not the work
. of a day nor a year, perhaps not of a decade.
Very often the whole world will be searched
- for a plum which has one certain characteristic
_ essential to the building of the plum under
_ process. It may be, too, that when this for-
eign plum is found, apparently filling all the
“requirements, it may turn out no better than,
perhaps not so good as, some plum of domes-
tie growth. The mental pattern is made just
as real and definite as the pattern of an in-
_ventor or the model of a sculptor. If the
inventor, as his work advances, discovers some
new feature which will make the invention
_ more valuable, he will be quick to make use
_ of it; and even the sculptor, in modeling his
_ clay, may be in no small measure influenced
_ by the living model before him. But even

115

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

more may the plant-breeder be influenced by —

change, for, as in any one of the new plums
upon which Mr. Burbank is working, some
new trait of surpassing excellence may develop
wholly independent of his original plan. At
the best, the metal or the wood of the in-
ventor is only metal or wood, the clay of the
sculptor is only clay; but the material upon
which Mr. Burbank works is throbbing with
life, as truly life, even if a lower order, as the
life of the man who handles it—life that is some-
times wayward, sometimes stubborn, some-

times bursting forth in surpassing beauty or |

strength in lines never dreamed of, sometimes

manifesting itself in ways spectacular, indeed ~

even dramatic. All the time, while holding to
his pattern, he must be on the lookout for
important departures.

There are three vital points, in addition to
many minor ones, which Mr. Burbank con-
‘siders in the gathering of material upon which
to build a new plum:

1. He must have at the base a hardy plum,
wild or tame; for, without endurance, the
product might be practically worthless.

2. He must have the best possible plum as

116

OM} JayJO ay} JO SBulppses are souo JoS1e] omy yy, ‘“wnyd oy} Jo yusudojaasp oyJ,

:
:

PLUMS AND PRUNES

_ regards richness of food product; for, without

: this, his new plum would soon be detected by
_ the public and cast out as an impostor.

a

8. He must have the most attractive-look-
ing plum obtainable; for man delights to

have beautiful fruit on his table; indeed,
_ who shall say how large a part it plays with ©
his digestion?

So, in general, these three basic points must
be considered, in addition to many others, in
making the ideal plum. In a somewhat con-
tradictory sense Mr. Burbank has made a
good many ideal plums, each one having some

_ attribute in addition to the essentials and

”

thereby causing it to be peculiarly distinctive.
For example, he has bred one plum with a

_ delicious fragrance, so powerful that when left
- in aclosed room over night the whole apart-

ment will be delightfully saturated with the
odor. Another plum has not only the essen-
tials but it has a flavor wholly distinct from

_ the plum, in fact it is not to be distinguished

from the Bartlett pear. So marked is this

3 characteristic that when one of the foremost

fruiterers of the world tasted the plum blind-
folded, not knowing what manner of fruit he

117

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

was eating, he pronounced it unquestionably:

the finest Bartlett pear he had ever tasted.
Stranger still, as the plum developed, the tree
has taken on much of the character of the
Bartlett pear tree in leaf and structure, though
why no one can tell, for it has never had the
slightest pear tree blood in its veins.

Still another plum was developed which

showed phenomenal bearing qualities, while

also being otherwise excellent. It was so —

tremendously prolific, so to use the words,
that its very fecundity stood in its way. Thus,
wherever grown, hired “strippers,” as they are
called, must be engaged to go into the or-
chards when the fruit is green and strip the
branches of all but just enough plums satis-
factorily to mature. From a single tree by
actual count 22,000 plums were stripped,
enough even then being left on the tree
to yield an abundant harvest.

Another plum which was made over to
order, so to speak, has been almost similarly
prolific. It was a small, dull-colored, bitter,
wild plum, the American beach plum, unfit
to eat unless cooked. It was a remarkable
plum in many ways, growing on almost any

118

BD

PLUMS AND PRUNES

frequently in places rejected by all other
station. It would grow on sandy soil or
y clay soil, on desert-like places, and on
which now and then is submerged by the
It would grow in the drought as well as
‘seasons of rain. In fruit it was remarkably
fic, though the fruit was worthless. The
as were not much larger than small

unded by a thin layer of bitter meat. There
re quite a good many varieties, some
ening early, some late, and all of them
‘ hardy as regards frost.

was this insignificant fruit that Mr.
bank took under his care one day, seeing
possibilities and eager to ennoble it.

By the utmost care in selecting and breed-
g through a series of years, the homely little
itcast has been made into a beautiful deep-
ple plum, dotted with white, averaging at
ast three inches in circumference, without. a
ace of the old bitter taste in all its rich
low meat. The new plum has all the
aying qualities of the hardy little ancestor
will thrive in warm regions or frost belts,

119

“NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

on fertile soil or barren soil. The branches are’
so closely packed at bearing time that there is
no room for leaves, only a solid compact
mass of fruit.

But a more wonderful plum than any of
these has been made by Mr. Burbank, a plum
without pit. This plum has not been placed
upon the market because not entirely finished,
though the pit has been bred out of it. For
about two centuries there had been growing
in France a tiny plum, so called, with only a
suggestion of a pit. Mr. Burbank took this
plum, bred it with other plums to increase
its size and beauty, and injected into it a rich
new life. Years passed by in the testing, and
at last the pit of the large luscious plum which
was the result of the years of breeding has
disappeared. It only remains now a matter of
time to breed the pits from all plums and
prunes and leave in their places so much more
room for rich, nutritious food. More than one
skeptical person, numbering among them
some prominent scientists of Europe and
America, has stood beside one of the many
trees which bear these stoneless plums upon
Mr. Burbank’s proving grounds at Sebastopol

120

PLUMS AND PRUNES

and has been asked to take his knife and cut
one of the plums in two. The surprise then
shown, sometimes deepening into an apparent
distrust of their own senses, has been one of
the most delightful and one of the most prized
compliments Mr. Burbank has ever received.
_ There are two main lines in plum life as
known in the fruit-growing regions of this
country, one leading to the plum proper, the
¢ ther to the prune. Mr. Burbank gives this
_ definition, which has been adopted as practi-
_eally covering the ground: “Any plum which
: will dry in the sun without spoiling is
a prune.”

x The reason why the plums which thus
become prunes take on this dried shape is
because of their large sugar-content, which
E enables them, like raisins, to preserve them-
- selves, as one might say, in their own sugar.
The object of Mr. Burbank has been not only
_ to make prunes which are larger in size than
_ the old ones, but which are relatively richer in
4 the amount of sweetness.

_ The prune has become one of the important
i: fiieens in the dietary of the nations, perhaps
even more highly appreciated abroad. The
4 121

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

American prune has come more and more
into favor in Europe. In fact, so desirable a
prune is it that the French packers in
, season of scarcity at home import the Cali-
fornia prunes, give them their own method
of treatment, re-pack them, pay the Ameri-
can duty, and send them back im large
quantities to the United States as prime
French prunes. California prunes are also in
marked demand for home consumption in Eu-
rope, largely supplanting the domestic product.
This is shown by the steadily increasing export
prune trade of the United States to Europe,
and along with this goes a steadily. decreasing
import trade. In 1890-91 nearly thirty-five
millions of pounds of prunes were imported
into the United States, at a value of over two
million dollars. Year by year since that time,
with occasional fluctuations, the importation
has declined, until, in 1904, the thirty-five mil-
lions of pounds shrank to less than five hun-
dred thousand pounds, at a value of only
$47,000. And out of the total amount im-
ported a very large proportion was grown in
the United States as noted, exported and
re-imported.

122

PLUMS AND PRUNES

From 1897 to 1904, inclusive, the export of
erican prunes was about two hundred and
teen million pounds.

| 1894-5 the prune crop of California
unted to about sixty-five million pounds;.
904 it had risen to one hundred and fifty
on | pounds, while, during the decade, one

ay Denised in the adichune states of Oregon
1 Washington. In California alone there
re, in 1904, nearly seven million, five hun-
1 thousand prune trees in bearing.

prunes, the ones which Mr. Burbank has made
are steadily advancing and supplanting the
older varieties. It is quite safe to say that the
ence of Mr. Burbank is becoming one of
2 greatest factors in the development of the |
une industry of the United States, an in-
dustry which now has become a staple asset of
the nation. Many thousands of people find
employment in the picking and packing of
s fruit as well as in the care of orchards,
ile vast sums of money are invested.

The production of plums has also been

123

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

greatly influenced by Mr. Burbank. Year by

year he has given new plums to the markets,
a long time elapsing, of course, before they
make their way, because they must first be
tested by him for a series of years in order
to see that they maintain their standard, and
several additional years must elapse before

enough can be grown to supply commercial

demands. But as each new plum comes for-
ward, its excellencies at once appeal to the
public, and the growers are hard pushed to
supply the demand. While he constantly has
in mind the production of plums beautiful to
look upon, he pays particular attention to the
shipping qualities. The plums must be not
only beautiful but they must withstand long
journeys by rail and water. So he has bred his
plums with this in mind, and has made them
firmer of flesh and skin—has given them en-
durance. Many illustrations might be given of
the keeping qualities of the plums, but one
will suffice. Some plums were sent from
Santa Rosa by mail, of course without any of
the aids of refrigerator cars. It was done as a
test of their endurance. 'They were intended
to be sent to a point in Virginia, but, by mis-
124

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PLUMS AND PRUNES

take, went to Vermont and, there being no
- delivery, they were returned. After having
. - made the trans-continental journey twice by
mail, they were as fresh and fine of appearance
and as luscious to the taste as the ones picked
_ from the trees upon the day of their arrival in
Santa Rosa, after their long journey.
_ As rapidly as he has perfected a plum or a
prune, it passes from his hands and others reap
@ the profits,— but he has accomplished his
object, he has given something new and help-
ful to the world. While he has the fine true
imagination of the poet and a nature in closest
__ harmony with all that is beautiful, at the same
4 q ‘time he sees things from an intensely practical
point of view. Upon this practical side of his
work he has some decided views. He says:
_ “With the world as a market, competi-
4 4 _tion is keen, and only the best fruits in the
best condition will pay ; fortunately, it gene-
_ rally costs much less per ton to produce large,
_ first-class fruit than to produce the poorest
and meanest specimens that are ever offered.
- Small fruit exhausts the tree much more
_ rapidly than large fruit, as one pound of skin,
_ stones and seeds represents at least ten or
125

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

twelve pounds of fruit pulp; it will thus ©

readily be seen that improved varieties which
produce uniformly large, fine fruit are more
economical manufacturers of fruit, and also
that the product is more salable ; the difference
in many cases will decide between success and
failure. |

“Many varieties have two or three superior
qualities, but woefully lack in many others.
Some have a very weak and imperfect root

<i

~

system, no matter on what stock they may be :

grafted; others have scanty foliage, which
readily falls a prey to drought or to fungus or
insect enemies. Others are especially subject

to blossom blight by late spring frosts, parch- —

ing winds or rains. Still others, though

bearing the best of fruit, are so sparing of it —

that they are outstripped by others of less
value. Numerous other faults are too well
known to all observing fruit- growers.

“The fruit-grower of today is strictly a
manufacturer and should have the latest and
best improvements. The manufacturer of pins
and nails would not long tolerate a machine
which failed to produce pins and nails every
other season, or one which produced even

126

PLUMS AND PRUNES

occasionally an ill-assorted, rusty, unmarket-
_ able product. And, revolutionary as it may at
first thought appear, there is no good reason
for permanently producing poor fruit; for in
_ time new trees will be produced which will
produce good fruit with the utmost regularity
and precision. Of course, there never can be
one variety which will be the best for all,
_ purposes, but it is perfectly possible to produce
_ varieties which, for their own special use, can
be relied upon to yield full crops of the best
_ fruits without fail; all this must be done by
_ careful selection and breeding.
4 _ It has been said that it were better for a
_ man that a millstone be hung around his neck
_ and that he be cast into the sea than that he
q : should introduce a fruit or flower which should
_ prove to be of no value. In the introduction
_ of a fruit or flower, no one who has not been
_ through the experience can fully appreciate
_ the sense of responsibility, and no one can
j : more deeply lament a failure than the
_ introducer.”
__ It will be of interest to note here some of
_ the more prominent among the plums and
prunes which M2. Burbank has produced:

127

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

1885 — “ Burbank” plum, “Satsuma” plum, °
imported from Japan with numerous others;
improved, and introduced.

1893—F'irst Japanese-A merican hybrid plum
“Gold”; introduced.

1893— “Splendor” prune; introduced.

1893—‘ Wickson” plum; introduced.

1893—‘“ Delaware” hybrid plum, “Juicy” |
plum, “October Purple” plum; introduced.

1893—“ Hale” plum; introduced.

1894— “Giant” prune; introduced.

1894— “Doris” plum; introduced.

1898— “ America,” “Chalco” and “Apple” |
plums; introduced.

1899— * Climax,” “Sultan,” “Bartlett” and
“Shiro” plums; introduced,

1899— “Sugar” prune; introduced.

1901 —“ First” and “Combination” plums;
introduced.

1901— Many stoneless prunes; originated.

This does not by any means include all the
plums and prunes Mr. Burbank has produced
which have shown desirable qualities, but
only such ones as have shown unusual fitness
to live. Hundreds of thousands of others are
now under test. It would be idle to attempt a

128

- PLUMS AND PRUNES

ey of the value of such of these new
and prunes as are finally chosen. They
yt only likely to supplant all those plums
‘to produced by Mr. Burbank, as well as
‘in existence when he began his work,

ubstitution in its place of that much
> nutriment, relentlessly drive out of the
<et all the standard prunes which now
iish the world’s supply.

i
wd

129

CHAPTER VIII
THE SHASTA DAISY

pe green hills rising behind the house

where Luther Burbank was born were —

ever an inviting place in his boyhood days. —
He knew the haunts of the wild flowers and —
the hour of their earliest appearing. From ~
the time the snows gave way to the spring —
sun until they came again in the bleak No- —
vember days, he was in constant intercourse —
with the hills, learning the language of Nature —
in the only school where it is taught without —
an interpreter. Something in his own nature ~
brought him into instant contact and sym- —
pathy with the great heart of the Nature ©
around him. A certain peculiar intimacy with —

Nature grew up and produced, if one may so put
it, the most absolute frankness toward her and
trust in her. This was well illustrated one day
in his maturer years when a great scientist
called upon Mr. Burbank, Dr. Hugo de Vries,
of Amsterdam, certainly one of the leading

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THE SHASTA DAISY

botanists of his generation. The two men were

in deep consideration of some of the most
profound processes of Nature, when de Vries
made some remark in which there was a sug-
gestion of the unreliability of Nature.

“You are wrong! Dr. de Vries,” Burbank
instantly replied with great earnestness, ignor-
ing for the moment all scientific topics in
order to come to the defense of his vast friend;
“you are all wrong; Nature never lies. We
may sometimes misunderstand her, we may
not always be able to speak her language or
properly translate her thoughts, but Nature
never lies.”

The great botanist sat some time in silence,
and then gravely nodded his head.

There were many flowers upon the green

hills around his boyhood home that the lad

loved, violets and asters; the royal goldenrod ;
that soft breath of the spring, the delicate anem-

_ one; roses and lilies and the trailing arbutus in

their seasons; but there was one flower in
which he took a particular interest, possibly
because every man’s hand was against it. This
was the little wild field daisy, to many a
farmer an unmitigated evil, a pest to be fought

131

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

at every possible point, a vicious, persistent —
weed. When he had begun his market gar-
dening and seed-raising, he frequently went to a .
the hills for wild flower seeds, planting them ‘|
in his garden and observing with curious inter-
est how the plants sometimes varied from the
parent plants. A certain chivalry, it may have —
been, a desire to reclaim the daisy from the —
company of the outcast weeds, caused him
to include it also in his experiments. He —
found the daisy no less striking in its varia-
tions than the other plants. a

There came a day in after years when he ~
was to demonstrate again his interest in this
little waif, to become its champion in a still ~
larger way. For he had laid out in his mind a ~
scheme for the ennoblement of this flower;—
he would lift it from its low estate among the ~
serfs and make it a queen. a

In England there grew a daisy larger than ~
his little wild friend and coarser in stem and ~
flower. In Japan grew another daisy, not —
large, but of exquisite purity of color and ~
almost dazzling whiteness. On the Massachu- —

>
4

tenacious of life, hardy of constitution, not so —
132 fi

TBE CaaS SNES BEET LIT OTR

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THE SHASTA DAISY

white in its petals as its distant Japanese

relative, not so large as its English cousin—he
would unite the three. In order that the very

best results might follow, he searched through

a number of states, as time and opportunity
offered, getting the best native wild daisies
from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
and Massachusetts, and from these best ones
chose the best of them all. Sometimes, as
happened in several instances with the daisy,
he will be making a short journey by rail and,
looking out the window, may see, as the train
flashes by, some particularly striking patch of
flowers. At the next station he gets out and
either buys a ticket back to a station nearer
the flowers or walks back to them, and then
selects from them the choicest plants for use
in some experiment under way.

So from three continents he chose a daisy,

the best he could get ;—-from them he made

a fourth, the most wonderful daisy ever seen.
In setting out thus to make a new flower
out of old ones, Mr. Burbank does not depend
upon any rules laid down for him by some one
else. While he is never destructive but always
constructive, aiming to create new forms of

133

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

life that shall be better than the old, he is
restive under rules. If such were imposed
upon him, it would be but natural that he
should at once proceed to break them, not so
much for the delight of breaking them as a
protest against conventionality. He does not
start out among his flowers in the dawn of a

spring morning with a book on botany in one © 4

hand and a treatise on plant-breeding in the
other. Had he done so, there would have
been no Luther Burbank. He utterly ignores
much of what so-called scientists have set
down. Nor does he depend upon scientific
nomenclature unless it is sensible. In his
conversations he is peculiarly free from scien-
tific terminology; so direct and simple is his
speech that the greatest. scientist and an
unlettered farm laborer may sit side by side
and both understand. I cannot better illus-
trate this than by a single word which I saw
on a box high up in his storehouse of rare
seeds and bulbs. The box contained seeds that
for some reason had been carefully sterilized.
The outside bore this word, written in bold
letters: ‘“ Boiled.”
This word bore a volume.

134

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THE SHASTA DAISY

In the scheme laid out for the new daisy
there were certain well-defined characteristics
to be developed; a fact that illustrates how
systematic and precise his work. He wished a
daisy that should have grace, beauty, hardi-
ness. He wanted a s!ender but firm stem at
least two feet in length, free from all branches;
a blossom larger than any daisy ever before
seen ; petals of the purest white. And so seeds
from these plants from distant quarters of the
globe were sown, and when they came to
blossom he crossed them, combining each with
the other, joining them in a union as intimate
as life, as powerful as death. For he was
compelled to put to death their old selves;
—their life-long habits, their manner’ of
life,— even their form and texture, all must
give way;—and from this death he would
bring forth a resurrection.

So completely was the pollinating done
that after the merging was ended the strain of
blood, so to call it, of each plant now flowed
in the veins of one. And yet this act of
fertilization or hybridization or new birth, call
it what you will, was but an incident in the
creation—the great struggle was ahead.

135

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

The seeds from the first united flower were
not more than six or eight in number. These
were sown, and from the plants which grew
only the very best and those approaching the
ideal were chosen, so that at the second stage
of the test there were probably fifty seeds.
This, of course, gave a greatly enlarged num-
ber in the progression, and soon there were a
hundred thousand seeds, all having come from
plants which had been selected from their
fellows. These hundred thousand seeds were
sown in a box of earth about ten feet
square, at the home grounds at Santa Rosa.
Great precautions have to be taken to prevent
the birds and other pests, as gophers, moles,
and worms from doing damage, as well as to
provide against various plant diseases. One
gopher or one flock of thievish birds may
undo in an hour the work of years.

As soon as the plants were large enough to
transplant, they were taken up and set out
again at Sebastopol on a plot of ground an
acre or more in extent. The ground had been
the scene of many another wonderful experi-
ment; for the earth at Sebastopol is no sooner
relieved of one absorbingly interesting test

136

_ THE SHASTA DAISY
another is ready—there has never been
ier plot of earth with such strange ex-
iences in the history of the world.

this act of transplanting, and indeed, in
other act in these experimentations, the
st care is necessary. There is much work
ich Mr. Burbank cannot delegate. Certain
ings he can assign to others, but he will not
elegate any work to hands not in sympathy
d closest touch with Nature. The men to
“ this new field of daisies must be those
io not only know how deftly to remove
sds, how to note and guard against all the
plant falls heir to, but they must be men
and intimate sympathy with the work
The men who do this work are picked
icked among thousands. So very many
tions for work under Mr. Burbank are
that he early gave up answering by per-
letter, and printed forms are sent out,
- but clear. Many graduates of univer-
and colleges are among the number.
very gentleness and modesty of the man
ently have been misunderstood by these
¢ men fresh from their books; and, liter-

137

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

hastened with all sincerity to give him the

benefit of their knowledge and to furnish him
with pointers for the carrying on of his work.
But while he would never discharge a man
because he was a university graduate,—for he
has an ardent sympathy for all higher educa-
tion that is sane, symmetrical, and devoid of
veneer,—yet he has never been able to keep
in service a single university student. Time
and again some enthusiastic young fellow
would enter upon the work, and, bred to the
nomenclature and the traditions of the scien-
tists, would at once begin enlightening Mr.
Burbank on the best plan to follow in a given
instance, forgetting that the silent man _ pa-
tiently listening to him stood at the head of
the plant-breeders of the world.

Not only does he demand sympathy upon
the part of his workmen and the rarest intelli-
gence obtainable, but he demands absolute
sobriety. Much of the work of pollenation,
grafting, budding, seed-sowing, and even so
apparently simple a piece of work as the re-
moving of weeds from around thousands of
the tiny plants, requires the very steadiest of
nerves, so that no workman may use tobacco

138

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Poe Te NT) ARON ae EES

THE SHASTA DAISY

_ or liquor in any form, or any manner of stimu-
lant that will befog a brain or benumb a
_ nerve.
' When the hundred thousand daisies were
well started in their new home, selection
| began,—as important an act in its way as the
_ act of breeding by which they were brought
into being. During the six months that they
were in bloom, they were subjected to con-
_ stant supervision and scrutiny. Twice a week
the entire field was scanned by an eye that
has perhaps never been equaled for percep-
tiveness. The variations from the parent stock
in leaf, stalk, petal, size—all were noted, and
the instant a plant was found which in any
_ one of these particulars threw light upon the
_ general problem, it was set apart. Now and
then there would be one with grace and
strength but no beauty, again one with a
_ wonderful blossom on a stumpy little stem,
"now one on a lovely long stem but cloudy
as to color.
' Inall such work Mr. Burbank carries with
him a small ivory rule, with which he takes
- constant measurements of stalk and blossom.
The length and width of the petals, as
189

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

well as the span of the whole flower, are im- —

portant. The object of these measurements is
to find the plants which are coming nearest
to the ideal in his mind.

Out of the hundred thousand plants, those
were chosen which came nearest this ideal and

their seeds were in turn planted. This process —

was repeated for eight years. In the process —

of development that which often happens in

his tests was seen,—certain plants produced —

_what might be called unnaturally large and
beautiful flowers. Sometimes the bloom of a

single daisy would measure very nearly two —

feet in circumference, seven inches from tip to
tip of petals. At first thought, these plants

would be the ones naturally to be chosen from__

all the others. But not so. They had grown
to their great size under peculiarly favorable
conditions, both of climate, soil and super-
vision. The aim in creating these plants was
to fit them for the general public, for the
flower lovers of the world; for Alaska and
Florida, for Norway and Italy; for all sorts of
soil, climates and people. It would be rare,
indeed, that they would receive more than the
average treatment of the average gardener;

140

THE SHASTA DAISY

never would they find another such a master
as they had had.

So average conditions must be taken into
count, and an average best flower be made
yr these conditions. It is a cardinal principle
f Mr. Burbank’s life never to let a plant de-
eive him by show of some surpassing excel-
: snce which, under ordinary conditions, would
: ot be apt to manifest itself. “If I deceive
myself,” he puts it, “I deceive the public,
too.” From the medium plants the stock was
grown and re-grown until he produced a
flower at last combining all the desirable
qualities with adaptability to average condi-
tio This flower was from three inches in
ameter for the smaller ones to over six
inches in diameter where conditions ap-
oached the ideal.

In breeding these new daisies still another
attribute was constantly in mind, that of
hardiness, hardiness in the growing plant,
keeping qualities in the cut-flowers. So all
through the tests only the sturdiest plants
were kept; all the weak and sickly ones were
_ at once destroyed. It was for this very charac-
_ teristic of endurance that the little wild daisy,
. 141

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

with its tenacity of life and its ability to with- —

stand heat and cold, was chosen. So when the

end came a flower was produced that would —

grow equally well inside the arctic circle and
under the equator. The cut-flowers, too, will
remain fresh and beautiful in water for from

three to six weeks. A gift of some of his
choicest stock which graced a Thanksgiving ©

table was still beautiful at Christmas.
As Mr. Burbank puts it, they will grow
anywhere out-of-doors where it is not cold

enough to kill an oak tree, and they will grow
for anybody. They are perennial, increasing:

in number of blossoms from year to year. But

if, at the first, the plant is left to itself it will
blossom itself to death the first year. All but

one or two of the first buds must be removed,
and sometimes not a single one is left. Thus
treated, the plants strengthen themselves and,

after the first season, a single clump will bear —

from two hundred to five hundred of the huge
white blossoms. The plants may be multi-
plied indefinitely thereafter simply by dividing
them at the roots. They will blossom for sev-
eral months in the average temperate zone
climate, in California blooming six months or

142

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THE SHASTA DAISY

_ more out of the twelve; under specially fa-
_ vorable conditions, throughout the whole year.
_ An extremely interesting feature of the
esr flower is that it seems to have lost all
_ its bad habits. Where once it was, at the best,
a pest to be dreaded, multiplying with remark-
_ able rapidity and driving absolutely necessary
_ food products to the wall, it now keeps itself

_ apart from the weeds of its ancestry in a cer-
tain aristocratic exclusiveness. It produces
4 but very little seed and that large in size.
| 4 ‘Mr. Burbank has grown millions of the plants
in his tests, but a self-sown daisy has never
if "appeared upon his grounds.

_ The flower itself is one of remarkable
4 beauty, a rare, well-nigh brilliant white of
- _ great size, the center a pure yellow, with long,
: _ graceful stems. It is not only highly decora-
| { tive in the mass, forming a magnificent note
_ in garden or lawn, but it lends itself with a
_ grace all its own to the bride at the altar or
_ for the last tender tribute to the dead. From
_ the first time he saw it, Mr. Burbank had
__ always held in deep veneration Mount Shasta,
_ @ snow-capped peak of the high Sierras, one
_ of the conspicuous landmarks of California.

143

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

As the name of the mountain means white, 5
and as its summit is always covered with a —

coronal of snow, he chose the name as pecu-
liarly fitting for such a flower.

Now and again Mr. Burbank creates some —
_ flower or plant which to him seems practically —

perfect; that is to say, it is so nearly up to his
ideal that he does not think it necessary
or profitable to give any further time to it.
Again, he leaves a flower in its class by itself,
perfected as far as his hands may make it, and
then fashions another from the material that
was left over. The new flower may have cer-
tain characteristics of the completed one, but
it will have others so very different it becomes

a practically individual creation. In the breed- a

and curious variations are developed. In cer-
tain plants these variations assume what are

called abnormalities, while in other cases they —

are irregularities,—irregular but undeniably
beautiful. Certain of the hybrid daisies showed
a tendency to become double, their petals in
some cases also being strangely convoluted.
The doubling was somewhat in the manner of
the chrysanthemum. This tendency was en-

144

moh fi he

ing of the daisy some peculiarly interesting —

*

Pe ee

THE SHASTA DAISY

couraged, and gradually, led onward from year
to year, the petals multiplied in number,
rowded closer and closer into the golden
Beater, until, finally, a completely perfect
double blossom was produced, even larger
than the Shasta, entirely white. In form it
st iggests the chrysanthemum, though quite
distinct from its Japanese friend in character
; and promising to become a notable rival. It
! differs also in length of blooming time, its
® pe pe extending over five to six months in-
. si id of the one month of the chrysanthemum.
4 Ppimndreds of flowers have passed through
some such life history as this at the hands of
“Mr. Burbank. Some have been led in one
direction, some in another, but all led upward
; to a more beautiful life, all glorified by his
: touch. Many years of his life have been
: a crowded to the utmost with the details of

what may be called utilitarian productions,
forms of plant life whose chief value is to add
_ to the wealth of nations. It would be quite
impossible to say how many millions of
' dollars he has thus added, nor would it be in
| “the reach of the imagination to estimate what
E, - the world is yet to reap from his sowing.
b- 145

___-practical ‘Boor of the race, he |
sight of that more exalted 1
the world a far more beautiful
was when he entered Saat

CHAPTER IX

THE THORNLESS EDIBLE CACTUS

TENHE problems which confront Mr. Bur-
= bank in his work are many and some-
times of great difficulty. One plant may
present a simple nature and a comparatively
short life history. Another may be exceed-
ngly complex in nature and of great age. The
first he finds easy of manipulation, the second
a ften very difficult. The plants with millions
Bret back of them, which may be traced in
very rocks themselves, are likely to prove
aa born, to persist in their old habits; or, if
y at first appear to yield, to return to these _
1 habits at a later day.
¥ He has found this particularly true of the
cactus, in the changing of which he has
accomplished one of his most wonderful
achievements. For years he had had the
cac under consideration. It had long
seemed to him that it should be taken out of
ts environment and set forward among the
147

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

helps instead of the hindrances of the race. :

Sometimes he comes instantly to a conclusion,

seeing immediately the bearing of things and —
setting out upon a certain course fortified at —

all points. Sometimes, as in the regeneration —

of the cactus, he is met with grave problems —

which demand profound study.

When he turned to the cactus on which he

was to spend more than ten years of study, it

~
>

was, in the main, a stubborn, irreconcilable —
foe to the race; in order to make it a friend of ©
man its whole nature must be changed ; it
must be re-created. To the average man it

would seem a waste of time and energy to —

seek to improve a plant which for millions —

of years had been hostile to the race, which
seemed to have absolutely nothing in common —
with civilization, which by its pariah-like —
nature seemed peculiarly fitted for a home —
upon the desert, its closest comrades the —
rattlesnake and the scorpion, its highest aim, —
apparently, to cause the death of some thirst-
maddened animal driven to eat its juicy but —

deadly leaves.

But, the more difficult the problem, the :

keener his desire to solve it. He knew that —

148

re

One of the ** Shasta” daisies. The blossoms are from four to six

inches in diameter

THE THORNLESS EDIBLE CACTUS

‘cactus, even in its wild iia defiant shape,
d certain unquestioned excellencies. It
creep hardy; it would grow and
> where nothing else would, welcoming
g heat of the desert and growing
wert il where rain seldom falls. It had much
aut was nutritious, both in its thick thalli, or
wes, and in its golden or crimson fruit.
her ever it had been given a chance away
om its desert home and under more favor-
le conditions, it had shown phenomenal
rift. It was not one of those plants which

ll not | bear transplanting from a wild to a
vilized state.
wo main obstacles had first to be removed
ne countless thorns upon the cactus, cover-

;. branch and leaves and fruit, and the
ules of the leaves, the woody fibrous skele-
s of the thalli which made them more or less
i estible. These overcome, there remained

sean of the fruit and the fitting of
he » leaves to be a food, food even for man as
wel as beast.

D ie aabvelous has ever been done in plant
life. It would be exceedingly difficult to say

149

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

which one of Mr. Burbank’s creatinneeeaelae

most valuable to the world from a practical
point of view, which one adds most to the
wealth of nations. But probably no other
creation has surpassed this one, for it provides
for the sustenance of the race, food for man

and food for beast; it utilizes the vast desert a

areas of the world without the intervention
of irrigation, though irrigation will aid here as

elsewhere; it converts enormous reaches of —

semi-arable land in all zones to profitable —

husbandry.

It had long been known that there were \j

certain kinds of cactus growths having few,

if any, thorns and certain ones the fruit of —

which natives of some countries considered

edible. It sometimes happens in Mr. Bur- "

bank’s work that the essential thing is to com-
bine excellent attributes and eliminate bad
ones, rather than to create a wholly new plant.
And so it was in the case of the cactus. And
yet, in one sense, the cactus he has produced
is absolutely new, because no other cactus has
ever combined so many excellencies, devoid of
obnoxious elements,—he has bred out the bad
and bred in the good. It is quite like the

150

_ ‘THE THORNLESS EDIBLE CACTUS

‘touch of a great poet who finds the prosy
story of a Hamlet or a Lear and leaves it a
‘masterpiece.
_ Out of some twenty genera of cacti, recog-
nized by naturalists, only five occur in the
i Jnited States, but these are among the most
ried of all in their species, so that the one
t th ecand known varieties of cactus are nearly
a I prestvicted to America. It is upon one of
2 five, common to the United States, the
oO Renta, that Mr. Burbank has worked as a
sis. It is of the variety having flat, thick
wes, though sometimes inclined to become
_ eylindrical. It is a native of Mexico and South
America. In their natural state their flowers
are very striking, some of them red, others
purple, others yellow. One of the species of
“the Opuntia is cultivated in Mexico as a host
fee the cochineal insect. The insect thrives
upon its leaves, is killed at the proper time
q and dried, and from it is produced the brilliant
# garmine color so useful in commerce. The
_ juice of the fruit is sometimes used as a
_ water-color for painting and for coloring con-
a _fectionery. Along the shores of the Mediter-
pyenesn are several species of the Opuntia, the

151

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

fruit of one of which is called the Indian fig
and is much liked.

One of the Opuntias is hardy even in Alaska
and in other similar climates, a characteristic
which has had an important bearing on the
work. This cactus was called in, also, for the
scheme laid out contemplated not only a cactus
without thorns and spicules and preéminently
a food, but one which should be adapted to the
arctics as well as the tropics, one, as Mr. Bur-
bank puts it, which will grow anywhere where
man can live from the soil. Other varieties
were also chosen, one for one characteristic,
one for another, but all essential in the build-
ing up of the ideal plant.

Seeds were secured from all the different
varieties needed and planted by the thousands
in beds specially prepared. The plants were
in rows a few inches apart, from two to ten
thousand plants to a bed. Extensive crossings
were made by pollination as soon as the blos-
soms came, this being followed up for several
seasons. The object of this crossing, or hybri-
dization, was to break up radically, once and
forever, the habits fastened upon the plants
for perhaps millions of years. Seeds from

152

‘THE THORNLESS EDIBLE CACTUS

tl se new plants were then planted. So per-
sistent is the cactus in its habits that thou-
sands of new seedlings showed no tendency
ward improvement. Indeed, many of them,
5 if in very defiance of man, bore uglier
thorns than any of their ancestors. Many of
t “a were a mass of woody fiber. But some
y few showed that a profound change was
ing over their lives. This was indicated
by a notable lessening of the spines, thorns
and bristles. All such plants were isolated for
f urther crossing and “selection. Tests were
g oing on all the while, also, to ascertain
whether or not any plants were losing their
spicules. Such as were found improving in
this direction were also isolated. And so for
Pe vend excellence desired there was the sharpest
: sam and also for every bad feature—it
sa daily battle for the best. At last, when
ften years had gone by, the end of all this

‘pr liminary breeding and crossing and selecting
_ came, and alongside the white picket fence
which surrounds the home of Mr. Burbank
, i a giant cactus, fully eight feet in height,
bearing thalli or leaves from ten inches to a

fh in length, five to eight inches in width,

153

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

nearly an inch in thickness, bearing fruit of —

large size, not a thorn upon it, not a spicule in
all its rich meat,—the bitter enemy of the

desert converted into an abiding friend of —

man.
In creating this edible, thornless cactus Mr.

Burbank took into account a thousand and —

one things which may find no mention here,

but one of them which may be noted shows ~
how persistently practical is all his work. It ©
takes much of the vital forces of the cactus to ©

make its powerfully constructed thorns and to

supply its thalli with spicules. In breeding \y
these away from it he gives to Nature the —
opportunity to devote all her energies to ~

the production of food and fruit, and this will

have a most important bearing upon the ~

future; he has not only transformed the
cactus as to its product but has, in removing

these thorns and spicules, provided a means —

for vastly increasing this product.

The fruit of the new cactus is in shape quite
like a fat cucumber slightly flattened at both
ends. It is about two and one-quarter inches
in diameter by three and a half inches long.
Sometimes it is a beautiful yellow in color,

154

THE THORNLESS EDIBLE CACTUS

while in the fruit from another plant the flesh

crimson. It is delicious to the taste. To
me it has the flavor of a peach, to some a
elon, to some the suggestion of a pineapple,
some a blackberry—to every one who tastes
it a different flavor from anything before
ten. It is, indeed, a new taste for the palate
the world. It may be eaten fresh or cooked,
it may be preserved. The thalli, too, have a
culiarly attractive flavor when cooked and
ay be eaten in a variety of ways, or they
ay be put up as ginger or melon rinds are
eserved. As a food for cattle the thalli are
culiarly rich, at least one half as nutritious
alfalfa, and they will produce the finest
ef, mutton and pork.

It is quite significant, it may be said in
passing, that at a time when _ industrious
explorers of the United States Government

_ were scouring the desert places of the earth

search of a thornless cactus which they

ought might be introduced into the arid
regions of America, finding at last in Algeria

a prickly pear almost spineless, Mr. Burbank
had been for years cultivating tens of thou-

sands of cacti upon his proving grounds,

- 155

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

thousands of them at that very time practically ,
thornless and spiculess, and all marching

forward under his direction to produce a
cactus which should not only have none of
these undesirable things but which should
have many others of distinct value to man.

An indication of the wonderful growing ~

powers of the new cactus is seen in the fact
that in three years’ time a single plant from
seed produces six hundred pounds of food.

Another, and most important, feature of the
new cactus is that it has begun to breed true
to type, from the seed, while it, however,
invariably persists from cuttings of the leaves.
The cactus, as well as all other plants,
stubborn or pliable, persists when once it has
been definitely fixed in its new ways. Just as
the cactus through all the ages has persisted in
bearing thorns and persisted in filling its thalli
with spicules, just so it will persist in getting
along without them when once it has been
fully broken of the habit of bearing them. So
the new cactus begins a new era in its family,
an era of unexampled prosperity, and the era
of good will and not enmity to man.

The possibilities of the new cactus have an

156

Fluted daisies, one of the many curious forms developed in the

production of the Shasta daisies

_ THE THORNLESS EDIBLE CACTUS
enormous scope. The desert land on the globe
is estimated to be two billion, seven hundred
millions of acres, an area six thousand square
iles larger than the area of the United States
clusive of its insular possessions. All this
ve, perhaps, in some case where absolutely
9 rain falls, may be reclaimed for food for
man and beast if needs be. The regions known
4 as steppes, much of which is semi-arable, is
estimated at nearly nine billions of square
“miles additional, practically all of which may
be utilized for the new cactus. The fertile
regions of the globe are considerably larger
than both these regions, some twenty-nine
_ millions of square miles, over sixteen billions
_ of acres. On every foot of fertile soil the
eactus will grow with still greater rapidity
_ than in the desert, for it takes on a new and
_ powerful impulse under cultivation.

_ These figures give something of the possi-
_ bilities. In Mr. Burbank’s own words:

o “The population of the globe may be
- doubled and yet, in the immediate food of the
cactus plant itself and in the food animals
_ which may be raised upon it, there would still
_ be enough for all.”

157

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

The new cactus will not be raised to sell. i

It is not at this time fully ready, for while the —

main end has been reached, other -work in it —
must be done before it begins its career. As
soon as it is finished, any man with a few feet
of earth in the corner of some city back yard,
any man with a garden in the country, any —
man with acres which have lost their fertility _
or with large areas on mountain or desert
which have been long abandoned, may be- —

come a sharer in the fruits of this act. For —

here, as in all that he has ever done, the
supreme purpose of his life looms up, colossal
in its contrast with the mean selfishness of —
man: He has done all for the advancement of —
the race. |

This fearsome dreaded foe of the race has
been conquered, the times of little rain are
set at naught, the great flame-hearted sun
itself, burning its mighty way across the
blistering desert is defied, the whole desert
and arable regions of the globe by the act of
one man may become a limitless reservoir of
food.

158

CHAPTER X
CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

a study of Mr. Burbank’s great work one
is not less amazed at its extent than baffled
sw variety. His approach to Nature lies —
gh many avenues;—it is a source of
ve Dr aiding surprise to see how completely
> commands these avenues while steadily
pen G Apron :

incorporated in this volume as individual
pters because of the limitations of space,
though in them may be found ample material
or such chapters.

Burbank, both because of his love for the
flower itself and because of its possibilities in
th * way of increase in size, enrichment of
| and odor, and in the adaptation of
roses, highly prized but confined to a
icted zone of cultivation, so that they

159

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

ici aa ail

may be elsewhere enjoyed. Some years ago
he developed a rose primarily for bedding
purposes, purchased by an eastern florist and —
by him put upon the market, the Burbank —
rose. It seemed to catch something of the

tremendous energy and enthusiasm of its
creator, for it soon made itself felt as the freest

flowering rose in cultivation. It begins to
blossom when it is not more than three inches —
in height and, if the climate will permit, it —
keeps on blossoming the entire year. In colder

climates it goes into winter quarters unafraid,

and hastens out of its long sleep at the very —
earliest call of spring. It is a double rose, a —

deep rose-pink in color, beautifully shaded

from the center and nearly three inches in —
diameter. In colder climates, when October

days come the outer petals take on a carmine —
hue. The plants develop into symmetrical —

bushes, adding to their attractiveness.
This rose ran the gauntlet of the World’s

Fair in St. Louis, in 1904, and won the gold —
medal over all competitors as the best
bedding rose in the world. It is only one of —

many super’ varieties of roses which Mr.
Burbank has made.

160

- CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

_ Mr. Burbank was attracted by a wild ever-
sting flower which produces a rather inferior
blossom in its Australian home, but which
promised to develop into something far more
attractive. Following the usual course of
ie election, he chose from among its plants those
| 4 ing the choicest blossoms, saved the seeds
from these plants, and thus by constantly
choosing those plants that approached the
a del in his mind, carried the flower forward
through successive generations to a larger and
far more beautiful state. The color of the
blossoms, a delicate pink, was intensified and
the blossom itself doubled in size.
is : are numerous “everlasting” flowers,
nore or less attractive to the eye, and to add
a new flower to their list would not have been
a ranery a thing, but the development
of the Australian flower had a wholly distine-
t five purpose, the production of a flower for
us > in the manufacture of millinery goods and
Hor use in allied decorative lines. Thus the
‘new flower becomes commercially important,
promising very largely to displace artificial
_ flowers of wire, paint and cloth for the adorn-
j “ment of women’s hats. ‘The flower is not only

161

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

beautiful in form and color and everlasting,
but it is fadeless and will not be injured by
handling. One of the largest millinery manu-
facturing firms in the world purchased the
flower. Mr. Burbank makes note of the fact
that there are other flowers of this kind sus-
ceptible of like improvement.

Fifteen years ago Mr. Burbank, taking i into
account the fact that the quince can be grown
with probably less expense than any other
fruit and that it had never occupied the place
which he thought it should occupy, set about
its improvement. It is said that some of the
choicest so-called quince jellies on the market
have been made from the refuse of apples,
pears and other fruits brought up to the imita-
tion of the quince flavor by judicious doctor-
ing. The quince itself had long been neg-
lected by fruit-raisers, and, at its best, was
an inferior fruit compared with other fruits.

The “pineapple” quince was the outcome of
all the years of work upon this fruit, a quince
which, as Mr. Burbank says, “will cook as
tender in five minutes as the best of cooking
apples and with a quincé flavor not before
equaled. Jelly made from it is pronounced

162

&

7 5

= ae . - ie a le at a
Pees ee Se ee ae ae eee ae me,

|
eioe tars

SUOIIPUOD Josap Jo JULY YW —eoxdstp [TIM snjoro ssopusoyy oy? JY A,

CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

by some superior to that made from any other
fruit. The fruit in form and size very
much resembles the Orange quince but is
_ smoother and more globular; in color much
lighter yellow, with an average weight of
about three-quarters of a pound each.” Still
other varieties are under way which promise
to far surpass even the pineapple quince.
For many years Mr. Burbank has carried on
_ extensive tests in berries of different kinds.
Many tests are still under way at Sebastopol.
One of the most important features of this
line of work is the ultimate removal of the
thorns from all thorn-bearing berries, and
from roses as well. Mr. Burbank asked me
_ one day, as we were walking through the
_ proving grounds at Sebastopol, to bend over a
_ blackberry bush growing rather close to the
_ ground, and rub its stem against my face. It
certainly was a novel experience—the thorns
had been entirely bred away from the plant.
So will it be with all thorn-bearing fruits if he
_ shall find time to transform them, for, as in
_ this particular instance, all that is essential is
_ that a systematic and patient course of selec-
tion be followed.

‘ 163

Sa
i

ee
a 4

ep a
sa

~~.

ye Se aS

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

One of the rarest of all the fruits which
have come from Mr. Burbank’s hand is the
white blackberry, the union of a small light-
colored wild berry, of little if any impor-
tance, and a Lawton blackberry. The union
gave to the new plant great vigor and large
size to the berry, the berry, at the same
time, losing the dark purplish black of its
larger ancestor and appearing a clear, beauti-
ful white. The fruit is not only fair to look
upon, but delightful to the taste. Some idea
of the vastness of the work even in the pro-
duction of berries is shown in the fact that
in producing the white blackberry sixty-five
thousand hybrid bushes which did not come
up to the standard set for them were de-
stroyed at one time. One plant out of sixty-
five thousand, but the one successful plant
paid for all the time, the trouble, and the

infinite patience which had been expended.

He is still working upon the white black-
berry in order to give it still finer flavor
and to increase its productiveness.

In the crossing of the various berries, no-
tably the blackberry and the raspberry, re-
markable variations in both stalk and leaf

164

iS
it ie ie Oe

ae ee ae ee

A bebe bees eh

- a ah ete ar ,
eh Me Ue Ce Pe pees

hae een

' CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

were seen. The stalks varied greatly in color,
iso, some of them white, some red, some
a dark purple, some bronze, some yellow, some
_ of them brown or green or black. The
E 7 were remarkably interesting in their
wonderful diversity. Literally scores of
ves, all different in shape and size, grew
¥ from the seed of one hybrid blackberry
Bash A few seeds were secured for Mr. Bur-
_ bank by one of his collectors from a black-
berry growing in the Himalaya Mountains.
The plants which came from the seeds were
: _ selected through a series of years with the
end in view of encouraging and still further
_ developing the rapidity of growth which was
said to characterize the foreign berry. At
last a single plant, a young plant at that,
was developed which covered one hundred
and fifty square feet of ground, stood eight
feet in height, and bore over a bushel of

__ I saw growing on Mr. Burbank’s grounds
a at Santa Rosa a row of plants apparently
but lately out of the ground, possibly an

inch in height. The row was about six feet

165

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

long, a clearly defined green line on the dark

earth. A foot or so from the tiny plants
was another row double in size. Alongside
of this were other rows, larger and thriftier
of growth than the preceding one. At the
end of the plat which embraced the test,
was a heavy row of rich dark grass, broad
of leaf, dense of growth, the leaves being
from ten to twelve inches long. The plants
had a remarkably brilliant green color and
were the picture of vegetable health. The
experiment was in grasses, a line of work
Mr. Burbank has begun with the promise of
important results. Indeed, he once carried on
a series of grass tests, developing a number
of rare grasses remarkable both for rapidity
of growth and variety of color, but was
obliged to discontinue the tests at the time.
In these tests the possibility of development
in grasses was clearly proven.

In the experiment noted above, the tiny
inch-high grass was of the same variety as
the largest plant in the test. While it had
been growing its inch the other had been
growing twelve inches, the surface of the
one plant being fully five hundred .times as

166

va

CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

} geen as that of the companion of the same
lot of seed. The difference between the two
was that one was a slow-growing, the other
a rapid-growing seedling. As in all manner
of fruit tree and other tree tests the seed-
lings vary greatly in the rapidity of their
_ growth, so in the grasses,—the test under
_ way was to determine which one of these
a ‘seedlings was the fastest growing and most
ED Vigorous; from that final selection would
be made in the development of a better type

_ is on this line he has been at work, as well
as upon the production of lawn grasses

_ along with less water than the old types of
_ grass. The tests in grasses promise to be of
‘te ge interest and value.

wild grasses, and even in the ennoblement

_ of the weeds themselves. Upon this point

he says:

pre. What Rseapstion can be more delightful
167

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

than adopting the most promising individual
from among a race of vile, neglected or-
phan weeds with settled, hoodlum tenden-
cies, down-trodden and despised by all, and
gradually lifting it by breeding and educa-
tion to a higher sphere; to see it gradually

change its sprawling habits, its coarse, ill- |

smelling foliage, its insignificant blossoms of
dull color, to an upright plant with hand-
some, glossy, fragrant leaves, blossoms of
every hue, and with a fragrance as pure and
lasting as could be desired?

“In the more profound study of the life '

of plants, both domestic and wild, we are
surprised to see how much they are like
children. Study their wants, help them to
what they need, be endlessly patient, be
honest with them, carefully correcting each
fault as it appears, and in due time they will
reward you bountifully for every care and
attention, and, make your heart glad in ob-
serving the results of your work. Weeds are
weeds because they are jostled, crowded,
cropped and trampled upon, scorched by
fierce heat, starved or perhaps suffering with
cold, wet feet, tormented by insect pests or

168

CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

ack of nourishing food and sunshine. Most
' them have opportunity for blossoming
in luxurious beauty and abundance. A
are so fixed in their habits that it is
etter to select an individual for adoption

liable. This stability of character cannot
en be known except by careful trial, there-
> members from several races at the same

ost pliable and easily educated one will
soon make the fact manifest by showing a
tendency to ‘break’ or vary slightly or per-
haps profoundly from the’ wild state. Any
_ variation should be at once seized upon and
numerous seedlings raised from this individ-
ual. In the next generation one, or several,
even more marked variations will be almost
certain to appear; for, when a plant once
akes up to the new influences brought to
bear upon it, the road is opened for endless
improvement in all directions, and the ope-
_ rator finds himself with a wealth of new forms
which is almost as discouraging to select
| from. as, in the first place, it was to induce
| oth e plant to vary in the least, —now comes

| 169

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

the point where the skill of the operator is
put to the severest test. When a wild plant
has been induced to change its old habits,
fixed by ages of uniform environment, it
needs some one with a steady hand to
guide it into a condition of refinement and
beauty sufficient to adorn any occasion.”
One of the rarest flowers Mr. Burbank
has ever produced met a tragic fate. It
was a most beautiful and delicately tinted
flower upon a vine of exquisite greenness,

ee sah eal all

a vine which would be suited admirably for |

interior decoration or for use in masses
upon lawns. It was a hybrid mesembryan-

themum, a plant whose habit is to open its

beautiful flowers in the sunshine but to close
them when the dark weather comes on. The
hybrid, while like its ancestors in some general
characters, was still unique among flowers,

and Mr. Burbank set great store by it. One ~

morning a workman in the part of the

grounds where the flower was growing dis-

covered that every plant, wherever it was
located —some being in one part of the
grounds, some in another— had met simul-
taneous death at the hands of some mys-

170

CERTAIN GENERAL FEATURES

t rious enemy, or from some sudden. and
fatal plant illness; but not a clue had been
left as to the author of the disaster. The

iis was a very heavy one.

__ Many times, however, in the midst of
the tests, the foes of the insect and animal
_ world make open war upon the plants, and
it would seem sometimes as if with malice
_ aforethought. Some particularly valuable
gladioli were surrounded by a row of ordi-
nary gladioli in order to tempt the thieving
| gophers, should they appear, to satisfy them-
selves with the coarser bulbs and thus pre-
serve the choice ones. The gophers, how-
: _ ever, were not to be put off in any such
_ manner, but passed by the common bulbs
_ and destroyed the rare ones, entailing a
_ severe loss. Mr. Burbank showed me one day
a large bed of seedling roses. In one end
_ was a heavy growth of young plants, in
_ the other a space several feet square in
_ which there were not over a half dozen tiny
little plants just peeping up through the
_ soil. The plants which had been spared by
_ the birds that had swooped down upon the

171

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

plot in an unguarded moment were noel
specially valuable, but the ones which the

4

birds had selected were very rare and the
test was all but defeated. So was it with —
a new generation of beautiful hybrid lark- —
spurs upon which he had been working for —

a number of years. The plants were in~

~

beds which have wire screens to protect }
them from the birds, but a workman had ~

thoughtlessly left the screen off and the -
birds in a few moments wrought havoc with |
the plants that were more than worth, as
Mr. Burbank put it, their weight in dia-
monds.

There is a constant battle going on against:

these foes of the plants.

172

ier | Se

CHAPTER XI

_ BREEDING FOR PERFUME

[M7 HEN one has come to some apprecia-
-Y tion of the wide extent of Mr. Bur-

‘orld, it is not difficult to imagine the flowers

sn =

athered in delicate array to make known
heir individual needs, praying for aid at the
ds of one who has never refused them

Mme has length and strength of stem but
ess of blossom, it is longing for more
utiful flowers;—an answer to its prayer
es in the passing of the years and it grows
and on until it bears a rare, fragrant
One has never been able to hold up
head in the presence of its fellows, bearing
; blossoms on a single side of its stem, a sad,
-heavy state;—cannot help be given? As
tly as may be the gift of grace follows,
id now its blossoms surround its stem in
diant beauty. Another has never liked its

173

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

color; it would be red where all the centuries

it has been golden; a strange little wild beauty

would change from the royal purple of a king ©

to the color of the snows upon the mountains;
—and they are transformed as by a miracle.
A host presses forward from all the ends of

the earth ;—they are wild, would that they —

might become tame! And lo! they are

changed; they join the fair company of the ~

gardens of the world whose part it is to

furnish adornment to those still more fair or —
to carry their fragrance to the beds of those —

who lie in pain.
And so it goes among many hundreds of
them, each needing something,—beauty, or

strength, or hardiness, or length of days,—and

the prayer of all is granted.

Ah! but there still remains one unsatisfied:

its longing is the most intense of all. It has

all that the others have longed for, but it has —
one sad impairment. It has been doomed ~
through the centuries to bear a most wretched

odor, an offense to its fellows, to the world ;—

if it only could be given some sweet scent like :

its dear neighbors!
This is the hardest request of all. The

174

t

The cactus in the foreground is the ordinary thorny kind. Those

in the rear are the thornless ones of the same species

_ BREEDING FOR PERFUME

lower has made the greatest demand upon the
i ill and the resources and the commanding
i snius of the friend of all flowers.
_ But even this is granted: a new epoch in
the life of the flowers of the earth has come:
,¢ hey need remain scentless no longer.
a | For twenty-five years Mr. Burbank had
he en studying the dahlia before he found a
Mw hed answering its prayer for relief from its
c sive odor; now it is to be freed from its
i a den. He has driven out the disagreeable
¢ pee and, in its place, he has left the fragrance
' the magnolia.
The dahlia is a fascinating flower with
a ich to work. Year by year as he studied it
and progressed in its development, making it
e 0 beautiful, hardier, more interesting in
she xe of blossom, he brought new varieties
i nto service from other lands to make use of in
combination with his own. One of these was
ginally from Mexico, Dahha Juarezi, the
ent of the dahlia now commonly called the
cactus dahlia, with petals more on the order of
the chrysanthemum.
_ From the imported varieties he has worked
: Lon with the types of his own creation, all the

175
a

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

time building up more beautiful forms. It is
interesting to note, in passing, that while the
dahlia seeds which he has sent out to leading

amateur gardeners in various parts of the

world are the ones which he has discarded as
not valuable enough to use in carrying forward
his experiments,—reserving, of necessity, the
very best ones for the work in hand,—yet he
has received enthusiastic letters from those
who have grown flowers from these discarded
seeds, reciting the triumphs won in prizes and
premiums at flower shows and county fairs.
The dahlia, like many another flower, when
first broken of an old habit of life and led into

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a new one, finds it sometimes hard to persist —

in the new way. Everything is strange. It is
called upon to do things it never was called
upon to do before. A million past tendencies
are at work to keep it in the old paths. So,
when any new and particularly desirable trait
is developed, it is often hard to fix it. And in
the fixing of this trait a thousand things must
be taken into account,—incidents in its life

history, peculiarities of environment, methods —

of growth and development, individual char-
acteristics.

176

BREEDING FOR PERFUME

_ To keep track of the details of a plant’s
ife epee change from an old order of things,”
s Mr. Burbank, “and to bear in mind all
th “ef at must be remembered and considered as

> its life history,— beside this, the classifica-
¥ of the botanists is child’s play.”

ey ben the flower which has been changed

1 form or color has been watched through a
st series of years and shows no sign of return to
a old ways, then it may be left to itself
» follow out the new order of its changed life.
aa took a long while to make the
2 double, for example, but this is now a
ed characteristic and there is no reversion
F the old order.
It so happened one day, several years ago,
nat Mr. Burbank, while in the dahlia proving-
: ots, suddenly noticed one flower which bore
I ne ne of the disagreeable odor characteristic of
| plant, but, in its place, a faint fragrance,
ive, but undeniably sweet. Instantly the
. wer was isolated, and with the most jealous
care its seeds were saved and planted.

A problem of immense difficulty was before
ha him, for of all the qualities of a plant the most
elusive, the least understandable, the most

177

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

intangible, the most difficult to get under :
control, is that of odor. A thousand and one ~
things interfere to make the problem more ~
difficult. The color of the flowers, the shape i
of leaves and petals and stem, these are before ~
the eyes and changes in them may be watched —
and recorded from generation to generation,—-
but the perfume, no instrument of man can
measure or record it: it is the very soul of the ;
flower. ° | 3
Nevertheless, the more difficult the problem —
the greater his zest for entering upon it, the
deeper his delight in the final solution, =
New plants raised from the seeds of this
scented dahlia showed a variety of answers to—
the problem. Some had scarcely, if any, odor, ©
and that not pleasant; some persisted in the
full measure of the old disagreeable trait; a
very few had some hint of the perfume of
the rich magnolia blossom. All but the latter
were at once put to death as unworthy to live —
in the test to follow.
Again the seeds were planted and again the ~
plants were rigidly selected; and so it went on —
through generations until, one day, there came —
forth a plant with the full, sweet fragrance of —

178 y

BREEDING FOR PERFUME

the magnolia while still retaining all its other
good qualities; and then he knew that the
battle was won. It might be long until the
serfumed dahlia was fully fixed, and longer
; to introduce the new flower’ to the world,
I but the chief object had been reached,—the
‘offensive odor had been driven out and in its
| : ace had been established a rare and lasting
_ perfume: it was the working of a modern
miracle.
_ “Tt is not so difficult,” Mr. Burbank says of
the new scented dahlia, “to teach a plant to
_ transmit other characteristics, and, once its
new traits have been fixed, it has no difficulty
in keeping on in the new way. When the
d: hlia once learned to be double, for example,
id had had a term of years in which to fix
its self i in this new form, it was easy enough to
go onward in the same way. But it was a new
| hi g for the dahlia to change its odor, it took
_ a long time for it to get used to it. All its life
h bits through thousands of generations had
_ to be broken up. It was its lifelong habit to
a disagreeable odor. It was no ordinary
. ng in its life to make the change; it could
not easily give up its old ways. At first, prob-
a 179

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

ably not one out of a thousand seeds produced —
a flower with any fragrance. It is far easier
for a flower to rebel and throw off a new per-
fume than it is for it to discard some other —
characteristic which it has been led to adopt.” —

Now that the solution of the problem has —
been reached, it is only the question of the —
necessary time for the conversion: of the entire —
dahlia family to fragrance. i

To change an ill odor into a delightful one ~
is one of the most remarkable of Mr. Bur- —
bank’s achievements in breeding for perfume, —
but to give a flower fragrance where none
before existed, this is a still more difficult task. —

For years he has been at work perfecting a
heretofore scentless verbena, increasing it in —
size and beauty of blossoms and giving it a —
more commanding place among the flowers of —
the world. In the evening of a summer day, —
while he was walking in the plots set apart for —
the testing of the verbenas, a faint odor came —
up to him on the soft night air. It was so —
curious a thing, coming from a bed of flowers —
before bearing no fragrance, that he instantly —
began a search in the bed for the plant whose —
blossom had shown this strange scent.

180

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- BREEDING FOR PERFUME

1e cinch was unavailing, however, and a
ssed by. Again, in’ the dusk of just such
ning, he happened to be near the ver-
, and again the ghost of an odor came
rd. This time he was not to be denied,
he did not leave the task until he had
‘on hands and knees through the verbena
discovering, at last, the plant with the
fragrance, the faint sweet suggestion of
ing arbutus, when it comes up in fair,

beauty through the white snows of the

_ The plant was at once isolated and then
egan a rigid selection of plants from its seeds,
lowing the same process observed in the
a. Year by year the work of selection
on with the utmost care and patience,
ur by year the plants showed stronger
gradually stronger traces of the mother
_ At last the fragrance was fixed, greatly
sified in power, so that now it is double
strength of the trailing arbutus and identi-
eal with it. The flowers that were scentless
lave been given a powerful perfume, so firmly
sti blished that it will not fade.
+ occurred to Mr. Burbank one day that it

181

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

would be interesting to give an odor to a calla —
upon which he was working. Very carefully ©
the plants under test were studied, and at last ©
one was found which bore signs of being a —
desirable one to use in furthering the experi- —

ment. Work was at once begun on it. After —
years of study and labor he has bred into a

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scentless calla the odor of the Parma violet, —

the rarest of violet odors.

7

One of the many strange incidents occurring —

all through the work which Mr. Burbank —
carries on developed while some of the ily
tests were under way. One curious lily had —
gone backward into a sad state of total —
depravity, as far as fragrance is concerned. It —

gave forth an odor so powerfully sefleeonial ni
that the people living in a cottage on the —
grounds at Sebastopol near the lily bed, found —
it impossible to endure it. One day before the —
bed was destroyed, Mr. Burbank was sitting — :
in the sunshine after his luncheon watching a —
huge buzzard soaring in the blue sky. Sud- :

denly the bird paused in its sweep, poised an
instant, and then shot down into the bed of —

lilies. It floundered around an instant in the
bed and then, with, as Mr. Burbank expressed ~

182

§

;

| BREEDING FOR PERFUME

he most disgusted look on a bird’s face
ever saw, flew away. While it has long
een a mooted question with naturalists
as to whether or not the buzzards, vultures
nd other birds of prey of their class, see, or
l, the carrion which is their delight, the
now held by many leading men is that
ey depend wholly upon their sight, while
Mr r. Burbank’s experience with his outcast
ilies proved in this instance the opposite.
'o breed flowers for a certain quality,—
eauty, endurance, longevity, hardiness,—this
is immensely difficult. It is immeasurably
nore difficult to breed them for the produc-
of perfume, their subtlest element. Now
that Mr. Burbank has demonstrated that
; lowe may be bred for perfume, that odors
y be changed, that scentless flowers may
I Riven fragrance, much work remains for
c hers. It is incredible, the amount of work
has accomplished. He has still larger
‘work before him than any he has ever
attempted, and, of necessity, very much that
he has under way must be carried forward, as
é details, by others. He is never more
itified than when some one else can take

183

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

up work which he has begun but which he has
not the time to complete, and carry it forward
for the adornment or the material welfare of
the world.

There is ample opportunity in the breeding
of perfumes, as in other departments of his
work, for others to go forward in the develop-
ment of the more practical side. In all the
initial experiments, however, this practical side
is never lost to sight. He has a poet’s love for
beauty and he has rare delight in adding to
the charm of the world, but he bears along —
with this the intense practical nature of the ©
shrewdest captain of industry. It is a cardi-
nal principle of Mr. Burbank’s never to make
a new creation without developing, so far as
possible, its practical value.

Speaking of the making of a blue rose,—he
has already made a blue poppy,—he said that
it was one of the easiest things in the world if —
one should set out diligently upon it, but it
would consume very much time in the making
and it would be doubtful, after all, if it added
much to the charm of this rare flower. He has
studied the rose with great care, and he has
seen in the consideration of its coloring an

184

BREEDING FOR PERFUME

i “easy avenue to a land of blue roses. A lesser
_ man would have hastened forward on the
- road that lead to this strange floral wonder;
Fiat, despite the novelty and the fascination
_ that always surround the development of a
__ new creation, he would not enter in upon it
_ when so many greater and more valuable
_ things for the advancement of the world lay
_ before him.

So everything that he does must have,
f possible, a definite practical end in view,
—it must help the world along.

So in the breeding of flowers for perfume,
the paramount thing, from the practical
point of view, is to breed the perfume so
that it will have a direct, commeréial bear-
‘ing. Mr. Burbank has demonstrated the com-
plete pliability of flowers not only in the
way of color and structure but in the
_ way of odor. It now becomes practicable to
take a strain of roses, for example, which
are prolific and hardy but with little or no
odor, and breed into them the most power-
ful of perfumes. It now becomes possible
to take a flower having a perfume not par-
_ ticularly agreeable,— indeed, one positively
a 185

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

disagreeable,—and make its odor a delight.
It is also possible to combine flowers of
different odors and produce others unknown
to the world before.

But, in addition to all this, it is possible,
following in Mr. Burbank’s lead, to breed
flowers with the requisite amount of vola-
tile oil, as it is called, the oil of the plant
which enables it to hold its rare sweet scent
and from which, when taken from the flower,
the perfume is obtained. There are several —
processes for obtaining the perfume from
flowers, but their aim is identical,—to iso-
late and confine the odor in some form of
fat or oil and then dilute it with alcohol into
the perfumes we buy at the chemists.

Breeding corn, for example, so that it
shall have a certain prescribed amount of
fat has been accomplished and made prac-
ticable. Indeed, so completely successful is
this breeding that corns are prepared with
a given per cent of fat for animal or human
food, another per cent for the manufac-
turer of glucose who wants little fat in his
corn, another for the manufacturer of corn-
oil who wants much fat and little starch.

186

>

BREEDING FOR PERFUME

So with flowers; it is entirely feasible to
eed a flower so that it shall have a given
aount of volatile oil, selecting through
yenerations those flowers which show increas-
4 ing amounts of this substance, — determined
__ by analysis,—and by rigid selection and ex-
clusion developing those, as in the corn,
_ which have in their composition the requi-
_ site amount of oil for conserving the per-
fume. It is not always the flower with the
most powerful fragrance that is convertible
into the largest amount of perfume, but
_ the valuable one is that which carries the
perfume most completely in its oil. The
odor depends, too, quite frequently upon the
ity rather than the quantity of this oil.
_ Given, then, a flower needing more fra-
grance, one having no odor but in which it
is desirable that an odor shall be placed,
_ one with a disagreeable odor needing change,
or one calling for a certain per cent of
Preseential oil to mask its fragrance and aid
in converting it into perfume, — they are all
___ to be made over to order.
: In the mountains of Bulgaria, where the
__attar of roses reaches its height of produc-,
; 187

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

tion, an hectare of ground,—2.47 acres, —
planted to red roses from which the per-
fume chiefly comes, yields 6,600 pounds of
roses in a season. When the perfume is ex-
tracted there remain 2.2 pounds of rose attar.
This sells on the English market at from
twenty to thirty shillings per ounce, about
$7.50, which is $300 gross income for the
hectare of ground.

Mr. Burbank says that there is no region
of the world better adapted for the raising
of roses, as well as nearly every other kind
of perfume-bearing flower, than California,
and that other regions of the United States
can produce abundantly many kinds of
flowers suited for the manufacture of per-
fumes. At the present time this country con-
sumes about eight millions of dollars’ worth
of perfumes a year. The manufacturing of
perfumes in the United States has rapidly
increased. This manufacture is from pomades
or oils containing the scent, and these are
made in foreign countries. Now and again
sporadic attempts at the extraction of per-
fume have been made in this country, notably
in the case of orange blossoms, but the

188

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BREEDING FOR PERFUME

amount so produced is as nothing compared
_ with the amount necessary for manufacturing
in the United States.
_ It has been held by some manufacturers
that the initial work of producing perfumery
could not be carried on successfully in the
Jnited States because of the cheapness of the
labor of foreign countries. On this point one
of the chief manufacturers of perfume in the
country says that one of the main reasons why
perfumery is not extracted in this country is
rather because people pay so much attention
to large things in agriculture,—thousand-acre
farms and the like, when, in reality, far more
money could be made along intensive lines;
_ as, for example, in the line of perfumery pro-
; duction. When told of the work of Mr. Bur-
_ bank in the breeding of flowers for perfume,
he expressed the liveliest interest and amaze-
ment,—it was a revelation to him of the
possibilities of his own occupation.
Doubtless, this manufacturer stands for
others in his belief that the production of
perfumery in this country,—the basic pomades
_ from the flowers themselves,—has never yet
been attempted on a large enough scale. The

189

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

manufacturer was deeply interested, also, in
the fact that through breeding and selection
the odor in a given flower may be doubled, or
even quadrupled, as well as improved in
quality.

Some perfumes of much commercial value,

as well as of intense pleasure to those who use

them, are manufactured wholly from the
leaves of plants, and the possibilities in this
direction are seen in the new tree which
Mr. Burbank has created, the fast-growing
walnut referred to in a preceding chapter.
The leaves of this tree, which are very abun-
dant, have a most delightful fragrance. While
the wood of the tree will furnish fuel and
material for furniture manufacture in greater
. abundance, considering time of growth, than
any other tree outside the tropics, the leaves
may be made available for the production of
a rare perfume,—a commercial combination
at once distinctive and of far-reaching sig-
nificance. j

With facilities in the way of climate and
soil such as no other nation possesses, and
with a native stock to work upon through the
labor of Mr. Burbank, unlike anything before

190

_ BREEDING FOR PERFUME.

the production of this delightful
act of the world’s pleasure becomes a
‘source of national wealth.
this line of Mr. Burbank’s life-work, as
undreds of others, the remarkable acts
mplished are only a part of the complete
‘vement. Sometimes he has had time to
- forward the work to full commercial
, but, as the work of his life so magnifi-
ently enlarges, much in the way of detail
un ist be done by other hands. He has blazed
entral way up through the Unknown, and
has posted signboards at a thousand ave-
along the way, telling how this one may
lowed to practical success, how that one
; be shunned because it leads to failure,
ow the next road will lead on and on to an
n field where harvests of grace, beauty and
th may be reaped.

191)

CHAPTER XII
HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

VERY early in his business career as a nur-

seryman two facts became apparent to
Mr. Burbank:—First, that there were many
fruit-growers who paid but little attention to
the selection of stock suited to their climate,
having the impression that one fruit tree of
a given type was as good as another; and,
second, that there was a great work to be
done in adapting fruits to climates, in aiding
Nature to do what she had been unable to
do herself.

With this in view, he set out upon an
exhaustive study of the chief fruit trees,—not
merely a study of them from the botanical
point of view but, so to use the word, from a
physiological point, to ascertain their full phy-
sical characteristics. In so doing he was able to
find out precisely what was lacking in a given
tree in a given climate and to lead that tree
into a closer articulation with its surroundings.

192

—— i es ee,

“HARDENING AND ADAPTATION —

_ The problems that arose in this line of work
were among the most difficult he had ever
encountered. Very much had to be taken into
account, —the past of the tree, not only imme-
iate but remote, its failures and successes
ou nder different environment influences, its
a itations, its need of new blood by crossing
or the restoration of its depleted veins through
selection. For Mr. Burbank had come to look
‘upon all plant life as being very closely allied
_ to the life of man, open to many similar
a subject to many diseases, needing the
_keen eye of the physician and the dietarian,
ee esponding to heat and cold, light and shadow,
“inactivity and exercise. He early recognized,
too, the importance of transference, the intro-
- duction of a fruit from a distant quarter of the
globe, engrafting its life upon the life which
_ Was not coming up to its opportunities. He
| 4 "recognized that. that which holds true in the
human race,—that admixture of blood is desir-
- able, indeed is imperative at intervals, in order
= to prevent such physical decadence as follows
the intermarrying of royal families,—held
_ true sometimes in the vegetable world; there

_ were certain families that needed new blood

193

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

- from a different quarter in order to restore

their slowly ebbing virility.

An illustration of this was seen in the case
of trees which would not withstand frost. He
took into account large areas of land generally
in varying strips running down along the
Atlantic seaboard, on by the Gulf of Mexico
and even up along the California coast, where
certain fruits, as the peach, nectarine and
plum, became problematical crops because of
the early frosts in the spring. By breeding
and selection, choosing for combination fruits
from a far colder climate, he produced fruit
trees of this type that will withstand absolute
freezing in bud, in flower, in infant fruit.

Even when the petals of the flower are stiff —

with ice, they show no signs of wilting when
the sun has thawed them out. To make assur-
ance doubly sure, the trees were placed in
localities where heavy frosts came early, and
they splendidly withstood the freezing.

The value of this work to the world is not
within estimate. The proximity of the sea-
coast regions mentioned to city markets, ren-
dering the production of such fruits at a very
early date in the spring a matter of direct

194

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HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

financial importance to growers, is a feature —
not less significant than the satisfaction of
'fruit-lovers in these regions at being able to
_ procure much prized but heretofore unobtain-
_ able supplies near at hand.

@ - But hardening a plant does not by any
_ means, in Mr. Burbank’s use of the word, mean
hardening against cold alone. It may be har-
= dening against heat, against the wind, against
_ rain, against drought, diseases or insects.

__ A most interesting demonstration of the
| Biscibilities in these directions was in the case
_ of the gladioli. In California, and in any
= warm climate with a rich soil below their feet,
_ the old-fashioned gladioli grew rank and tall,
_ and, in case there was, in their blooming sea-
_ son, considerable wind, they were more than
_ apt to be injured or wholly destroyed. So he
bred gladioli to withstand wind. Where the
. stems were from five to six feet tall he bred
_them down to three feet, at the same time
_ making the stalk much thicker and stronger.
This was done by crossing and selection,
always choosing those plants which were ap-
_ proaching nearest the end desired until the
p required length and strength were attained.

195

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

Another difficulty with the gladioli was that
the petals were so thin and fragile they would
not stand the California sun, so he bred with
this end in view, producing flowers at last that
were thick of petal and able to withstand the
heat of the warmest day. In order to accom-
plish the ends desired, thousands upon thou-
sands of seedlings were grown and crossed and
re-crossed in many blendings.

While this work was in progress, he set
about another feature which may be men-
tioned here incidentally, the teaching of the
gladioli to bloom around their entire stem
instead of on one side, as had been their life-
long habit. After long years of selection, he
produced gladioli which have the hyacinth
form instead of the old top-heavy form bloom-
ing on but one side of the stem. The new
flower stands erect, with all its blossoms evenly
distributed upon its stem. At the same time —
he greatly increased the flower in size and in —
beauty, giving many new notes in the scheme ©
of color.

I saw Mr. Burbank one day walking among
a number of his men as they were working on
the proving grounds at Sebastopol. They

196

HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

a happened to be setting out tiny plants, new
_ types of berries under test. The long rows

_ were clearly outlined in the earth, stretching

like tiny green threads across an acre or two
_ of ground. The plants were set out just as
_ they came from the little square boxes in
_ which they had been raised from the seeds,
thousands of them being put out, and as Mr.
_ Burbank came to one of the workmen he said:

“If I only knew which one of all these

: thousands is the one I want, you wouldn’t
_ need to set out any of the rest.”

So in all the work of hardening and adapt-

_ ing, if he only knew precisely which ones to
_ ¢ross to produce the results in the shortest
_ possible time, how great would be the saving!

_ But there are few laws to guide when a new

Se ae ee:

ae Y eo

_ creation in the plant world is to be made, and
_ none which will anticipate the end. Bending

over a path one day as we were walking
through the grounds, he drew a long line in
the earth. Then he drew cross lines at
intervals.

“There is the scheme,” he said. ‘That long
line represents the life of the plant through all
its past history. This cross line represents a

197

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

break, a sudden, sharp break in its life. I have
introduced a new element into the old life. I
have broken it up. Henceforth if I keep on
breeding and selecting from this new line the
old life can never be quite the same again. If
the fruit tree, for example, has been for all its
history growing in a certain climate under
certain practically unvarying conditions of
moisture, heat and cold, it must be abruptly
changed in order that it shall accommodate
itself to new degrees of heat or cold or
different amounts of moisture. To what
distance I shall carry the plant along its new ©
line depends upon how soon it achieves, and is
fixed in, the life I wish it to assume. Very |
many theories have been held based upon
carrying a plant a certain distance. When the
point was reached where the plant appeared to
refuse to go any further, the conclusion has
usually been that this ends it all. This is
by no means the case. Plants are sometimes
stubborn and need discipline. It is utterly
impossible to say that a plant can have only a
certain number of leaves, or a certain number
of seed-capsules or a certain number of certain
other characters. The trouble is that men have

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HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

not gone far enough, have stopped when appa-

rently there was no other outcome, but when
they were, in reality, only at the beginning, or,
at best, in the middle, of their difficulties. It
is hard work,—it takes time, it takes patience,
it takes persistence, to go on beyond, but is it
not worth it?

“Now and then the limit appears to be
passed and the theorist says, ‘Ah, but this
is only an abnormality, a monstrosity.’ Yes,
but is it? How does he know it is? How

‘does he know but that the very abnormality

may not be followed and helped and developed
until it becomes a splendid norm, reproducing
it again and again and again, strengthening it
where necessary, but all the time pressing it
forward and finally fixing it? How many
normalities have we now in plant life that -
were not, in one sense, once abnormalities?
“In hardening a plant from cold, it is
generally best to select for stock upon which
to work those plants which have naturally

i _ the hardiest bulbs, the hardiest leaves, and the

hardiest wood,—generally, I say, though not
always. An arctic plant which may have all
these characteristics may prove very valuable

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

for blending with a plant long accustomed
to the warmer portions of the temperate zone.
Then, by uniting this arctic plant with the
temperate zone plant, I reach a plant which is
of the right frost resistance to be grown in the
colder parts of the temperate zones, and thus
are made possible these frost-resisting fruit trees ©
which will bear stiff freezing without harm.
Another plant may be troubled with cold, wet
feet—it needs hardening so that it will grow
satisfactorily in a soil that may be wet. So it
‘must be bred against this. One of the arctic
plants, for example, which has never grown in
the temperate zone may be a very desirable
plant to introduce, but it has never been used —
to a warm, early spring and it begins its
budding and blossoming so early that it fails to
~ accomplish what it should in fruit or flower
productions. So it is necessary to breed it in
turn to temperate climate conditions.
“Cross a hardy plant and a tender plant
and often the tendency is toward the hardy;
the waves, so to speak, sweep ever up toward
the hardy, to the highest limits of the hardy,
and some few sweep up over;—it is these few
we must catch and make use of, for, on an

200

HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

. average, the waves will go no higher than the
point of greatest hardiness. Thus, as the work

progresses, the plants which now and then
show peculiar hardiness beyond the normal are
chosen to carry forward the tests. From these
very hardiest ones, after long breeding and
selection come the ones which are not only to

unite the desirable qualities of their forbears

but which are to be fitted for their new envir-
onment.”

But in addition to hardening plants against
all these —sun and ice and drought and rain,—
they must be hardened for shipping and allied
purposes. Mr. Burbank may have a fruit, for
example, which matures early, is of a very
desirable character aud would sell well at a
long distance from its point of production. But
it is too soft—it will not stand shipment. So
he puts it through a long course of training, so
to speak, and, when he is through with it, it will
bear the long shipment and come out at the
end of the journey as fine as when it started.

In the production of the prune, the outer
skin has an important bearing upon the suc-
cess of the industry. After the prunes have
been gathered and graded in size, they are

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

dipped in a weak solution of lye, in order to
thin and crack the skin, to enable the mois-
ture easily to escape when the drying process
comes, thus preventing fermentation. After
they are dipped they are placed in the sun to
dry or, in regions where there is not sufficient
sunshine, in machine driers. Some prunes have
so thick a skin that they require far too much
lye treatment, some are so thin that they
burst open under the treatment and are thus
destroyed for regular prune packing. Mr.
Burbank has obviated this difficulty by breed-
ing a prune with a skin so delicately veined
and so susceptible to the solution that it needs
but a trifling dipping to crack in fine thread-
like lines and thus permit the escape of the
moisture. This new prune, by thus having
its skin bred to precisely the right thickness,
must supplant other prunes, either too thick
or too thin or too variable.

The extension of this line of Mr. Burbank’s
work is practically limitless. DeVries, the
Dutch botanist elsewhere referred to, com-
menting upon the extensive work of Mr,
- Burbank, says:

“Specialization with him is not the limit-
202

HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

ing of the number of genuses and species, but
in the analogous method to which he submits
all of them. And so this method is by him
carried to the highest degree of perfection,
while at the same time the results are so im-
mense that they receive the admiration of the
whole world. His pears and apples, adapted
for canning and drying, have a quality and a
productiveness such that, in spite of the cost
of preparation and the expense of transporta-
tion, they are competing with splendid success
in Europe with the kinds there cultivated and
are a source of revenue for large stretches of
country, which they carry up to a hitherto
unknown state of prosperity. The production
of such varieties, therefore, has the greatest
direct influence upon the growth and progress
of agriculture and horticulture. It promises
work for thousands of people and to the most
enterprising amongst them it gives a chance
for the rapid acquisition of wealth.”

This appreciation on the part of one of the
foremost scientific men in the world is in
direct line with the appreciation which Mr.
Burbank receives in letters from practical
fruit-growers from all over the world.

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

But a singular situation is suggested by the
possibilities of this adaptation. One of the
leading fruit-growers of northern California,
an ardent admirer of Mr. Burbank and largely
interested in the production of some of his
new fruits; makes the point that, in spite of
the great work Mr. Burbank has done and is
doing, for the development of fruit-culture in
California, the supremacy of California as a
fruit - producing state is eventually to be
threatened, because of the fact that Mr. Bur-
bank is adapting so many of the fruits, now
grown in California extensively, to other
regions of the country. Thus, if he makes a
pear so hardy that it will grow in a climate
- where pears have never been grown success-
fully before, or in like manner hardens a
peach, a prune, an apricot, a plum or a cherry,
the fruit- growers of that region will be swift
to adopt the new fruit. They will at once be
given an immediate market; their customers
will be delighted that they can get the choicest
fruits at their very doors and filled with pride
that their climate is no longer to be pro-
nounced inimical to fruit-raising; while a new
and profitable industry springs into life.

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HARDENING AND ADAPTATION

Mr. Burbank is a loyal Californian, but he
is also loyal to all the fruit interests of the
world. From his own catholic point of view
his mission among men is to do the greatest
possible good. to the greatest sensi number
of the race. ’

The following, bearing directly upon the
subject of adaptation of fruits to other regions,
is the opinion of a practical fruit- grower of
California:

“Mr. Burbank is doing for the East in plum
culture, what Hale and other peach-growers
have done for the peach crop. He will
increase it ten-fold, perhaps a hundred-fold,
and deprive California, to that extent, of a
market for her plums. California ships mil-
lions of boxes of plums to the eastern markets
annually, and the business is highly profitable.
Now comes Mr. Burbank and creates new
plums by the dozens, that bear enormously
and live and thrive equally well in the frozen
North, the sunny South or the favoring cli-
mate of California. Is it not possible that the
California plum market will go the way of the
peach market after Mr. Burbank’s plums shall
have been sufficiently grown in the East? Of

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

course, this will not worry Mr. Burbank, for
he is a citizen of the world rather than of Cali-
fornia. His avowed purpose is ‘to make the
very best fruits and nuts an every-day food for
all, instead of an occasional luxury for the
few.’ No doubt the world will be benefited,
although California’s present favorable position
in plum culture may be shaken.”

ajddvourd oy} jo roAvy oy} Suravy Ajorwrea poaoadun Ajyvais v ‘aounb ojddvauid ayy,

CHAPTER XIII
ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

- neal a dweller upon some other
¥ planet where some other sun kisses its
___ earth into life come down through space bear-
_ ing a fruit as yet untasted by the world-men,
it would not be more distinctive, or more deli-
_ cious to the taste, than the fruit which Mr.
~ Burbank picked one summer day from a tree
which he had made from three other trees.
_ For the fruit which he picked was unlike any
_ other fruit which had grown on the earth
_ before—it was absolutely new, he had accom-
_ plished that which men had said was impos-
_ sible. So it has been said on other occasions,
such and such things cannot be done. Mr.
_ Burbank says, Wait; let us see about it.

_ He took a wild American plum, a Japanese
_ plum, and an apricot. He bred these three
_ together and made a third, the plumcot, dif-
_ ferent in texture, color and taste from. any
_ Other fruit. Not only did he thus create’ a
. 207

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

new fruit, adding much to the dietary of the —

nations, but in this, and a number of similar
instances, he has opened the way to an indefi-
nite extension of the same principle—the crea-
tion of fruits which shall supplant or supple-
ment old ones. Indeed there are now opened
in-many lines of plant life, by this demonstra-
tion of the feasibility of creating new species,
possibilities whose scope is limitless.

The plumcot by some might still be pro-
nounced only a variation or combination of
similar species,—though, as will be seen later,
even this objection will not lie against the
primus berry and the phenomenal berry. And
yet, when two such absolutely different, even
if allied, fruits as the plum and the apricot
are bred together, producing a third and abso-
lutely new fruit, it is quite difficult to see
wherein this is not a new and distinct species.

This new fruit is not only delightful to the —

taste but it is very interesting in its character.
Sometimes the flesh will be yellow, sometimes
pink, sometimes white or crimson. Sometimes

it has pits like the apricot, sometimes like the ©

plum. The fruit is highly colored, maintain-
ing the prevailing hues of the apricot. The

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ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

flavor of the new fruit is indescribable, as
_ unique as it is delicious.

The new fruit was produced in the usual

way, the three basic fruits being inter-pol-
_lenated so that there was a thorough blending
or crossing of them all. Then selection was
made from the crosses until at length, after
_ years had elapsed, giving time to fix it so it
would not revert, the new fruit was produced.
_ There yet remains further work upon it before
it shall be given to the world, but its place
‘in the world as a new and distinct type of
fruit life-is now assured. Mr. Burbank began
this particular experiment in another line, the

crossing of a plum and an almond; then
branching off into the plum-apricot line as
promising more satisfactory results. The plum

and the almond combined in a sense, produc-

ing some spectacular plant effects, but the

‘union did not promise results worthy of
further work, so it was dropped.

Other curious combinations have from time

_ to time been made, with results not yet fully

determined in some cases. A raspberry and a
_ strawberry were united. Strange results devel-
oped. The plants were curious indeed. The

209

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

plants were entirely thornless, absolutely and —
invariably persisting in the strawberry charac- —
teristics. They bore leaves, but instead of
having raspberry leaves, as would be natural
to go with their long stems, the leaves were —
all trifoliate, a regular strawberry leaf. Under
ground, the plant sent out long branches, or
stolons, precisely as the strawberry plant sends —
them out above ground. These stolons bore —
plants, and when they came up they took on ~
the length of stem of the raspberry parent, ~
growing from three to five feet in height.
Flowers came in great abundance, three or —
four times as many as the raspberry, seven or —
eight times as many as the strawberry. But —
the plant was foredoomed, for it bore no fruit. ©
Flowers came in abundance, indeed, lived their —
allotted time, and dropped to the ground, but —
the only fruit, or approach to a fruit was a ~
little knob where the fruit should have been, —
a very travesty of a berry. Hundreds of these —
plants were grown. i
An apple was crossed with a blackberry. —
The plant which followed was apple so far as —
foliage and general character were concerned, —
although in the thickness and general charac- —
210 %

ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

ter of the leaves the blackberry influence was
unmistakably apparent. Strangely enough,
the blackberry seeds which came from the
cross produced the apple-tree growth. Four
' to five thousand trees were thus grown, all
practically identical in character. All but two
of the cross refused to fruit, though almost all
of them blossomed abundantly. Some of the
blossoms were rose-colored like the apple,
some of them almost crimson. Nearly all
were thornless.

A black raspberry was crossed with a black-
berry, with the result that most of the product
of the union died just as fruit-bearing time
came on. Many hybrids, Mr. Burbank notes,
die when it comes to the age of reproduction
because, for one or another reason, the stamina
of the parents is exhausted and the act of
fruit production proves too great a strain.
The mountain ash and the blackberry were
also crossed, resulting in a salmon-colored
fruit, the bush bearing no thorns. Many com-
binations of peaches and almonds have been
made, further tests in this combination now
being under way. In the proving grounds at
Sebastopol there stands a row of these peach-

211

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

almond crosses, raised from seeds. The great
difference between seedlings is shown in this
row. One peach-almond tree is six to seven
inches in diameter at the base, with branches
running from two to four inches thick where
they leave the trunk. The tree is perhaps
twenty feet high, with a large spread of
branches. Directly alongside are several peach
seedlings of the same age. Their trunks are
not thicker than the branches of the other tree
and they are not over six feet in height. They
are poor and scant of foliage as compared with
the others. The peach-almond combination
generally produces a pit-nut, so to call it,
which has the outside character of a peach pit,
and inside the thin inner shell of the almond.
Sometimes the flesh of the hybrid fruit that
has come from the cross has been too thin,
sometimes there has been too much stone.
The final results of this cross will be looked
for with great interest.

Many other combinations have been made.
No one may tell what inter-combination of
these crosses might have accomplished if the
breeding and selection had been pushed fur-
ther. But when Mr. Burbank finds that a

212

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ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

union of two diverse fruits does not within a
reasonable time satisfactorily respond, he drops —
it, even though it may hold out ultimate pos-
sibilities.

But important from a scientific and practi-
cal point of view as the plumcot is, it is over-
shadowed in scientific interest, in a sense, by
the “Primus” berry. This was an absolutely
new species of fruit, the first known recorded
species directly created by man. The primus
berry was made from the native California
dewberry and a Siberian raspberry. The two
were crossed by pollenation for the purpose of
developing, if possible, a distinct new fruit.
Seedlings were then raised from the cross, and
then followed years of selecting of the best
from the best. In the production of hybrid
raspberries or blackberries in general very
many species are drawn upon. For example,
he has worked upon over forty different black-
berries gathered from all over the world to
produce from among their many crosses new
hybrid types which should be better in various
ways than any of the ancestors,—larger, finer
of flavor, more beautiful, better to ship. But
in this particular test he restricted the factors

213

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

to two and kept up the work thus to the end.
The merging of the dewberry and the Siberian
raspberry was complete. The fruit was unlike
either parent in form, color and taste. There
were no abnormalities. The flowering was
fine, the fruitage large and natural, the foliage
normal, the persistence absolute. Several
years were allowed to elapse before the new
fruit was put upon the market, in order to fix

its new life habits, to make sure that it did

not break away or return to some of its old
ways. The flavor of the berry was neither that
of the dewberry nor the raspberry, it was
unique and most delightful to the taste of
most people. It ripened its main crop at the
same time with the strawberries and continued
to bear more or less all summer. Its fruit
ripened long before most of the standard, well-
known kinds of raspberries and blackberries
had begun to bloom.

One curious feature of the new fruit, and
one which seems specially significant, was that
nearly all the other seedlings which grew from
the same cross were absolutely barren. ‘They
blossomed abundantly and the blossoms of
many plants seemed perfect, but Nature

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ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

t Betused to grant fruitage to any of them.

engge enough, too, the new berry upon
which Nature bestowed its favor ripens its
fruit several weeks earlier than either parent
and excels both in productiveness.

In planting over five thousand seeds of the
new berry, every one produced a primus berry,

_ with such slight variations as may be observed
in seedlings of any other fixed species. This
_ added the last needed proof, if other proof
_ were necessary, showing that amalgamation

~ had been complete.

;

By all scientific rules and tests, as well as by
the canons of common sense, the primus berry

_ takes its place with the plumcot and the phe-

_ nomenal berry as distinct new creations. It
. should be noted, however, that not every plum-
_ eot seed planted produces a plumcot, thus fix-

ing it also as distinct. Some slightly incline to

one parent, some to the other, as not enough

_ time has elapsed completely to fix the type.

After the creation of the primus berry came
that of the Phenomenal berry, in itself as won-

- derful as either the plumcot or the primus

berry. It was the result of the union of the
California wild dewberry and the Cuthbert

215

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

raspberry, a complete cross, producing an
absolutely new berry, larger than the largest
berry ever before known. Each plant produces
annually eight to ten stalks or canes about
twelve feet in height. The berries are very
large, light to dark crimson in color, and
grow in remarkable profusion.

Very many other crosses have been made
with varying results, embracing: -

Peaches and almonds, peach and chicksaw
plum, almond and Japanese plum, apricot and
Japanese plum, Chinese quince and common _
quince, quince and crab-apple, Japanese quince
and apple, potato and tomato, apricot and
peach, domestic plum and wild goose plum,
wild crab-apple and common apple, quince and
apple, nicotiana and petunia, rose and apple,
hawthorn and blackberry, quince and _ black-
berry.

Speaking of crossing and selection in gen-
eral, Mr. Burbank says:

“There is no barrier to obtaining fruits of
any size, form or flavor desired, and none to
producing plants and flowers of any form, color
or fragrance. All that is needed is a knowledge
to guide our efforts in the right direction,

216

ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

undeviating patience, and cultivated eyes to
detect variations of values.”

The production of these three new and
valuable species of fruits is not only of great
interest and large economic value, but it opens
the way to an indefinite extension. Here, as
in many other lines, much work remains to be
done by other hands. Within certain limita-
tions there remain vast opportunities for the
production of other fruits, of grains and grasses
and trees and all manner of plant life now
unknown to the world. Not only is novelty
to be looked for, but important additions to
man’s resources. If a combination of certain
grains, for example, could be made producing
a wholly new grain of augmented food supply
and productivity, the importance of the
product to the world would be beyond
estimate.

Such creations as these Mr. Burbank has
effected, with many other improvements upon
old forms of plant life, establish anew the fact
that the time which has been predicted by
some pessimistic theorists, when there will be
too many people on the globe for the produc-
tivity of the earth, must be set forward so

217

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

many ages as to leave no further cause for
even academic apprehension.

It is of interest to note that, in the progress
of these and other experiments, Mr. Burbank
demonstrates the fallacy of another scientific
statement. It has long been held that, under
certain conditions, the progeny of a given
plant union would be affected in a demon-
strable way by one or the other of the parents,
the parental life fixing itself in certain positive
and indelible forms upon the child life. In
the midst of vast experiments where he has
had unrivaled opportunities for studying
every phase of plant life, Mr. Burbank has
again and again demonstrated that this power,
prepotency as it is called, simply depends
upon heredity and that there is no prepotency
of male or female as such. Other things being
equal, he says it may be set down as fixed
that there is absolutely no balance in favor of
either sex, as sex. Upon this point Mr. Bur-
bank says:

“In grafting, every conceivable stage of
congeniality between stock and graft is found,
from actual poisoning to refusal to unite; unit-
ing and not growing; or growing for a short

218

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ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

_ time and dying; or separating where united; or
_ bearing one or two crops of fruit and then
_ suddenly blighting; or separating after years of
_ growth up to complete congeniality. So it is
_ in crossing,—all grades of hybridity are to be
_ found. Crossed plants generally have the

characteristics of both parents combined, yet
sometimes show their parental influences on

_ one side, producing uncertain results in the

first generation. In the second and succeeding
generations these cross-bred seedlings usually
break away into endless forms and combi-
nations, sometimes reverting to some strange
ancestral form which existed in the dim past.
Or the break may not occur until after many
generations. But when once the old, persist-
ent type is broken up, the road is open for
advances in any useful direction. Sometimes
hybridized or crossed seedlings show consider-
able, or even great, variation for weeks; or
they may show no change in foliage or growth
from one or the other parent form until

_ nearly ready. to bloom or bear fruit, when

they suddenly change in foliage, growth, char-
acter and general appearance.”
‘This question of the origin of new species

219

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

has been of absorbing interest to those scien-
tists who have visited Mr. Burbank. DeVries,
already referred to, had for years been devel-
oping the theory of mutation—elsewhere
noted in connection with Mr. Burbank’s theo-
ries —but when he came to see the wonderful

results that Mr. Burbank had achieved on so

great a scale he was impelled to write thus:

“One of the most marvelous features of
Burbank’s work is the immensity of the num-
ber of his different seedlings. This is a power-
ful principle, to reach in a short time such |
very important variations. The rule is: Thou-
sands of seedlings for each hybrid. . . . Half
a million lily bulbs, a result of one creddingy
through thrice repeated crossings. and selec- —
tions, were entirely destroyed after fifty
of the best bulbs were selected for further
culture. And so I might cite all kinds of
examples.

“Every one understands that the chance to
find something good is greater if it can be
made from several hundred thousand than
from only a few hundreds. Those who wish
to compete with Burbank must accept this
principle, and, if this cannot be done, must

220

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ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

choose a different way or else choose species

- which require or admit a different method.

«Theoretically, however, it is of great im-

portance to compare this principle with the
method of selection generally in vogue in

_ Europe, where they do not work upon such a
_ large scale. In Europe the preference is given
_ to repeated selections, with the idea that the
_ desired results may be reached by going the
_ regular road. If they wish to increase the size

of a flower to a stipulated limit, they do not
sow at one time great quantities, as does Bur-

_ bank, but a great deal less and pick out the
_ largest to raise from. On the progeny raised

from that seed the same process is followed,
and so in four or five years the desired result
is reached; at least if the desires are limited to
the possible attainment.

“<The theoretical question now is: By such

_ a repeated selection do we proceed faster than

_ by a single sowing out upon a much greater

scale? With five years’ labor we have to culti-

_ vate so much fewer that the expense would

thereby be lessened in proportion, but against

this plan comes the disadvantage very nat-
_ urally that the results would only come in.so

221

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

much longer time. . . . I would not put the

question if it were not of so great importance
in the study of etiology. It is very closely
connected with the question whether one
must accept a slowly merging in one another
of species, or that one produces the other by

jumps. (The pith of DeVries’ Mutationis —

theorie.) In the first place, small deviation
would increase in the course of the genera-

tions, and long series of intermediate forms —
would connect the new with the old. In the
second case, however, the jump would be

made at once, without any intermediates.”
This was written in California by DeVries
before he left for his home in Holland, and
the very night following his visit to Mr. Bur-
bank. He had long advocated the mutation
theory earnestly, as elsewhere noted, but in
the results of Mr. Burbank’s vast experiments

he was confronted with facts he had never —

known before. Hence the following:

~

“So long as there were no sufficient —

examples of this manner of change and we had
to rely upon spontaneous varieties in horti-
culture, the first proposition was the most
probable. It rested upon several experiences

222

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ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

in horticulture and garden culture in relation
to the improvement of the species, and it was
accepted that the species had been produced
in a similar way. At that time we were
unacquainted with the results of sowing on
such a scale as that of Burbank, and we
imagined that the results could be reached
only by repeated selections. However, it is
clear that this view would lose a great deal
of its meaning if by experiments upon a large
scale the variability could be reached at once;
that which we imagined previously could be
reached only by slow degrees.”

Dr. de Vries again mentions the fact that
the scale of Mr. Burbank’s work excels
everything that was ever done in the world
before, and then describes the production by
Mr. Burbank of the new species above referred
to,—the primus berry, the first fixed species
ever recorded made by man. As is noted
elsewhere, Mr. Burbank has produced the
mutations or changes which have been consid-
ered to have such an important scientific
bearing, at will.

Now that it has been established, despite the
dictum of the older scientists, that two variant

223

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

species may be made to combine and produce
a new species wholly unknown to the world
before, who shall predict what may be accom-
plished for the world along this line? Limit-
less fields of material progress are thus opened
for all future plant-breeders, vast possibilities
for the adornment and the enrichment of the
earth. If a man deserve lasting credit who
causes two blades of grass to grow where but
one grew before, what shall be said of one
who, beyond all else he has accomplished, has
added new life to the vegetable kingdom and
opened thus a thousand avenues to others?
New fruits, as yet untasted by man, fruits of
the vine and the shrub and the tree; new
grains, new grasses, new trees, new flowers
are to appear along the paths he has blazed
through the regions of the Unknown.

In the great depths of the ocean, the abyssal
depths, some miles below the surface, many
strange forms of life are being brought to light
by the deep-sea dredging of the biologists.
Among the lowest forms of life is one where
animal and vegetable life occupy the same
house, so to speak, and intermingle in most
curious fashion. The animal life lives upon

224

Pn arene aay

ON THE ORIGIN OF NEW SPECIES

‘ the plant life and the plant life upon the
animal, each subsisting in certain measure
upon the waste of the other. It is a compos-
ite, so to speak,—half animal, half vegetable.

Looking to the future, and taking into
account what Mr. Burbank has already accom-
_ plished in the creation of new life, will it be
_ possible, granting the common protoplasmic
_ basis of plant and animal life, eventually to
interblend the two? Such union, should it
_ come, must be scarcely more marvelous than
the union here recorded, effecting creations
_ which Nature, in the very amplitude of her
_ powers, never could have achieved alone.

Rape CU Ea ae!

Pea

225

CHAPTER XIV
HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

i a certain negative sense the most wonder- _

ful thing about Mr. Burbank’s work is that
there are absolutely no secrets. He is as open
as a book. He is not only peculiarly frank —
and ingenuous by nature, but he carries the
same attributes into all conversations that —
arise pertaining to his great lifework. He
is never happier than when he is doing
something for some one else. Unselfishness
fits him as a garment, but there the figure —
must change; for it fills all his life. So
when it comes to showing others all that can
well be shown of his work, he is supremely

happy. :
The unfortunate word “wizard” attached —

itself to him when some of his remarkable —

achievements first became known, a term
which he has always resented, as he has always
deprecated those efforts of over-enthusiastic
friends who have sought to weave strange ~

226

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HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

mysteries about him. The marvel does not
lie in the methods, but in the man.

At the same time, there is very much of
interest in the details of these methods, first,
because he has practically thrown aside all
precedent when it in any way conflicted with
his own judgment; and, second, because he
has always been not only willing, but anxious,
that others should know all that he knows, in
order that the widest possible good might
come tothe world. Not that any one may
hope to achieve results of similar importance
merely by adopting his methods,—for only
another such a man will ever do what he has
done,—but he opens the door and asks any
one in who has a mind inclined to do service
to the world.

Mr. Burbank thus speaks in general terms
of plant- breeding:

“The foundation principles of plant-breed-
ing are simple and may be stated in a few
words; the practical application of these prin-
ciples demands the highest and most refined
efforts of which the mind of man is capable,
and no line of mental effort promises more
for the elevation, advancement, prosperity and

227

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

happiness of the whole human race. Plant- —
breeding is the intelligent application of the
forces of the human mind in guiding the
inherent life- forces into useful directions by
crossing to make perturbations or variations
and new combinations of these forces, and by
radically changing environments; both of
which produce somewhat similar results, thus
giving a broader field for selection, which
again is simply the persistent application of
mental force to guide and fix the perturbed
life- forces in the desired channels.

“Plant- breeding is in its earliest infancy.
Its possibilities, and even its fundamental
principles, are understood but by few. In
the past it has been mostly dabbling with
tremendous forces, which have been only
partially appreciated, and it has yet to ap-
proach the precision which we expect in the
handling of steam or electricity. Notwith-
standing the occasional sneers of the ignorant,
these silent forces embodied in plant -life have
yet a part to play in the regeneration of the
race which, by comparison, will dwarf into

insignificance the services which steam and —

electricity have so far given. Even un-
228

HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

conscious or half-conscious plant - breeding
has been one of the greatest forces in the
elevation of the race. The chemist, the
mechanic, have, so to speak, domesticated
some of the forces of Nature, but the plant-
breeder is now learning to guide even the
_ ereative forces into new and useful channels.
This knowledge is a priceless legacy, making
clear the way for some of the greatest benefits
which man has ever received from any source
by the study of Nature.

; “The plant-breeder, before making com-
_ binations, should with great care select the
_ individual plants which seem best adapted to
his purpose, as by this course many years of
experiment and much needless expense will
be avoided.

“The plant-breeder is an explorer into
the infinite. He will have no time to make
money, and his brain must be clear and alert
in throwing aside fossil ideas and rapidly
_ replacing them with living, throbbing thought
_ followed by action. Then, and not till then,
shall he create marvels of beauty and value in
new expressions of materialized force, for
everything of value must be produced by the

229

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

intelligent application of the forces of Nature :

which are always awaiting our commands.
The vast possibilities of plant - breeding can
hardly be estimated. They are not alone for
one year or for our own time or race, but
are beneficent legacies for every man, woman

ees.

and child who shall ever inhabit the earth.”

Much of the preliminary work in Mr.
Burbank’s plant- breeding is carried on at
Santa Rosa, where his home is located. He
lives here in a small, old-fashioned, two-story

frame house, with an immaculate front yard —

and four acres of testing-grounds to the rear.
Near the dwelling is a small greenhouse where
certain tests are all the time under way,
particularly those in which the plants require
forcing in order to hasten the work. In the
rear of the greenhouse stands his packing-
house, the upper portion being given up to
storage. Here are thousands of paper sacks
and boxes containing all manner of seeds,
roots and bulbs, many of them in the midst
of tests, many of them finished products
priceless in value.

The open ground in the rear of the house
and barn is divided off into beds of different

230

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HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

sizes. Some of these are perhaps fifty by a

hundred feet, some four hundred by twenty

feet; others, enclosed in frame borders, are from
six to ten feet square. Wire screens are pre-
pared to be adjusted to these smaller beds in
order to keep out the birds. Millions upon
millions of seeds are sown in these plots of
ground every season, and, from the plants that
grow, rigid selection is constantly going on.
Workmen are always to be seen about the
place, quiet, clear-eyed, intelligent men, trained

men, whose hearts are in the work. Every

morning they take their orders from Mr. Bur-
bank for the day, and carry them out quietly
but enthusiastically. No man ever had more
loyal aids; they are not only attentive to their
work, but they are devotedly attached to the
quiet man who goes in and out among them
all so gently, but who, if occasion demands, can
give a command no workman would dare
ignore, or deal out a denunciation of a misde-
meanor exceeding bitter to the taste. It is
rare, though, that he ever gives rein to his
words when satire is in the saddle, but when
he does, the pace is swift and the rider holds a
whip of scorpions.

231

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

The climate of California is particularly fa-
vorable to his work because of the length of
seasons in which tests may be carried on,—a
perpetual season, in fact, for some lines of the
work. On one day you may see one plot of
ground filled with a mass of flaming poppies:
at another time it may be white with lilies, or
it may be crimson with the royal amaryllis or
blue with larkspurs, or purple with some little
wild flower—it is never twice alike. When
one test is ended, the plants are dug up and
burned and the ground made ready for the
next experiment. Whenever the soil begins
to show signs of running low in nutriment,
fertilizers are used to restore it. But all this is
taken into account, for the finished plant must
go to the world equipped for general, normal
condition of soiland climate.

As has been noted in the chapter on the
general methods, breeding and selection are
the basic facts in all this work. When the
flowers of a given test are in full blossom the
work of pollenation begins. For this work,
when it presents only general problems, Mr.
Burbank relies almost entirely upon his finger-
tips. He does not recommend that an ama-

232

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HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

teur should so restrict himself, but suggests
various instruments: A pair of jeweler’s for-
ceps, or pincers, a jeweler’s eyeglass, a small
but powerful microscope, a sharp knife, a saucer
for holding the pollen, a soft brush for sifting

or dusting the pollen from the saucer to the

stigma of the plant to be fertilized.

Whenever it is necessary, he makes use of
any or all of these, or of other devices of his
own making, but chiefly he pollenates by
securing the pollen upon a watch-crystal and
placing it upon the stigma with his finger-tips.
The main object is to see that the pollen from
the one flower gets onto the stigma of the
other flower. The fertilizing, or fructifying,
Nature will do herself if man has done his
work well.

Sometimes there are flowers which Nature
has in her own good ways made extremely
difficult to pollenate, flowers for which strange
devices and curious contrivances and traps are
prepared by Nature in order to get certain in-
sects,—and only those,—to enter the flower
at just the right time and there to hold them
captive until they deposit the pollen they have
gathered from another flower. Of such plants

233

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

as these Mr. Burbank makes a very careful

study, supplementing Nature where necessary,
tenderly outwitting her, if needs be. Some-
times he cuts away the petals, stamens and
sepals entirely, so as to form an unattractive
and inhospitable place for the insects in order °
that they may be kept out entirely. Strategem .
plays no unimportant part in this work. Now
and again in order to produce a given result,
fully nine-tenths of the flower buds will be
cut away in order to force the other one-tenth
to produce a stronger development.

But Mr. Burbank does not recommend any
difficult problems for the amateur; rather, he
insists on the very simplest ones to begin with.
He places confidence, the confidence which
comes from having accomplished something,
as the initial essential. Failure, he says, leads
to disappointment, and disappointment to
discouragement, and discouragement is own
cousin to despair. So he says: Confidence
born of success is imperative in amateur plant-
breeding.

And to this end he urges taking up a single
flower to begin with, never a composite one.
He recommends for crossing, the sweet peas,

234

HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

geraniums, petunias, Japanese pinks or violets.
These will do to begin on, though there are
many others. He recommends for selection
alone, the pansy and the sweet pea as offering
opportunities of unusual promise. Of course
all of the flowers mentioned, and in fact every
flower whose life is to be changed in any
respect, must come under the most rigid
selection, the eternal choosing of the best.
When a certain flower, say a sweet pea, has
been decided on, the pollen from one of the

_ two that are going to be crossed in order to

give birth to a third that, it is hoped, shall be
better than either parent, is gathered upon a
little saucer or a watch-crystal, taken to the
flower which has been chosen as a mate, and
dusted down upon its stigma. Then this latter
flower should be isolated from its fellows and
guarded carefully. A paper tag should be
fastened to it for identification. Mr. Burbank
says to watch the bees, and when they are first
a-wing upon their day’s work, be sure the
flowers are ready to be pollenated.

He says that it is wholly unnecessary in or-
dinary plant-breeding to attempt to cover the
flower with a screen of tissue paper or gauze.

235

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

This method has been followed by some in the
belief that they were thereby preventing in- ©
sects from coming in and destroying the
pollenating, but he holds that, save in some
particular cases, the act is not only absurd
but absolutely harmful and more than likely —
so to injure the flower by keeping light and
air away from it as to frustrate the very end
aimed at. Ifthe pollenating has been thorough,
Nature may safely be left to do the rest.
Great care also should be exercised in sav-
ing the seeds of the plants under test. He —
recommends air-tight glass jars for the pur-
pose. The jars should be kept in some secure

place—it is beyond the power of any mind to —

say how precious these seeds may prove to be. |

From the plants that grow from the new
seeds one only should be chosen, the very best
of all, the one which is the thriftiest, the best
bearing, the nearest to the ideal. The seeds —
from this one plant should be in turn planted,
and then from a very few of the very best
plants enough plants saved out to insure a
somewhat larger crop for the next generation.
Then from this larger generation only the
very best one should be saved. Mr. Burbank

236

HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

_ lays special stress upon this,—to save only one

and that the very best of all; no matter if

Meee be a hundred plants or a thousand, save

only the very best.
Naturally one who has been long expert at

+ the work will be able easily to choose a good
_ many plants of relatively the same value in

order to secure quicker results as a test pro-
ceeds; but, even then, when the final test of
all comes, there must remain but one as the
basis of the world’s stock.

So on and on from year to year the work
should go, the best plant of each succeeding

ry generation approaching nearer the end sought

until, at last, a flower is produced which
reaches, which may indeed surpass, the model
set before the mind. :

One may have, for example, a certain variety
of sweet peas which are not exactly to one’s
liking,—make them over to suit you. If the

stems are too long, shorten them. If they are

too short, lengthen them. If the blossom is
not large enough, make it larger. If the color
is pink and you want it red, teach it to take on
the crimson hue. Pick out beforehand, is Mr.
Burbank’s advice, the particular improvement

237

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

you wish. Fix this firmly in your mind, and
constantly select with this end in view. And
be not led astray from it by some other inter-
esting manifestation of the flower; or, if some-
thing unusual does develop, side-track this
for further test, and keep on the main track,
doing all faithfully, consistently, enthusiasti-
cally, and the desired end will come. It must
be ever borne in mind that only those plants
must be kept which are pressing onward
toward the ideal. All the rest must be
destroyed, or else they will be liable to mix |
with the ones under test and thus lower the
standard.

Naturally, the more extensive botanical and
historical knowledge one has of a given plant
under experiment, the better,—its habits, its
former environment, its needs as to soil,
amount of moisture, preference for sunshine or
shade, and so on, its complete life history.

For crossing first and then selection, he
places the violet near the head of the list as
the flower now offering to the amateur one of
the finest fields for experimentation. It is
somewhat more difficult to cross than some of
the others, but still, with a little patience, may

238

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HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

be mastered. He says that remarkable results
_ await the plant-breeder in producing better
-s violets—larger, deeper in tone, different in
_ color, stronger in perfume.
Varieties of pansies are already so numerous
_ that he would waste no time in trying to
_ make new combinations of them, though they
offer a fascinating field for selection, in mak-
- ing them larger, more intense in color, more
_ velvety in texture.
_ Another point on which Mr. Burbank lays
_ emphasis is that the beginner should at the
outset treat one flower alone, not spread out
_ too much. Later on, when he has become
familiar with the work, he may have as many
j _ varieties under test as he may have time to
eare for; but, at first, deal with but one.
While the general work is simple in its charac-
ter, there are always many minor problems
which will come up for solution, and the more
numerous the problems the less likelihood of
the initial success upon which he places so
much emphasis, a little encouragement at the
_ outset is of paramount importance. To be
_ able to show your friend a flower which you
_ by your own skill and patience have re-

239

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

created, presenting certain features which this _
particular flower never before possessed, isnot
only something for mutual pleasure but a —
distinct floral triumph. It may be, indeed,
you have set the pace for the whole world.

But crossing old plants or creating new ones
is not child’s play. To do it successfully
requires intelligent effort, the highest judg- —
ment, the soundest common sense, patience of
no ordinary type. The man who has a small
plot of ground,—it may be only a few square
feet of ground in a cooped - up city back yard,
or, indeed, it may be he is driven to a few feet
of earth upon his roof for his gardening,—
usually does not have much spare time for
such work, even if he has a love for flowers
and loves to have them upon his table, but
even this circumscribed man may accomplish
some remarkable results. If he has a larger
garden in the country town or suburb, or if he
be fortunate enough to be one of that class of
well-to-do people who are learning in the
dear school of experience that, with all its
splendid attractions, the city palace is sur- —
passed in interest by the country estate, by —
so much will the scope be broadened because ~

240

HOW MAY I DO IT TOO;—BREEDING

of larger facilities for carrying on the experi-
- ments.
_ For those who have large country places
_ and who have ample hothouse facilities, Mr.
_ Burbank recommends, for example, for begin-
_ ning work under glass, begonias, cinerarias and
_ primroses, though there are very many others
_ which may be used. These will, however, give
an opportunity for initial practice in breeding
and selection likely to bring out satisfactory
results. Here, too, he would pick out one
plant and stick to it, following it for a number
_of years if needs be. As the work progresses,
one’s own judgment will be the better guide
as to just how soon to begin work on another
flower, though the one first chosen should
constitute the major study.

Many opportunities are presented, too, for
_ vegetable-breeding. In passing, it should be
borne in mind by those who have a desire to
combine thrift with pleasure, that no incon-
siderable increase in income to a man or
woman of moderate means may come from the
creation of new and improved forms of floral
and vegetable life. In order, of course, to
_ prepare a new flower or a new vegetable for

241

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

the market, time enough must be allowed
thoroughly to test i so that it will not revert
to some former inferior stage. In general, Mr.
Burbank says that six or eight generations
of persistence in « given trait usually are suf-
ficient to fix that trait, and to warrant one in
announcing a new flower and offering it for
sale from one’: own gardens or to some of the
great seed-men or florists.

Among the vegetables, potatoes and to-
matoes are oth very easy to work upon, and
excellent results may be looked for, both in
the improvement of size, flavor and hardiness.
Corn of all varieties, though particularly the
sweet corns, he recommends. Squashes are
more difficult to cross satisfactorily, as well as
melons, though they are apt to bring very
satisfactory results. Considerable difficulty will
be experienced by the beginner in working on
peas and beans, but, if the work is successfully
done, remarkable results are likely to follow.
He does not think it worth while to try to
improve such vegetables as cauliflower, lettuce
and cabbages by crossing, because they are
most excellent as they are, and to cross them
might easily result in so breaking up their old

242 -

W MAY I DO IT T00:—BREEDING

ife habits and forming new ones as to result
I eesti more harm than good.

_ This he constantly guards against in his own
we orl chs aim is always to make things

“i er than they ever were before. He does, .
hov wever, heartily encourage selection, choosing

1e best plant of a given vegetable and, fiona
yea * to year, choosing, the best of its plants

n turn, thereby steadily carrying it upward.
le suggests here, as in the case of the flowers,
that one choose some one particular vegetable
yhich he thinks should be improved—one
t needs to be larger, or better-looking, or
h ‘ tier, or finer in quality, and work on and
Wh it, as with the flowers, until the end
_ desired is reached.

Mr. - Burbank urges the work of plant-

breeding upon clerks, upon laboring men,
yusiness men, professional men, especially girls
md women,—upon any man or woman who
would like to take a hand in making the earth
i more beautiful place in which to live.
Es _ points ovt the fact that results of sur-
passing importance may come to the hand of
“any man who takes up this work primarily as a
" pastime or as a means of health. No man can
243 ;

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

tell how a given experiment may end. Some-
times, even in his own work, carried on upon
so vast a scale and with apparently a command
of every possible avenue of knowledge leading
up to a given test, a plant will now and then
burst forth in some new and wholly unex-
pected direction and accomplish marvelous
results. It is much as though the spirit of the ©
plant had been waiting in embryo all these
years for some one to bring it forth to life,
He lays special stress, too, upon the fascina-
tion of the work. Here is a man who has
been engaged in plant-breeding for nearly —
forty years, who has created more new forms —
of plant life than any other man who has ever
lived, who has been what one might almost
call surfeited by successes, but who takes up —
each new experiment with as great a zest as_
ever, whose eye sparkles and whose face glows —
over a new development or the solution of a
problem as vividly as it did when he began
the work many years ago. For a man who is
accustomed to the cold hard facts of the
every-day, dealing with problems whose chief
factors are dollars and cents, —for such a man ~
to be able to take a life and train it into new

244 y

Leaves of blackberry hybrid, all grown from seed of one plant,
showing the remarkable variation

_ HOW MAY I DO IT T00:—BREEDING

ways, to change its habits, to break up old
traits, to make it more beautiful and more
useful,—in a word, to handle and mold it as
the potter his clay,—all this has in it a fasci-
nation beyond the conception of one who has
_ never entered upon such a course.
_ Again he makes this point: That plant-
breeding for the amateur is one of the most
important aids to health. Plant-breeding and
_ selection can never be carried on at their best
_ save in the open. To be sure, there are tests
_ which may be begun, and some which may
largely be carried on, in the winter months
- indoors, and these have their own peculiar
" interest, but there is a large part of the year
in any temperate climate, and almost the
_ entire year in some portions of the country,
_ where the work of plant-breeding can be
_ carried on out-of-doors. It is in this outdoor
_ life that Mr. Burbank sees one of the greatest
_ goods that can possibly come to a man com-
_ pelled for a great portion of his time to an
_ indoor life. The plant-breeder, he maintains,
: ‘should have neither time nor inclination to
be sick.
Highest of all his reasons for urging plant-
245

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

breeding upon all people is its distinct moral _
influence.

No man, he holds, can be a successful plant-
breeder and practice deceit. He stands face to
face with Nature, who never lies. No man, as
he puts it, can come close to the heart of —
Nature and see how absolute is her honesty, —
never for a moment deviating a hair’s breadth —
from the line of truth, and not be made a
more honest man for the contact. In short, —
beyond all spirit of ethics, a man, he puts it, —
must be an honest man or he will never
succeed at plant-breeding;—if he is not an
honest man when he begins, Nature will
make him so or drive him out of it.

So there are five cardinal points in Mr, |
Burbank’s argument for the extension of plant- —
breeding among people of all classes:

1. The possibilities in the creation of new —
flowers and vegetables of surpassing value.

2. The intense fascination of the work, not j
only giving delight but broadening and —
fe any life which takes it up. :

. The opportunity for the production of
ates and vegetables which shall have a :
distinct commercial value. a

246 5

HOW MAY I DO IT TO0OO;—BREEDING

4. Its hygienic bearing upon those who
wish to maintain the good health they already
have and upon those who are seeking the
health they may sadly need.

5. The absolute necessity for devotion to

truth—the breeding of honesty.
_ I saw one day on a piece of paper which a
friend had pinned to the wall in Mr. Bur-
bank’s little sitting-room this quotation from
his favorite author, Emerson, singularly appro-
priate to such a man, but which any man who
makes a new flower may some day be able to
take to himself:

“If a man write a better book, preach a
better sermon or make a better mouse-trap
than his neighbor, though he build his home
in the wilderness, the world will make a
beaten path to his door.”

247

CHAPTER XV

HOW MAY I DO IT, TOO;—GRAFTING

| f EK who is fortunate enough to stand some —

midsummer day on the summit of the

Macayamas, an inner spur of the great Coast.

range, hard by the Pacific and skirting the
beautiful Sonoma valley, will look out upon a
scene of surpassing interest. In the foreground
lies the fertile valley, with the fruit of its
hundreds of ranches ripening in the mellow
sunshine, pears and peaches, apricots and
apples, plums and prunes and cherries, with
here and there great vineyards heavy with
grapes, the whole broken in upon by wide
green fields of hops and broader stretches of
yellow wheat, with the reapers already at their
work. Through the valley flows the winding
Russian river, emptying at last through a pass
in the mountains into the Pacific at the point
where the Russians came down in the early
days and sought to fix their flag upon Spanish
soil; while far through the distance, across the

248

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green and yellow valley, rise the white peaks
of the high Sierras two hundred miles away,
their summits forever clothed in snow, keeping
watch above their lower mountain wards and
over the fair valley below. Just across the
valley over the roof-tops of Santa Rosa you
may see the low hills of Sebastopol ;— there
lie the acres which have given scope for the
great work of Mr. Burbank. Here is the
culmination of the tests, the great proving
grounds where the final standard is set up,
alongside of which the flower or fruit must
measure itself or be doomed to death.

On these grounds, now some fifteen acres in
extent, the grafting of trees and the raising of
seedlings goes on from year to year, as well
as very much extensive work in pollenating
and selection. And the scale on which these
things are carried forward is larger than any
ever before known in the history of the world.

A sunny, beautiful spot it is, far from city
sounds and strifes, lying softly asleep in the
golden sunshine with the fair hills beyond,
purple or crimson or yellow or white as the
summer flowers come on in never-ending
procession. Asleep it is, and yet awake,

249

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

insistently, aggressively awake, for here from
dawn to dark a life of the most tense activity
is lived where things must be done with the
regularity of a machine and the persistence of
the sun in its course. Here the field experi-
ments are carried on, and here Mr. Burbank
does his largest work. Flowers are raised here
by the hundred thousand, by the half million
indeed, waiting the eye of the master of them
all who shall say what one out of all their vast
number shall be saved. Here seeds of all
manner of fruits are planted by the hundreds
of thousands if needs be, apples, pears, peaches,
quinces, nectarines, plums, prunes,—a list as
long as the list of the world’s best known
fruits. Here are long rows of young trees,
hardly saplings in size, from two to five years
old and from three to five feet in height,
standing in serried rows so close to one an-
other that the tiny branches intertwine. They
will all be scrutinized one of these days, and
the best of them all, one perhaps out of a
hundred thousand, will be saved. The rest
will be dug up and burned in great brush
heaps. Sometimes there have been as many as
fourteen of these huge heaps, comprising from

250

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HOW MAY I DO IT, TOO;—GRAFTING

sixty to seventy thousand shrubs or young
trees in a single test burned up in a single day,
and simply because they did not come up
to the standard set for them.

Here and there after such a slaughter you
may see a tiny little tree, perhaps leafless and
certainly to the eye of the layman presenting

- no signs of superiority. But it bears a curious

little badge, a white streamer of cloth tied
about its middle, the sign that henceforth
it is sacred,—it is the one best one of the
thousands.

Some idea of the magnitude of the work
may be obtained from the following figures,
illustrating the average number of fruits under
test at a given time at Sebastopol from ycar
to year:

Three hundred thousand distinct varieties
of plums, different in foliage, in form of fruit,
in shipping, keeping and canning qualities,
sixty thousand peaches and nectarines, five to
six thousand almonds, two thousand cherries,
two thousand pears, one thousand grapes,
three thousand apples,‘one thousand two
hundred quinces, five thousand walnuts, five
thousand chestnuts, five to six thousand berries

251

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

of various kinds, with many thousands of
other fruits, flowers and vegetables.

The grafting done at Sebastopol, like all the
work carried on there, is on a large scale. In a
single grafting season, which comprises about
ninety working days, more than a hundred
thousand grafts will be set, covering a wide
variety of experiments going forward at the
same time with many different kinds of fruits.
From these grafts will grow in a single season
material for nearly ten million additional
grafts. Some years since, a company was
formed in California whose entire business was
the making of grafts from one of Mr. Bur-
bank’s choicest plums, selling the grafts to
nurserymen and fruit-growers all over the
world. |

At various points throughout the grafting

section of the grounds young men may be
seen perched on the tops of ladders in the
midst of the branches of the trees upon which
the grafts are set. In this, as in the case of
flowers and vegetables, Mr. Burbank stands
ready with suggestions for those who wish to
take up this branch of the work.

From the young trees which have been

252

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HOW MAY I DO IT, TOO;—GRAFTING

saved out of the burnings in the different tests
branches are cut away, and each branch, little
more than a twig in size, not more than half
as thick as the little finger, is cut up into
pieces about two inches long, each piece, tech-
nically called a cion, bearing two to three
buds. The tops and side branches of the tree
which is to serve as the host for all the many
grafts must be cut away, leaving the tree pre-
senting a peculiarly grotesque appearance. In
the end of each branch the pieces of the twigs
from the little trees under test are to be
placed. These host, or parent, trees are used
from year to year, sometimes a single tree
bearing five hundred distinct kinds of grafts at
the same time.

The workman who is grafting is equipped
with a sharp pruning-knife, a saw to cut away
the upper branches, a pot of melted wax, a
brush and some pieces of white cloth. In the
end of the sawed-off branch of the parent tree
he cuts a slit with his knife. He has made one
end of the two tiny grafts he holds wedge-
‘shaped. One of the grafts he holds in his
mouth, while he forces the wedge of the other
down into the slit. Then the second graft is

253

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

stuck in place, sometimes three or even four
to a single branch, the pot of melted wax is
lifted up, the branch end and the graft are
thickly spread with it, a white cloth is wound
about the joint—the union is complete; and
rapidly the sap of the old tree begins sending
its life-forces up through the new life growing
upon it. The graft grows on and on until it is
two or possibly three seasons old; then it puts
out its own buds and flowers, bears its own
fruit, wholly different it may be from any
other fruit growing upon the other branches.

The union of the graft and the parent tree |

will not be complete unless the cambium of
the two is merged. This cambium is a layer of
viscid, mucilaginous substance composed of
cells, lying between the bark and the wood
of the tree and from which both derive their
growth. Mr. Burbank calls it a predigested
food, for the nourishment of the new graft.

Sometimes the workman makes a long
slanting cut instead of cutting the branch off
square and makes a similar cut in the graft.
Two slits are then made in each, and the
tongues of the graft thus formed are forced
down into the slits of the branch.

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Many other kinds of grafts are in use by
horticulturists, but Mr. Burbank considers
these two quite sufficient. Budding, which is
the placing of the bud of the graft or cion
underneath the bark of the parent or host
tree, he very seldom uses.

Some years since, a profound discussion was
carried on in England over grafting, the oppo-
nents of it claiming that it was always a make-
shift, often a fraud; that it was, in effect, only
a kind of adulteration; that any fruit tree that
would not succeed on its own roots should go
to the rubbish heap; that grafted trees are
coddled, while own-rooted trees are in all
ways infinitely better, healthier and longer-

_ lived. It seems quite enough to say in this

connection that the man who has carried on
the blending of tree and cion upon a scale of
greater extent than any other man finds graft-
ing not only eminently successful but impera-
tive. One single series of experiments carried
on for so many years and on so vast a scale as
Mr. Burbank’s experiments is sufficient to dis-
prove many theories and to overturn many
conclusions.

But there remains something else of still

255

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

greater importance,—the fruit of this graft

must be superior to all fruits of its kind which
have preceded it, more nutritious, more deli-
cious to the taste, more attractive to the eye,
safer to ship than any of its forbears. All
these points must be settled, together with
other important points as to hardiness and
yielding qualities, and adaptability to various
soils and climates before the new fruit can be
given to the world. The demands constantly
made upon him in the production of a new
fruit are very many and of great insistence
before the fruit or flower has been brought
up to his ideal.
’ Some strange things happen in the midst of
this grafting, and some of these, or others
quite as curious, may happen to any one who
takes up this peculiarly fascinating branch of
plant-breeding. Sometimes in Mr. Burbank’s
experience the graft will influence the tree
upon which it is grafted, increasing its foliage,
strengthening its roots, and otherwise making
it more thrifty. He grafted a Japanese pear,
for example, upon a Bartlett pear, and while
the graft went forward, producing the Japan-
ese pear fruit, the parent pear tree bearing its

256

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customary Bartlett pears, the parent tree soon
took on a greatly increased vigor. Sometimes
the union of the graft and the tree will be
complete, but, as he puts it, in the great stress
of unusual drought or fruiting the grafted por-
tion will separate again, later, and entirely fall
off. Curious results are seen in some crosses,
as, for example, some plum- almond crosses
where there was every possible variation in the
flowers,—some of them having all stamens
and no pistils, some having many petals, some
having no petals, some never opening like
normal flowers at all, some having no stamens
but only pistils. Sometimes a cross of a peach
and an almond will produce a tree as large as
ten peach trees or almond trees of the same
age. Sometimes the precise opposite will be the
case. Now and then the graft grows up thrift-
ily and bears fruit, and its seeds are planted
with the result that none will grow. Mr.
Burbank says that a certain character, or char-
acteristic, may lie latent through many gene-
rations, or even centuries, and then appear just
when the right cross is made to bring it out.
But probably the most mysterious thing
that has ever happened, in some ways at, least,

257

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

in all his grafting tests was that of a union of
two plums, one brought over from France,
there being no other plum like it in the new
world, the other the Kelsey plum, well known
in western America. The graft was attached
to the parent tree, the Kelsey, in the usual
way, but, when blooming time came, the graft,
though growing heartily, put forth no blos-
soms. It did, however, a still stranger thing
than this, one of the strangest in all plant
history,—it changed the entire life of the par-
ent,—a thing hinted at by Darwin as being in
the list of possibilities but never known before.
The tree, by some strange influence born of
the grafting, completely changed its own life,
or, at least, so changed it that its own seeds
in turn developed the French plum. It thus
formed in the tree itself a cross between two
trees that had never been crossed before, the
life of the one entering into and transforming
the life of the other.

Mr. Burbank heartily reeommends the work
of grafting from seedlings to all amateurs,
whether their grounds are small or large. He
says that such immediate results need not be
looked for as in the breeding of flowers, be-

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cause the chances for unusually fine fruits from
a given number of seedlings are not great.
Very many seeds of apples, for example, may

__ be planted, hundreds, even thousands, of them,

and not one of the trees which grow from the
seeds may bear a fruit any better than the
apples which have gone before, while a very
large proportion of them are more than likely
to be inferior or worthless. Still, he holds that
the chances of producing one good new apple
are quite sufficient, considering the bearing of
such a new fruit upon the commerce of the
world, to welb warrant one in carrying on the
experiments. He recommends for the amateur
all the hardier cherries, peaches, apples, pears
and plums to choose from for beginning, and
also all manner of berries. The seeds or pits
from the best fruit obtainable should be kept
very slightly moist through the winter for the

spring planting. The larger the number of

them, the greater the opportunities for in-

teresting results. The seeds should be planted

in a trench from a half-inch to an inch deep,

though no hard and fast rule may be set down

applicable to all. It will be necessary to bear

in mind the climate in which one lives in se-
259

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

lecting a fruit upon which to work. Experi-

ments may, however, develop some quite
interesting results if the effort is made to
produce a fruit which will be hardier than any
grown in one’s locality, thus adding, if success-
ful, a new feature of value.

By the end of the first season the young

trees should be large enough for grafting
wood. The work of grafting should begin
when the spring is first coming or just before

the buds are swelling. The tiny branches of -

the young tree to be grafted should be cut up
into pieces about two inches long, with two or
three buds on each, and then grafted in the
manner noted above.

In grafting, care must be taken that seed
fruits be grafted upon trees bearing seed
fruits, pit fruit upon pit fruits. For example,
it will not do to graft a plum upon an apple
tree, but upon another plum tree or upon an
apricot, almond or peach; an apple saat upon
an apple tree, and so on. —

As indicated in Mr. Burbank’s own wont
the larger the number of seeds sown the
greater the chances of success. Here, as in the
case of flowers, Mr. Burbank points out the

260

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HOW MAY I DO IT, TOO;—GRAFTING

possibilities of producing something of surpas-
sing value to the world. Even in case the new
fruit created is not better than old fruits of
the same class, there is great satisfaction, as
with the flowers, in being able to present to a
friend a fruit which one has himself made;
while there is before one the other possibility
of producing a fruit which is to revolutionize,
as many of his fruits are revolutionizing, the
production of the world.

The seedlings could be transplanted from
their trench and allowed to grow to maturity
upon their own roots, but this would, as a rule,
take all the way from six to twenty years,
while by grafting them upon a mature tree
they may be hurried forward to fruitage in
two to four seasons. It would have been
impossible for Mr. Burbank to have reached
the results he has achieved if he had depended
upon first raising his seedlings to the period of
bearing fruit before determining their value.
He could not have accomplished the ends he
has reached in a thousand years.

In the way of instruments Mr. Burbank
recommends to the amateur any good pruning-
knife of fine steel, a smaller knife like

261

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

a budding-knife, a small can for the wax, with
a paint brush to put it on the graft-joint, a
stock of small strips of white cloth. Other
and more elaborate grafting devices can be
bought, but Mr. Burbank considers these
sufficient, too elaborate an outfit being a
hindrance rather than a help.

The wax he recommends should be made of
four pounds of resin to one pound of beeswax,
with enough linseed oil to make it work well.
This, when melted up together and allowed
to cool, forms a cake from which enough can
be broken at any time for the work in hand,
and the rest will keep indefinitely. The piece
which is broken off should be heated until it is
warm enough to flow easily. It should not be
too soft or it will run in the warm sun, nor

too hard or it will crack. The object is to —

protect the union of the graft and the tree
by means of the wax and the enclosing
bandage of cloth, and a very little experience
will show when the wax is of just the right
consistency. It is well, if there is considerable
grafting to be done, to keep the can or pot
containing the wax over a lamp or small oil-
stove in order to hold it at the proper con-

262

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sistency. A little more linseed oil may at
any time be added, if the wax gets too hard.
In order to keep well from season to season,
Mr. Burbank says the wax should be a little
harder than ordinary chewing-gum.

When one has an estate of some consider-
able size and wishes to carry on the work of
growing new kinds of fruit on a larger scale,
results may be easily attained far - reaching in
their extent and with still larger opportunities
for the production of a fruit of unique
character. To show somewhat the possibilities
of reproduction of grafts, Mr. Burbank says
that a single tree two years old, when cut up
into grafts, will produce the following season

_ from three to four thousand buds. If each

one of the buds from these four thousand
would produce its full quota, so that it would
be possible to keep up the progression, at
the end of the third season the single bud
would have become parent to over two
hundred and fifty billions of trees.

Very little pollenating of the flowers of the
fruit trees is now done by Mr. Burbank
because he has made so very many combina-
tions and has such a vast number of different

263

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

kinds of trees already started on their way
that it would not be worth while to make
further crossings.

In this connection it is of peculiar interest
to note that Mr. Burbank has come to the
conclusion, after many years of crossing, or
hybridizing, and grafting, that hybridization
in one sense is only a mode of grafting, both
being a more or less permanent combination.

In an elaborate chart he traces side by side
the parallelism of results he has noted in both
' grafting and pollenating:

Where, for example, the pollen of one plant
acts as a poison upon another, the grafts
blight and die as if poisoned.

Where, in pollenating, the union is partial,
mosaic or temporary, seed is rarely produced,
seedlings generally inheriting tendencies and
qualities of one parent only, the second or
later generations reverting fully; the grafting
shows often a temporary union but not in
normal condition.

Where the union by crossing is free, seed-
lings showing an unbalanced condition,
varying widely, the best condition for scien-
tific or natural selection, while the grafting

264

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shows a ready union of cion and tree but
separation follows under unusual _ stress,
drought, overbearing, lack of nourishment,
and so on.

In another stage of usual variation where,
in crossing, the union is free, the seed of

_ superior germinating quality and produced

abundantly, the seedlings being normal with
ordinary amount of variability, the grafts
unite readily, thriving well; sometimes better
than when grafted on their own stock.

He says on this point:

“Where the plants are very different, having
a different line of descent and consequently
different structure, there will be no hybridiza-
tion at all. From this we have every grada-
tion to a point where the individuals are very
closely alike, and here we also have scarcely
any variation at all in the progeny, a condition
which favors extinction. Again, in grafting,
we have every intergradation between total
inability to unite and absolutely perfect

_ blend.”

Along with all the work of grafting goes
constant selection, the constant choosing of
the best from the best. It might be somewhat

265

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

difficult for an amateur grafter to make

selection from a lot of seedlings as Mr. Bur- —

bank does, choosing the very best from a
hundred thousand with unerring eye, in a
single day’s time, but it will require but
comparatively little training for any one who

is deeply interested in the work to make —

intelligent choice between the few young trees
of beginning experiments as they come,
selecting those which are in all ways thriftier
and “likelier” trees. When all is said and

done, selection in plant-breeding is very —

largely a matter of individual judgment,
backed up by the largest possible knowledge

attainable as to the life history and past —

environment of the plant itself.
Mr. Burbank offers the following sug-
gestions as to orchard - grafting:
“Commence in January, if much is to be

done. February is probably the best month —

on most of the Pacific coast. March is as good
if the grafting-wood has been well kept.
April is not too late, and May sometimes and

for some things, is a good month. One anda ~
half to two and a half inches in diameter is —
the best grafting size of branch for old trees. —

266

HOW MAY I DO IT, TOO;—GRAFTING

_ If cut back to where the branches are thicker
the tree receives too great a shock, the grafts
do not take hold as well and the tree forms
a close, bunchy head which is not ornamental
or profitable. Graft the branches where you
wish them to grow to form a new top, leave
many twigs and smaller and unimportant
branches to keep the sap up until the grafts
have one season’s growth. All suckers near
the grafts should be pulled off as soon as
they appear. It is very important, after
grafting, to watch and cut back a part of the
new growth early in the season, else the wind
may get too great a leverage and break out
the grafts before fully healed over. It is also
often best to reinforce them for a while with
a small twig or stick tightly tied to the old
branch and lightly tied to the new growth.”

267

CHAPTER XVI
COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK

ee forming any just estimate of the com-

mercial importance of Mr. Burbank’s work,
different factors must be-taken into considera-
tion. Though it is a quarter of a century
since he began the actual work of plant-breed-
ing on a large scale, it is only within the past
ten or twelve years that the most important
lines have been developed. At the time he
closed out his nursery business in 1893 he
entered upon a series of important experi-
ments, many of which are but just coming
into fruition. It takes all the way from ten to
fifteen years, in some cases much longer, to
carry a new plant forward to its perfected stage.
For example, the amaryllis took nineteen
years, the hybrid lilies over twenty, and both
are still to have further attention. Not only
must the actual excellence of a new fruit, for
example, be determined and its standing
ascertained alongside of other fruits then in

268

COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK

existence, but time enough must elapse for it
to become thoroughly fixed in its new ways
so that it will not revert to some former
condition of inefficiency.

Then, too, when all this has been accom-
plished, it still must stand the test of the
orchard, the shipper, the dealer and _ the
consumer. It must be grown, too, by the
average fruit-grower under average conditions.
As has elsewhere been noted, Mr. Burbank
fits the new fruit, in so far as he possibly can,
for just these average conditions, so that when
it goes out from under his care he is willing to
trust it to the world. But no human being
can, tell what the commercial outcome of a
new fruit will be. It may have undoubted
superiority over others of its class, but it may
not at once catch the popular fancy. It may
fall into the hands of some one who for one
and another reason does not care to push it
forward; possibly not until some other favorite
has run its course. Then, again, a new fruit
may require a special and particular handling
in its shipment or in some other feature of its
life, and unless the conditions are carefully
complied with the best results will not come.

269

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

Sometimes, as Mr. Burbank puts it, the fruit-

raiser must be adapted to the fruit. It must
be borne in mind also, in any consideration of
the commercial feature, that many of the
creations of Mr. Burbank are not commercially
identified with his name, having been bought
by florists or horticulturists who exploit them
in. their own way and under names of their
own selection.

Aside from all this, the very heart and
spirit of Mr. Burbank’s method are directly
opposed to any monopolistic control of his
new fruits. To get these fruits to the general
public at the earliest moment possible and at
the lowest figure is his highest aim. “Abso-

lutely no restrictions,” that is the key-note. ~
One of the largest fruit-growers in California

estimates that Mr. Burbank could easily be
making a net revenue of two hundred thou-
sand dollars per year if he should hold back
his fruits and flowers and handle them solely
for the money that could be made from them.
But to do this would be to stultify himself;
his measure of success has not been the
standard of the dollar: success to him means

the accomplishment of the greatest possible :

270

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COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK

_ good for the greatest possible number of
people.

A number of prominent fruit-growers with

- a keen eye to thrift approached Mr. Burbank —
_ one day with a proposition to form a corpora-
_ ‘tion or syndicate for the handling of one of
_ his new plums, a particularly valuable one, in

some ways the most important plum he had
made. In a most captivating way the promo-
ters of the scheme presented its attractions.
The gentlemen interested had seen the vast
possibilities in the absolute contrel of the fruit,
and Mr. Burbank’s share in the profits to accrue
was alluringly presented. The project was in
no way dishonorable and it was distinctly
business-like, but it was in direct opposition
to Mr. Burbank’s life policy—to place no
restrictions upon his productions but to get
them running in the channels of the public
at the earliest date possible. So the plum
Syndicate was never formed.

_ When Mr. Burbank began placing his new
_ creations on the market, after he had given
up the nursery business, he stated in one of
his lists:

“The time, the care and the expense of
271

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

producing these new fruits and flowers are

simply astounding to those not familiar with
the facts. They are usually offered once
only, all the main financial profit being se-
cured by the early purchasers and planters.
If in the past I had received only one cent
for each ten thousand dollars added to the
wealth of the world by my plant productions,
those mentioned in the list could be passed

out freely to all who ask; but no great —
undertaking can long exist without some >

provision for running expenses, therefore the

prices accompanying this list. I have no —

government aid, no college endowment, and
nothing whatever to keep up the work except
the occasional sale of these new fruits and
flowers.”

One of the most prominent men in the
fruit - growing industry in California, a hard-

headed, successful business man who had for —

many years been interested in Mr. Burbank’s

lifework, said concerning the financial side j

of his work:

“Not many know of the influence that has .
been brought to bear upon Mr. Burbank to ©

make a big business enterprise of his novelties.
272

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COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK

Many have begged the opportunity of going
into partnership with him on a very large
scale, offering to provide all the money neces-
sary. Eager requests for the plants that he
has to sell come from every country, and he
had the making at Santa Rosa of the greatest
and most profitable nursery business in the
world. Mr. Burbank, however, is not out
for money. Money to him is only a means
to an end—the blessing of mankind by as
wide a distribution as possible of flowers more

beautiful and fruits of higher grade than
_ever before existed.

* When Mr. Burbank introduced his won-
derful sugar prune four years ago, I secured
a hundred feet of grafting wood from him,
and produced four thousand nursery trees in
a single year. In the succeeding year I had
over fifty thousand trees for sale— by far the
largest stock of that variety then in existence.
I had difficulty in disposing of the trees,
because they were not then known to be a
commercial success, and California growers
would not plant out large quantities until
they knew the public would buy the fruit.
Mr. Burbank, as I knew, had sold out his

273

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

stock the first season, and I offered to furnish

the trees to fill his orders. Mr. Burbank,
however, replied that he had left the nursery
business some time ago, and was now drop-
ping the tree business, as he had not a moment
to spare to attend to such things, but it
would give him the greatest pleasure to turn
over any customers he might have to me.
Subsequently many different people bought
sugar prune trees of me who had _ been
recommended to me by Mr. Burbank. This

incident made a great impression on me, —

because I knew that Mr. Burbank could make
good use of the money. Is it not inspiring to

know that a scientist of Mr. Burbank’s fame —
is so free from the frailties that are induced —

by a love of money? Luther Burbank is a
man who could be rich, but he will not
consider the object as worth attaining. He
is wholly devoted to making the world more
beautiful with flowers, and more pleasant
with new and wonderful fruits.”

While many thousands of dollars have F

been invested in the production of the new
plums, and while they have but barely begun

their commercial: course both here and in —

274

COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK

foreign countries, they are distinctly threat-
ened by Mr. Burbank himself, and this is why
it is so very difficult to give any adequate
estimate of the commercial value of his new
plums and prunes. They are threatened be-
cause when his new pitless plum and the
pitless prune which will follow are once upon
the market, the death-knell of present-day
plums and prunes of their class will have
been sounded. These new plums and prunes
promise to be just as beautiful, just as rich,
or richer, just as hardy and prolific, and the

place of the pits of former centuries is to be

occupied with the meat of the fruit itself. As
soon as this is done, many plum and prune
orchards in the world will be practically
supplanted, and all of them must eventually
be made over to suit the new order of things.

Day by day, as his splendid plums and
prunes make their way among the fruit-grow-
ers, they are paying handsomely on the invest-
ment, and they will yield their revenues up
to the very limit of the date of the appearing

‘of the new plum, and even on beyond, while

it is coming into bearing, so that there will
be no great and wholesale disaster. But the

275

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

hand-writing is on the wall, and fruit-grow-

ers have long since taken note of it: the
revolution will be bloodless, but it promises
to be complete.

I was much interested in the statement of a
fruit-growér who had handled one of Mr. Bur-
bank’s prunes. It was a venture with him, for
though nearly one-third richer in sugar than
the French prune, much larger, and more pro-
lific, it had not turned out the season before
so well as he had hoped; though he noted,
however, that this may have been in some
measure due to the season itself. The impor-
tant feature, however, from a commercial
point of view was this, that he had simply
changed the prune into a plum, selling it by
the thousands of cases in the East where, on
the New York, Boston and Chicago markets
it sold at the head of the list on such days as
it was offered for sale. The French prune with
which it was competing as a prune had no
merit whatever as an eating and shipping
plum.

While the next few years promise still
greater returns to the world from Mr. Bur-
bank’s creations, because at the date of the

276

Showing method of grafting

ea hh bi ie
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COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK

issuance of this volume so many of them are
but just coming into commercial sway, it is to
the somewhat more distant future unquestion-
ably that the greatest commercial triumphs are
to be won for the world. And this is not be-
cause the present-time creations are not splen-
didly fulfilling their mission, but because the
newer work has vastly greater possibilities. In
the pitless plums and prunes, the new grasses,
the thornless cactus, the new fast-growing
forest trees, the frost-resisting trees, the work
in new varieties of pears, apples, quinces,
peaches, apricots and berries, together with
other experiments under way which have not
yet reached so advanced a stage, lie vaster
commercial possibilities than in anything he
has yet achieved, as well as a greater measure
of service to the race.

CHAPTER XVII
THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION GRANT

Pe has been indicated in a former chapter,
a day came in Mr. Burbank’s career

when it was evident that, no matter how
much he still might accomplish for the world,

he could not hope to go forward at a pace
commensurate with his genius and his oppor-

tunities without outside aid. By aid would be —
meant not some subvention from some: insti-
tution or state or government which would.
first recognize him as in want and then lend a
helping hand, while. establishing, at the same
time, an essentially selfish hold upon him.

While it was true that year by year he was
running behind in his expenses, he had long
since passed the period of privation, though
he had never passed the point of strictest
economy in order that no cent might be
wasted but all devoted to his lifework. Any
aid which should come to him, then, must be
first of all sympathetic—using the word in its

278

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THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION GRANT

_ very broadest meaning; and, next, it must
be aid devoted, as he is devoted, to the welfare
of the world, which should enable him to at-
tain in his own way a still larger measure of
usefulness than he could have accomplished
alone. Important as his work has already
been, even more must have been accomplished
had there been greater freedom of service.

_ During a period of fifteen or eighteen years
there had been frequent suggestions made by
those who knew the work best that aid of
some kind should be given in order that the
work should not suffer. Suggestions, now and
then came in reviews in local newspapers of
the wonderful things being accomplished.
Now and then some government official, in-
terested in the scientific and practical depart-
ments of the broad subject of plant develop-
ment, visited Mr. Burbank, was amazed at the
enterprise under way, and was full of regret
that the government could not take hold of
the work and help carry it forward,—it would:
be impossible, was the usual line of thought,
for the government to offer any specific aid
without incurring the charge of paternalism’
and opening the way to an indefinite and

279

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

unfortunate extension of aid to others. less
deserving.

While no one else save himself could pos-
sibly know how much aid would have meant
to him at times when, driven to the very limit
of physical and mental strain, he could see no
possible way over the financial obstacles that
confronted him, yet never in the course of his
life had he ever asked for aid from individual,
corporate body, state or nation. Time and
again foreign scientists or horticulturists
visiting Mr. Burbank expressed amazement
that no subvention had ever been made by his
government, because the vast importance of
the work was not less significant than the
wealth which must accrue to the state by pro-
vision of funds to carry the work forward on
larger lines. :

At last the whole subject was brought to
the attention of the trustees of the Carnegie
Institution at Washington. After a searching
consideration of the matter, an offer was made
of a subvention, or grant, it is understood of
one hundred thousand dollars, ten thousand
dollars per year for ten years. Briefly stated,
the object of this Institution, founded by

280

THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION GRANT

Andrew Carnegie and incorporated in 1902, is

as follows:

“To promote original research as one of the
most important of all subjects; to discover the
exceptional man and enable him to make the
work for which he seems specially designed his
lifework; to publish and distribute the results
of scientific investigation; to increase facilities
for higher education. In the field of research

_ the function of the Institution is organization;

—to substitute organized for unorganized
effort; to unite scattered individuals working
independently, where it appears that such
combination of effort will produce the best

results; and to endeavor to prevent needless

duplication of work. The Institution does not
attempt to do anything that is being well done
by other agencies; to do that which can be
better done by other agencies; to give aid to
individuals or other organizations in order to
relieve them of financial responsibilities which
they are not able to carry; to enter into agree-
ment with any organization for the purpose of
conductive research unless the conditions are
such as to reasonably assure continuation of
the agreement through a sufficient period of

281

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

time to complete the special research entered
upon.” :

It will thus appear that the Institution
comes into particularly close consonance with
the work which Mr. Burba~k had so long
been carrying on under peculiar difficulties.

The grant became available at the begin-
ning of 1905.

There are two important features, or phases,
of Mr. Burbank’s work of which the Carnegie
Institution takes special cognizance. One of
these is its practical bearing upon the welfare
of mankind. In a work so many - sided as this,
the scope of this practical application is at
once suggested,—how best to effect this
practical application is of paramount im-
portance. 3

Many times in his career Mr. Burbank has
been forced to abandon a given experiment,
not because it did not promise to yield
admirable results, but because he. did not
have sufficient funds to carry it forward.
This was particularly true of those tests which
he would have been glad to follow out because
of the especial scientific interest that attached —
to their development. The actual expense —

282

THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION GRANT

_ for manual labor for the carrying forward of
_ a single test through a long series of years
_ is large in the aggregate, especially so since
_ the manual labor for his service must be
_ backed up by keen intelligence and sound
_ judgment, a combination not always easy to
i be obtained. There have been very many
|

tests, hundreds sometimes, under way at the
_ same time, and it was inevitable that some
must fall by the way. So great has been the
_ demand for funds for the maintenance of
_ major tests that many of the minor ones,
_ which might easily have been advanced to
: the higher position, have, like a neglected
_ plant, died for want of support.
_ It is of special interest. in this connection
_ that Mr. Burbank’s work has been cumulative
_ from the very inception. With each new
triumph the way has opened to others, so
that at no time in his life had there been
_ sO many great opportunities before him as
_ when this grant was proposed.. Best of all,
_ as the years had come and gone, he entered
upon each new experiment fuller of interest
in the outcome, deeper in his zest over the
_ developments. Couple with this maturity of

283

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

all his powers,—judgment, discrimination,
intuition, observation, scientific thought in its
widest and deepest bearing, and the like,—and
you have the ideal conditions for enterprise
of the loftiest type.

But in order that these larger results might
be reached, larger revenues must be available
to draw upon. It is this revenue that the
Carnegie Institution has so wisely provided.
The grants of the Institution are never
charitable. It has no funds for indigents. It
is intensely practical in its methods and in
its administration of its funds. It places no
money save where, directly or indirectly, its
expenditure will bring an ultimate practical
or scientific benefit. Doubtless much time
might be saved to applicants for aid if this
were more carefully considered.

The practical side of the work will go
forward under the grant precisely as it has
gone on before during all the years of Mr.
Burbank’s great work, save that its scope will
be much broadened. Tests once impossible
will now become possible. With a larger
force of men trained in his methods he will,
as the years pass, be able more and more to

284

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THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION GRANT

_ delegate work which once he was unable
_ to delegate, thus not only saving his own
strength for the new and more important tests
and for the general oversight of the work, but
_ permitting a much larger number of ex-
periments, if necessary, to be under progress
at the same time, and vastly to accelerate the

movement of the work. This is not a de-
partment of the work which calls for more

- elaborate apparatus,—the earth and man, these

are the essentials, and the higher the intel-
lectual strength and sympathy of the men
Mr. Burbank is able to secure, the larger the
results. The object is not to attempt in any

_ way to curb or direct or interfere: this would
_ be absolutely fatal; what is intended is that
_ there shall be constant sympathetic aid.

But, at the same time, the Institution

_ stands also for scientific attainment, and the
_ completest measures will be taken for the

_ keeping of adequate data, as well as provision

for the making of laboratory records. To this
end trained experts who are in close touch and

_ sympathy with Mr. Burbank, will aid in the
_ preparation of the mass of important. data
_ which must steadily accumulate in so extensive

285

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

a work. As will be shown in a succeeding
chapter, Mr. Burbank has by no means been
lacking in the matter of general scientific
record, but the new arrangements will give
opportunity for the registermg of much that
should be preserved for the benefit of others.
Microscopic and photo-microscopic work, as
well as elaborate recording of the details in
the life history of plants under test, will be
followed with the utmost care. Funds will be
provided for this and for the necessary atten-
dant expense in equipment and salaries. It was
utterly out of the question for Mr. Burbank
to prepare such elaborate data as will now be
of record, greatly as he desired it, though it —
will appear in the description of his novel plan —
books that he has never for a moment lost —
sight of the absolute necessity of fundamental -
records.

As the work progresses through the years, —
there will be publication of the data compiled —
and set in order by trained men. Elaborate —
photographic records, aside from micro-photo- —
graphic ones, will give charm as well as
definiteness in preserving the larger events in
the life history of fruits and flowers. The only —

286

THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION GRANT

_ man who can ever succeed in the deep sense
in association with Mr. Burbank in the
_ development of the scientific phases of his
_ work is a man who has not only the liberal
_ training of the schools and the inborn love
_ for research, but who sees beyond the mere
i matter of academic record, important though
¢ it be, into the noble field of true science where
he who wins for science and the world must
_ stand ready to divest himself of the impedi-
menta of precedent the very instant it be
found inadequate. Such men, working with
_ this man, should not only win new triumphs for
science, but set forward the standard of the
_ practical. It need scarcely be added that such
men will be in unquestioned sympathy with
Mr. Burbank and the great work which lies
before and behind him.
It may be noted, in passing, as an illustra-
_ tion of the expenses attached to the work,
_ that, during the busiest’ season, when grafting,
_ transplanting and general culture are at their
_ highest, between six hundred and eight
_ hundred dollars a month must be paid out for
_ laborers’ hire alone—a sum that will increase
_ gather than decrease as the work advances.

287

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

To one who gives even a cursory glance,—
and this only at the practical side of this great
work,—this grant will appear to have been
splendidly bestowed. The value of it must
still more clearly come into view as the years
pass. It is to be doubted if the Institution ever
offers a subvention for a more commanding
purpose. The work is not only of supreme
interest to people in every walk of life, but it
is of transcendant commercial importance, as
well as having a powerful bearing upon the
welfare of the people. The results of this
work are not for the benefit of the Carnegie
Institution. They are not for Luther Bur-
bank. They are not for his state, or his coun-
try, but for all states and all countries, and
for all the centuries. And should it happen as
a result of this grant that some other man, or
men, shall be raised up who shall prove them- —
selves worthy to carry on this great work —
when he who has inaugurated it shall lay it —
down, thus preserving continuity of effort, a —
still greater boon will have been conferred
upon mankind. There is no other enterprise —
in the world by which this may be measured.
It stands alone, unique among movements —

288

GIE INSTITUTION GRANT

possibilities lies out beyond the
of the imagination. The Carnegie
mn; in granting this subvention to Mr.
, performed a splendid and sub-
for the world.

CHAPTER XVIII
A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

F in this chapter some impression may be
conveyed of the tremendous strain under
which this great work is done, a point will
have been gained. If it shall serve in any
measure to check the advance of the thou-

sands of people who annually, and in steadily "

increasing numbers, visit Mr. Burbank out of

a natural curiosity, the full end will have been ©

reached.

Far too often the day with Mr. Burbank
begins in care, advances in anxiety, closes in
exhaustion. Not the least but often the greatest
cause for this lies in the visits of the thought-
less, people with the best and kindest of inten-
tions but with lamentable lack of foresight.
No man ever lived with wider and richer hos-
pitality, with stancher friends; no man ever
enjoyed intercourse with personal friends more
keenly. Surely, even a man who has made a
great place in the world, who in a certain

290

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A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

noble sense is the common property of the
people, is entitled to his own privacies; even
more, from the standpoint of achievement for
the welfare of the world, is entitled to his
precious hours of labor, when a single
thoughtless interruption may be the means
of irreparable loss.

Each day with Mr. Burbank is a composite,
or perhaps better put, a mosaic; and no two
are just alike. At certain seasons of the year,
particulariy should some great fertilizing test
be under way, he is up with the sun, when the
flowers are opening and the bees are a-wing
and Nature is in her gentlest. and most ingen-
uous mood. For hours on such a day as this
he must work unremittingly, until the pollen-
ating of great numbers of plants has been
completed and Nature has been made ready to
be big with wondrous secrets. Commonly, he
rises about seven o'clock and breakfasts at
eight. If much worn on the preceding day, he

_ may lie in bed until nine, or possibly ten

oclock, for he is an ardent believer in the
efficacy of absolute physical and mental
rest following periods of prolonged toil. He
has proven for himself the recuperative and,

291

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

. indeed, curative, value of absolute physical
relaxation.

Work is always awaiting him, always, day
in and day out throughout the entire year ; for
he labors under a sky so genial that some
gentle life of nature is stirring the whole
twelvemonth long—some life in whose creation
or transformation his hands are having a part.
The workmen must be superintended day by
day, even hour by hour, for this work. is like
none other—there is no pleasant smoothness
and perfection of routine; for at any moment
may arise a problem so urgent of solution that
the whole day’s toil may need alteration to
suit its insistent conditions. It is a thousand
to one, too, that no man may solve the prob-
lem but the master, the one whom these
gentle workmen revere as few employers are
ever revered. Possibly even before he has had
his breakfast, he may be seen passing swiftly
out of the house and making his way with
rapid strides to some distant part of the
grounds, where he may have seen from his
window some new workman doing precisely
the opposite from what he had been told to do.
Many a time, in his ceaseless search for the

292

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A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

right men, he has taken on a workman highly
recommended to him, only to discover him
just in the nick of time doing something that
would result in serious, perhaps irreparable,
harm. Indeed, more than once such harm has
been done, and the discharged man, perhaps,
never knew what it was that caused his re-
lease. Possibly, if some new weather situation
has arisen, the order of the day may at once
be changed to meet the new conditions.

Some of the men are pulling out tiny weeds
in the midst of long rows of delicate green
plants no higher than a man’s thumb; some
are spreading some particular kind of soil
over the earth where a test calling for this
soil is to be begun ; some are hoeing out the
weeds among larger plants, some are laying
out beds, or sorting bulbs in the storehouse,
or transplanting delicate plants from the
greenhouse to outside beds, or any one of a
thousand and one other duties. Every man
is working as though his life depended upon it,
and every one of them feels in his heart of
hearts a strong fine throb of pride that he
is thought capable, by the gentle man who
goes in and out among them from day

293

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

to day, to be an instrument in his hands

for the furtherance of a great work,

But to come back to the breakfast which
must be eaten some time, whether before,
or after, or during the hours of early superin-
tendence. It consists of simple food, a trifle
old-fashioned as regards fads, but ample and
wholesome and balanced. If for the moment
there is nothing particularly pressing in the
experimental plots, he gives an hour or two
after breakfast to his more important cor-
respondence, Time was when he attended in
person to every letter that came, so absolutely
‘conscientious was he toward this as toward
every other demand of his lifework, but the
day came when to do this and have any time
for the thousands of other more imperative
demands upon him was out of the question.
So he shifts the main responsibility of cor-

respondence .upon other shoulders. And yet —

there still remain many letters, in the very
nature of the work itself, answering of which
he may not easily delegate,—letters from men
of prominence in the scientific world, letters
from devoted friends, communications relative
to important steps in this or that creation

294

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A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

under way,—these he must dictate answers to
direct, or make notations in his clear strong
hand as to the answer to be sent. The
magnitude as well as the extent of the work
may often be indicated by a single day’s mail.
Letters arrive from all over the United
States, from Mexico, from many South Amer-
‘ican points, while there is scarcely an out-
of-the- way place in Europe or Asia where
fruits or flowers are cultivated that has not
either some collector who is in constant touch
with Mr. Burbank in supplying him with rare
plants and seeds for experimentation, or some
florist or horticulturist anxious to have some
fruit or flower from the famous gardens of
Santa Rosa. One large scrap - book contains
an extensive list of foreign souvenir postal-
cards bearing greetings from people he has
never seen or heard of before. Very many
letters come from Great Britain and her
dependencies, the interest in Mr. Burbank’s
work being particularly deep among English-
men. France and Russia send many letters,
as do Italy and Germany, while many come
from India, China, Japan and Australia.
There are communications, too, from crowned

295

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

heads and others high of rank. One of the
most important features of Mr. Burbank’s
correspondence is the matter of translations
from foreign languages. It is interesting to
note that it has become the custom in certain
parts of Mexico and South America to make
inquiry in regard to an American fruit or
flower offered for sale, whether or not it is
a “ Burbanco.” If it is, it is accepted with-
out question as being what it is represented
to be.

And the letters asking for aid and for
situations,— their number is multitude. Long —
~ago he was forced to adopt this form:

Santa Rosa, California, 189

Dear Sir: In reply to yours Of. : The
constant stream of applications from all directions
for a position has necessitated this printed slip, as I
do not wish to be considered thoughtless in regard to
these worthy applications, not one in ten thousand or
which can be complied with. I employ my neighbors
only, most of whom have been with me for many
years, and cannot give steady employment to most or
these even, and have no possible place for any one
else. It. would be exceedingly pleasant to me if I
could employ the army who apply. My kindest and
most heartfelt wishes are that each may find the em-
ployment desired. Sincerely yours,

LUTHER BURBANK

296

all manner of subjects near or remotely
d to the work and suggesting calls for
r consultation with Mr. Burbank in
To such this card is sent:

K NO QUESTIONS WHICH YOU THINK
CAN BE ANSWERED ELSEWHERE

If a reply is desired which requires more space

na postal card affords, always enclose five Toller.

___ All visitors to the home place are limited to five
minutes each, unless by special arrangements.

| _ Everybody would be graciously welcomed, but the
| burden of entertaining the multitude has become so
d a pnkaey experimental work has been very seri-

e number of letters to be answered every
is upwards of forty thousand. In two
$ of one season fifteen thousand were

ietimes the midday meal is eaten at one
9clock, sometimes not until three or four in

the afternoon, for if he has been compelled to

ie late in the morning frequently but two

ils a day are eaten.

n the afternoon it is more than likely a

297

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

second grist of correspondence will have to be
attended to, while every moment not given to
it must be devoted to the tests. It is not only
the tests that have been under way for years
that need attention in order to see that the
growing plants are cared for, but new tests are
constantly being started and the greatest care
must be exercised in the details of the work.
A single false pollenation, a single error in
transplanting, a single mistake in uprooting a
plant for a weed, may interrupt, even if it —
does not wholly destroy, a test of vast impor-
tance. And one of the most wearing of all the
anxieties is found in this: That there is not
an experiment, however carefully it has been
planned and however closely the future results
of the test have been estimated, that may not,
through some untoward act. of man, or insect, —
or bird, or element, turn out badly in the end.
Then all must be done over again and again,
until the end sought for is reached. Nor is”
there a test, so great the compensation, which —
may not turn out, as many of them have, far-
more important to the world than had been
anticipated.

As soon as the afternoon correspondence is

298

A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

_ completed, he is out again in the proving
_ grounds, and until the sun goes down there is

2 always something which needs attention.

But while this work fills in every moment

of the day, be sure it is not all. In a single
year fully six thousand people visit the
grounds at Santa Rosa—as many would go to
Sebastopol if they could get in. These visitors
almost without exception want to see Mr.
Burbank. No matter what else they want,
they want to meet him. And it is natural and
not culpable, but it is deplorable. They are
easily divided into three classes: Those who
come from curiosity, whom Mr. Burbank never
_ sees if he can avoid it; those who come from
genuine interest and who are content, when
some attendant tells them Mr. Burbank can-
not be seen, to look over the grounds; those
who come by appointment and whom Mr.
Burbank wishes personally to see. The first
class is far and away larger than the other two
put together and more difficult to handle.
But there remains a large enough number
whom Mr. Burbank feels that he must see, to
consume very much of his time and to make
direct inroads upon his strength. These are

299

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

seen with all possible dispatch, in order that no
time may be wasted.

When the grounds are reached there is, just
inside the white picket fence, a sign which
reads: .

NOTHING FOR SALE
ALL VISITORS CALL AT THE DOOR

When the door is reached, there is another |
sign which reads:

ALL VISITORS ARE LIMITED
TO FIVE MINUTES EACH UNLESS
BY SPECIAL APPOINTMENT

In passing, I cannot too strongly emphasize —
the fact that Mr. Burbank’s grounds are abso-
lutely private. Still stronger placards than the —
above now appear at the entrance gates, .
prohibiting all visitors without previous ar-—
rangement. This has been. made imperative
because of the steadily increasing stream of —
people who have been making a Mecca of his”
home. :

300 -

A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

But, should a person succeed in running the.
intlet of these protective signs, there is still
ther provision which must be faced. When
the inside of the door is reached, this slip is in
readiness. I take the current one from the
ock on a day in May, 1905: :

Visitor No Date
_ What is your business with Mr. Burbank?

_ For whose benefit is this interview?

Your name ?
- Your address?
q a Remarks.

_ _ All visitors are limited to five minutes unless by
BAUS eibstal appointment.

a _ Mr. Burbank’s work is of such a nature that he

| cannot well be interrupted.

| Then, in case the visitor has particular and
: Paid reasons for visiting Sebastopol, where the
S larger proving grounds are located, he faces
_ this card which was not prepared looking to a
_ source of revenue, but in order, if possible, to
_ keep down the number of actual applications:

a 301

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE)

TICKET OF ADMITTANCE TO BURBANK’S

SEBASTOPOL EXPERIMENT FARM
(Void unless dated and signed by the Proprietor)

Date
Signature

Prices ror Apmirrance or Visrrors during the
busy months of April, May, June, July, August and
September: Each person, one hour, $10; each per-
son, one-half hour, $5; each person, one-quarter
hour, $2.50.

Admittance will be allowed at one-half the above-
named prices during the other six months. When
there are two or more in the same party, twenty-five
per cent discount from these prices.

Norr.—Everybody would be graciously welcomed to the
farm, but the burden of entertaining the multitudes has be-

come so great that the experimental work has been seriously
crippled.

There is but one object in all these restric-
tions, to protect Mr. Burbank both as to
wastage of time and physical vitality. He has
set apart the month of July, during which
time there are likely to be slightly fewer
demands upon his care in the actual work, as
his reception month, when more freedom is
allowed in the way of admitting visitors to
the grounds at Santa Rosa.

On certain days in the week Mr. Burbank
leaves Santa Rosa about nine o'clock in the
morning and drives over to Sebastopol, some

302

ys0} Jopun syuryd jo
spuvsnoy} Aueut Surmoyg ‘jodojseqag ye spunois Suraoid oy} JO MIA [eoUaDy

: Tet t< ee Pe
Soo haw? raed Pt... x
aa a Sar Fa cman are

A DAY WITH MR. BURBANK

eight miles distant. Here he devotes the

entire day to overlooking the larger work of

_ the main proving ground. More men are
employed here than at Santa Rosa, as the
work is more extensive. Great difficulty is

experienced in ‘getting men who can adapt

themselves to the work. The day spent at

Sebastopol is particularly hard, for the work of
the week preceding must all be inspected and

_ plans laid down for the following week. Here

there must be constant care exercised that no
mistakes be made, for mistakes here, where
the tests have so far advanced that actual
results are being reached, are fatal indeed.
Hundreds of thousands of fruit trees of all
kinds needing inspection; work upon berries,
grapes, ornamental shrubs of many kinds;_
extensive tests in flowers, on a scale larger
than could be carried out at Santa Rosa;
experiments in fast-growing trees, tests of
plants which have been recommended from all
parts of the world as suitable for further
development or for combination with other
plants,—these are some of the factors that
unite to make the days spent at Sebastopol
wearing to the very last degree. In so far as

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

possible, the work is delegated; still, very much
of it cannot be given over to other hands but
must be under the immediate eye of the one
who has conceived the plan, who alone knows
how it should be developed, who alone can tell
the proper moment for action should a
radical change at any time appear necessary.

When the evening comes, it is a worn and
tired figure that curls up upon a low couch in
his little living-room,—tired physically no less
than mentally, many a time worn to the very
verge of exhaustion. An hour or so he lies
silently resting, not asleep, for his mind is
eternally turning upon the work before him, —
but relaxing in so far as possible. Even now
he is not left to himself; for the messenger
boy may still reach him; special-delivery
letters come by night as well as day; tele-
grams have no heart.

But by nine o'clock, if all is well, he is in
bed—the day is over. Another one will not
be long delayed, fuller, it may be, of care. Yet
all the days in this man’s life are rich in the
splendid consciousness of duty done, glorified
by the joy of having helped the great primal
forces of Nature to help mankind.

304

es

SME TN eee

ee ee ee
Seay ees tS

ae Se ———— ae
real oh OE te oe aan
fee pe
ee Ae naomi 7

CHAPTER XIX
HIS PERSONALITY

NHERE are certain men whose lives are
so open and free that the innermost
pages are disclosed at a glance. Certain others
need only the lightning flash of circumstance
or occasion to reveal phases of their life long
hidden. Certain others remain the sphinx to
_ the end.
Lather Burbank belongs to no one of these
classes, but rather to all of them. With noth-
ing secretive in his nature, he yet has depths
that his nearest friend does not fathom. Will-
- ing at all times to be himself’ precisely as he
is, indeed, more, never playing the hypocrite
by cloaking his own estimate of his own deeds,
_ though absolutely unspoiled by praise and
_ impregnable to flattery, he is yet constantly
- disclosing some new and striking character-
istic. Clarity itself, and frankly unreserved
when he meets those who understand, he con-
stantly baffles understanding by the subtlety

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

of his thought. Some of those who have be-

lieved they knew him most completely have

found, even after the course of years, that they

have not yet crossed the threshold.

A slight, lithe figure, which would appear
frail if it were not so well in proportion and so
closely knit, a figure full of nervous strength;
hair slowly whitening, with a brown mus-
tache slightly streaked with gray; intense blue
eyes that are full of fire, or a-glint with earn-
estness, or twinkling with merriment, or sad
or gay or somber, as the mood passes; a sensi-
* tive mouth and chin; the bronze of the west-
ern sun upon his cheeks. It is the face of a
poet, or a philosopher, or a sagacious man
of affairs, or, in the nobler sense, a fine, true
mystic; for all of these, and more, he is bound
into one.

He is quick of movement, soft and gentle of
speech, a rare conversationalist when in the
mood, though rather inclined to draw others
out than to advance his own views. Once
started upon some subject of deep interest,
however, and assured that his auditors are in
sympathy, his words come swift at the bidding
of his swifter thoughts. Sometimes in conver-

306

HIS PERSONALITY

sation, if he be deeply stirred, he is impetuous
in movement, emphatic in gesture, hardly able
to confine himself to the bounds of modera-

_ tion. And yet he never goes a hair’s breadth

outside the fine, strong line of truth that
binds him like a thread of gold to all that is
highest and noblest. When any topic is under
discussion that takes root in his own life ex-

_ perience, he speaks with great earnestness, and
_ if there perchance be some wrong that needs
_ righting, he minces no words.

He is swift but genial in repartee, generous

_ in his praise of others, instant in his words of

sympathy to one in trouble. At times when
he is worn with prolonged bodily and mental
toil at the crux of some great test, when every
faculty of his being is pushed to the utmost

limit, he may rise suddenly after a long period

of rest upon the low couch in his room on the
entrance of a friend, and then, if the conver-
sation but have a nimble turn, he is suddenly
alive with animation, entering with zest into
a story and laughing with the abandon of
a boy. His wit comes out sprightly but never
biting; his humor flows graciously—it is never
lethargic or ponderous. As swiftly as the con-

307

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

versation shifts he is in touch with every
change, discussing some deep problem of
human life or dissecting a pseudo-scientific
foible, or illuminating a scientific thought
some other man has cloudily expressed, or
cutting into some current fallacy of modern
education or politics or religion, making an
excision as deft as it is scientifically accurate.
He is as zestful as a skilful surgeon over some
remarkable case when he dissects a limb or
the main trunk of theology, and he scarcely
considers anesthetics necessary in such an
instance; but no man is more reverent in
the presence of true religion. He is never
happier than in a care-free romp with a merry
child, but he meets the most distinguished
scientist with the gravest dignity.

In any discussion of his own work, Mr.
Burbank likes best of all to have specific,
definite questions asked. The answers come
without hesitation and in clear, understandable

language. From time to time, when he first . :

began selling his new creations, he issued
catalogues descriptive of new fruits and
flowers. They were models of their kind and

greatly enjoyed by people in all quarters of :

308

Cultivating the mammoth pieplant. Some leaves are three to four
feet across. Mr. Burbank is the central figure

HIS PERSONALITY

the globe. Captivating in their style and
alluring in their contents, they were never
marred by overstatement of excellencies. One
is constantly struck by the clarity of his con-
versation and the freshness and vividness of
his lariguage, and, while this has usually been
the gift of all great scientific thinkers, it is es-
pecially noteworthy in this instance because of
the fact that while he was well grounded in
rudiments and has read widely, he has not had
the exhaustive literary training of the schools.

He closed one of the very few public
addresses he has ever given, in this wise; the
words are characteristic:

*“Who can estimate the elevating and refin-
ing influences and moral value of flowers, with

all their graceful forms and bewitching shades

and combinations of colors and exquisitely
varied perfumes? These silent influences are
unconsciously felt even by those who do not
appreciate them consciously, and thus with

better and still better fruits, nuts, grains and ©

flowers will the earth be transformed, man’s
thoughts turned from the base, destructive
forces into the. nobler productive ones, which
will lift him to higher planes of action toward

309

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

that happy day when man shall offer his

brother man, not bullets and bayonets, but
richer grains, better fruits and fairer flowers.

‘These lines were penned among the heights
of the Sierras, while resting on the original
material from which this planet was made.
Thousands of ages have passed, and it still
remains unchanged. In it no fossils or any
trace of past organic life are ever found, nor
could any exist, for the world-creative heat
was too intense. Among these dizzy heights
of rock, ice-cleft, glacier-plowed and water-
worn, we stand face to face with the first and
latest pages of world creation, for now we see
also tender and beautiful flowers adding grace
of form and color to the grisly walls, and far
away down the slopes stand the giant trees,
oldest of all living things, embracing all of
human history; but even their lives are but as
a watch-tick since the stars first shone on
these barren rocks, before the evolutive forces
had so gloriously transfigured the face of our
planet home.”

At the dedication of a park which had been
given to the children of a neighboring town,
in the suburbs of San Francisco, in memory

310

ee

Pen

HIS PERSONALITY

of a child of the donor, Mr. Burbank made an
address which I may briefly quote from as

indicative not only of his devotion to children

but of his ability to express a_ beautiful
thought in graceful fashion:
*T love sunshine, the blue sky, trees, flowers,

mountains, green meadows, sunny brooks, the
ocean when its waves softly ripple along the

sandy beach, or when pounding the rocky

cliffs with its thunder and roar, the birds of
‘the field, waterfalls, the rainbow, the dawn,

the noonday, and the evening sunset,— but

children above them all. Trees, plants,
flowers, they are always educators in the right

direction, they always make us happier and
better, and, if well grown, they speak of loving
care and respond to it as far as is in their
power; but in all this world there is nothing so
appreciative as children,—these sensitive, quiv-
ering creatures of sunshine, smiles, showers
and tears.”

I may not better illustrate one phase of this
many-sided man than to say, on the testimony
of a friend, that the first time he looked upon
the noble sweep of the Yosemite Valley he
did not go into an ecstasy of expletives, but

311

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

stood apart with his eyes filled with tears; or

to note that he counts no day completed in
which he has not said a cheery good-morning
to his aged mother, now faring near the
century line, looked after her with the utmost
devotion during all its hours, and tenderly
kissed her good-night at the going down of the

sun, even though she sees such acts but dimly |

through the long mists of the years.

I have talked with many townsmen of this
man, those who have known him in lean
seasons when struggle was constant and the
current. strong, in other days when the praise
of the world flowed high but never to sub-
merge him; and never a one but has been
quick with the deep, strong words of praise
for their townsman and neighbor,—not one
but who, in quaint, crude words or more elabo-
rate phrase, has pronounced him a man whose
life stands above reproach, whose character is
of the noblest type, whose heart is overflowing
with that kindness that ever makes for malice
toward none and charity for all. It sometimes
happens that a man assigned by the world to

a high position is held in scant esteem by

the common people among whom he lives;
312

i

HIS PERSONALITY

but 1 venture to say no man in public or
"private life has arisen who holds so high a

~ place in the affection of his neighbors and

_ fellow townsmen as this man, whom they have
come to regard as the incarnation of the

: highest and best in human life. Whoso holds

_ this praise’ too high shall but stay some days

in the fair little city of Santa Rosa, a very

_ bower of roses in a valley of beauty set in
_ the midst of the emerald hills, and from day

_ to day make search for one who shall be

- out of harmony with these words. Or whoso
_ wishes to know how deeply he impresses
_ those who see him but for an hour or a day,

by the sincerity of his speech and the win-
someness of his welcome, let him search

_ among the tens of thousands who have paid

him call, be they high of rank or humble,
and see if he may find one among them
who does not say:

**He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.”

So insistent are the demands of his work,—

_ for there is no time in the year when some

test is not in progress requiring immediate
and personal attention,—his vacations are few
313

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

in number and of short duration. In thirty- —
five years he has not taken a vacation of a —
month’s time at one period. He has never —
visited the East but three times, and then ~
only on hurried trips. He has been invited to ©
go to Europe to be the guest of prominent —
scientific men, but he has never been able to
accept on account of the length of time he —
would be compelled to remain away from —
his work. His recreations are few in number, —
but no one finds keener enjoyment than he ~
in such ones as he chooses,—a small party —
of jolly friends, a visit to some friend in a —
near-by town, a romp with a little child, a day’s —
wandering, at rare intervals, amidst the city’s —
kaleidoscopic scenes, a long, strong tramp up —

the mountains, a day at the sea of which —
_ he is so passionately fond,— these are his chief

stands for recuperation in the long, hard battle.

And yet it is not a wholly apt figure; for
his life is rather one series of noble triumphs, ~
all adding to the sum of human happiness. —

He is particularly fond of the society of

young people, and he is held in the highest —
esteem by them; with them he steadily —
renews his youth; he is of the type that never —

314

HIS PERSONALITY

grows old. All manner of fun appeais to
him, but no fun,—so called,—over which
there is not spread the sweetest delicacy.
In all his relations with others he is charac-
terized by a winning gentleness. And yet he
is swiftly roused at any show of deceit or
sham. Kindliness, charity, modesty, tender-
ness; intuition; enormous capacity for work ;
unswerving devotion to a friend; intense
absorption; unwearying application; steadfast-
ness in his adherence to the right no matter
how others may oppose, but with chivalrous

tolerance of those who differ; a broad, cheerful

outlook upon life, ever seeking to find the
good and ignore the evil; a wide, deep
sympathy for all that makes for uprightness
in individual, civic and national life;—above
all, the subtle soul of a poet joined to the
throbbing heart of a man: these are among
the attributes that mark the personality of
‘Luther Burbank.

At times he is much given to epigrammatic
speech: these are among many expressions:

“No man ever did a great work for hire.”

“T hope that no one will ever be worse for
my having lived

315

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

“Tgnorance is the only unpardonable sin.”

“The man who cannot say no, never gets
the opportunity to say yes.”

“The greatest happiness in the world is to
make others happy; the next greatest is to
make them think.” |

On the wall above his head where he sits at
meat is a little placard which reads—the
words from Emerson:

“Write it on your heart that every day is

the best day in the year. . . . No man has —
learned anything rightly until he knows that
every day is Doomsday. . . . Today is a

king in disguise. Today always looks mean to —
the thoughtless, in the face of a uniform
experience that all good and great and happy
actions are made up precisely of those blank —
todays. Let us not be deceived, let us unmask
the king as he passes.”

No man could have done all the marvelous —
acts he has accomplished in the ennoblement —
. of the earth unless he had had a deep, passion- —
ate love for all that is beautiful. Not all the —
years of unremitting study and research and —
tremendous toil have dulled, in the slightest
degree, this love for the beautiful, whether it

316

Mr. Burbank pollinating the blossoms of a plum tree

I found in nature, or poetry, or art, or music,
or in the rare blossoming of a human life.

st of his lifework; the world will never be
same again, after his having lived in it; it
_have sustained an irreparable loss on the

317

CHAPTER XX
ce THE PLAN BOOKS

r is doubtful if there is a single scien-

tific man among the hundreds from this
country and Europe, who have visited Mr.
Burbank since his work became more widely
known, or a single person among the many
thousands of casual visitors, who ever heard
of his plan books.

In conversation with a university pro-
fessor who was much interested in Mr.
Burbank’s work, but who, in common with
some others, doubted if he were “scientific,”
this question was put to him by a layman:

“Tf a man have great imagination, re-
markable intuition, deep and wide knowledge,
persistence, absolute sincerity; and if this
man accomplishes what no other man or set
of men has ever accomplished in a given
department in the molding of old and the
creating of new forms of life,—is this the
furnishing of a scientific man?”

318

THE PLAN BOOKS

in part,—such a man should logically
e a scientist; but the records, how can he
ablish that what he has accomplished came
8 clearly defined lines? In other words,
; he ample and well-authenticated notes
z ind data to prove that what he says is true?”
_ “Jn answer, suppose that you have first
his word for it that he has accomplished
_ everything in certain definite ways,—
“Yes,” comes the interruption, “that is
the point, his word for it. Now, he may
be absolutely honest, but ordinary men for-
get, they are influenced at a given point
here their memory is not clear by something
outside,— they become misty and they
“a tell how far they may be led astray.
: I find more and more in class-room work
ind in preparing material for publication,
that I cannot rely upon memory.’
_ “But suppose it is not an ordinary man,
one who does not forget, who has a memory
as marvelous as his works?”
q “Granted; but let him try to prove that
he followed a given course. How would Mr.
ant for example, prove to me that he
aie certain steps in a given test?”

319

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

Then came a consideration of the plan
books of Mr. Burbank, the most curiously
interesting documents perhaps ever kept by
a scientific man, a complete refutation in
themselves of the doubter;—the professor
had never heard of them.

While these plan books were designed with
no thought of scientific record as such, and

are by no means such elaborate records as —
would have been kept had completeness been

the aim, they are essentially and consistently —

scientific. They are a signal refutation of

the contentions of a good many scientific men,
who, like the university professor, have been

unstinted in their praise of Mr. Burbank’s
achievements, but who have been unable to

see their way clear to admit him to their —
charmed circle. Truth to say, though, in —
passing, they were all unaware that he, like ©
all really great men in science, dwelt apart, —

beyond the walls of precedent and far across
the stagnant moat of mere scientific record.
These plan books are a clear, adequate,

comprehensive record of the chief events in —

the life history of every test of importance —

Mr. Burbank has undertaken. They are not
320

THE PLAN BOOKS

as full or as complete as he could have wished;
time was not given and money was not at
hand to provide for the recording of all the
interesting minor details. It must steadily
be borne in mind that this great work has
been carried on at a constant financial loss,
and that every available cent of money has
been required for the actual expenses of
the tests themselves. Still, in addition to all
the demands upon him, he has kept up these
plan book records year in and year out;
recording in them step by step the essential
larger details of the life he has been molding.

While they are curiously constructed, as
unique as the man, they are definite, accurate,
indisputable, scientific.—the most devoted
adherent to scientific nomenclature could not
have been more conscientiously accurate.
Naturally, they were not made for the general
public. They form a private record of the
life history of the plants under test so pecu-
liarly constructed, even though absolutely
logical in their sequences, they would, in
great part, be unintelligible without inter-
pretation to any but the one who made them.

Mr. Burbank is in the midst of a great

321

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

test. Events of supreme importance in the
many tests under way are happening,— things
move with relentless rapidity. Certain data
must be at once recorded. He has a paste-
board box at hand—he tears it to pieces,
and on its brown surface in a bold, strong
hand he makes his notation ; or it may be on
the back of an old envelope, or it may
be in the field note-book he always carries in
the midst of such work,— it matters not what
the medium, the record is the thing, and it
is made with all haste. It may be the turn
certain sets of leaves are taking, departing in
the hybrid from the ways of their ancestors ;
it may be the size or color or texture or
date of ripening, or ultimate rejection of a
fruit; it may be a record of the shape of its
seed-cavity or an outline of its hemisphere ;
or it may be a note as to the tree trunk’s
development, or its departure from the normal,
or some point of importance in the history
of a graft, or the acidity, or sweetness, or
uniqueness of the fruit itself. It may be the
date of the opening of a flower, the length
of its petals, the shape they assume, the height
of the stalk upon a given date, the details of

322

THE PLAN BOOKS

its ancestry showing how and when its parents
were bred and their names and those of their
own forbears. So it goes throughout the
whole life history of a given plant, be it
berry or flower or tree or vine. All the facts
are accompanied by dates, nothing is left
to conjecture.

Sometimes the field record is transferred
to the regular plan book, sometimes the
information is preserved in its original form
and placed between the leaves of the plan
book, which holds many such loose sheets.
A whole page in the plan book may contain
data as to one test, sometimes continued to
another page. The book for the Sebastopol
tests is a large ledger nearly two feet in
length. Any one of the pages containing
data as to a given test is curiously interesting.
It is covered from top to bottom with
writing, dates and diagrams. These diagrams,
or it may be mere ellipses or circles to enclose
certain related facts, are usually drawn in
red ink in the midst of the text. They may
run out into the margin of the book, or they
may be in the body of the page. They are
irregular in form and location. They are, how-

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

ever, like a high-school scholar’s grammar
diagram, all logically connected. The page
itself presents a strangely crowded effect, a
veritable maze. I considered a sample page
somewhat in detail, and found that it had
forty distinct diagrams and figures and: over
six hundred words of text. Page after page
of this matter appears. From time to time
additions are made as the plant progresses.
When the final test comes and the plant is
finished, heavy cross-lines are drawn over the
page—the end has been reached. |

On one page is a large circle perhaps seven
inches across. It represents the branch-spread
of a tree. All over the circle are jottings
showing where certain grafts are located on
the tree, so that there can be no mistake. On
the grafts, too, may be notations in the form
of tags, but the record of the plan book shows
absolutely where the graft is,—if the tag be
lost, the record remains. Sometimes the nota-
tions are so many upon a page that the writing
is well-nigh microscopic inside certain tiny
squares that are drawn in red or black ink.
Here are kept, too, absolute data as to cross-
ings in hybridization. The parents on. both

$24

._ THE PLAN BOOKS

and their ancestry and the essential life

ory of the progeny are given; nothing is
ft to chance. Many a scientific man has
en utterly at a loss to know how this man
ew what he was doing: this is the first
blic mention ever made of the manner by
eh he makes the records which scientific
have believed lacking.

circles, all connected with each other and
ntaining but a few words to each, showing
how a certain plant has been bred up and
what important facts developed in the course
its history. These diagrams are in red ink
id the writing in pencil or black ink. When
> end of a test is nearing and a certain plant
has been selected,—it may be from among a
hundred thousand, as the one best of all,—its
record is accompanied by one or more large
double crosses marked in deep black ink, which
ows that this one plant is superior to all
ers.
_ When a fruit, for example, has reached the
_ point that it appears to be worthy of record,—
Be ny be a peach, chosen from ten thousand

325

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

seedlings or hybrids,—a page is given up to it.

Here the method of record is extremely
interesting and novel. The fruit is cut in half
and laid in its fresh, juicy state upon the upper
left-hand corner of the sheet. It is pressed
firmly down upon the paper and a pencil is

drawn around it, defining absolutely its size.

There is no recourse here to a photograph or
to a sketch,—he is after absolute fact, and the
fruit is the fact. Another rapidly drawn line
on the inside discloses the seed-cavity. I have
seen one of these records where the stain of
the fresh fruit had remained upon the paper
for five years.

In the upper right-hand corner of the sheet
is a name, some strange whimsical name which
is used to identify the fruit until such time as
it shall come up before the world in finished
shape for its final christening. For a long
time Mr. Burbank tried using numbers, but
this proved impracticable, not only because of
the liability to mistakes in transcribing but
because the numbers became so large, on
account of the extent of the tests, that they
were unwieldy. One mistake in a number, also,
might be fatal to the whole test. Again and

326

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An.
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THE PLAN BOOKS

again in these plan books appears tne same
persistent adherence to accuracy, indeed to
scientific accuracy, if you will, a supreme
devotion to the definite. So, numbers not
proving satisfactory, he took fantastic names.
Sometimes it is the name of a workman who
is near at hand when the test is being made of
record, but more often a peculiarity of the
fruit or flower itself. Here are some names
selected from among many:

“Long Nose,” “Pan Sweet,” “Jim,” “The
Best Yet,” “Christmas Giant,” “Hill Top
Sweet,” “Weeping Yellow,” “Rice Seed,”
“Snowball,” “Old Juicy,” “Beauty,” ‘“Left-
over Sweet,” “Miracle,” “Giant,” “Climax.”

Now and then upon some page will appear
at the end of a test two words; they sum up
the results of perhaps a dozen years of testing:
“No good.” No matter how attractive or how
nutritious a new fruit, if it has failed to come
up to, and go a little beyond the fruits from
which it was bred, it must be rejected, and
the two words of supreme condemnation must
stand forever against it.

As an illustration of the data on a given
test, it may be noted that upon one sheet

327

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

devoted to a flower there were notes as to the
character and substance of the petals; the
number of the petals; the width of the whole
flower; width of a single petal and its length
measured to the one-sixteenth of an inch; the
width of the central disc from which the petals
spring, with its color; the average of a given
number of blossoms; points as to the stem
growth; and so on; with dates of observations
and the like. For the next season there were
similar notations showing what changes had
taken place in the upward movement of the
plant. One page was devoted to data as to
a certain fruit,—when its buds appeared, when
they began to swell, when they burst open,
when the flowers came, when the fruit started,
when it ripened, peculiarities and irregularities,
and the like. On a page devoted to a certain
lily test are close and accurate data as to the
shape of the bulb at a given period, the
description of the scales, their character, all
the essential facts as to the condition at vari-
ous stages of the test. Here and there will
be other notations under date showing what
other allied plants were doing at the same
day, noted down for comparison

328

THE PLAN BOOKS

On a work of such colossal scale another
_ point of definiteness can not be overlooked,—
_ the precise location of the various plants
under test. For this purpose there are concise
_ memoranda showing where each selected plant
is growing. Sometimes it will be a certain
_ direction in so many feet from some certain
_ fixed monument, as a tree, or a fence-post, or
_ the corner of a conservatory, or what not.
_ The plant, when it is finally chosen from
_ among its thousands of fellows, is given a
_ white streamer of cloth to distinguish it, and
_ there are the usual inscribed stakes to
identify it, but any of these might be de-
_ stroyed and the plan books contain the
definite means for determining just where
_ the plant is growing. When so very many
_ tests are under way at the same time and
the aggregate number of the selected plants
is so large, it becomes necessary to have pre-
cision and definiteness in some indisputable
form.

Now and again, sheets will be found in
_ which the stages of a plant’s progress are
indicated by large capital letters—A B C,
_ and so on—distributed over the page and serv-

329

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

ing as quick guides to lead to any given step

in the test. Everywhere throughout the plan
books are notations showing the retrogression
of a plant under test. Deficiencies no less than
excellencies must be noted, in order that the
life history may be complete. _

One of the most interesting pages is that
devoted to the cactus experiments, recording
the kinds of cactus under test, how they were

crossed, dates as to planting, points as to ©

development step by step, and the like. Some-

times it will take an entire page to give the
mere facts as to a plant’s ancestry, showing in —
regular sequence the hybridizing steps it has —
taken, the region of the world from which it

came, and the like.

The plan book for the preliminary tests at
Santa Rosa, where much of the work has its
beginning, is smaller than the Sebastopol book

but none the less interesting. Here are re-
corded the earlier life-history events when the ~
seeds are being sown and transplanted. Some ~
of the pages of this book are an intricate maze ~
of notations and diagrams, all presenting a ~
bewildering mass of data to the on-looker but ~
all clear and definite and instantly available tog fi

830

fi

:

+

THE PLAN BOOKS

the man who made the records. In some
eases the data of the Santa Rosa books are
even more minute and particular than those
of the larger tests.

Mr. Burbank has a good many such books
as these, covering the experiments of many
years, embracing many thousands of words of
notation. For some years when he was
struggling to make both ends meet, he tested
seeds for eastern dealers, receiving ten cents
for each variety tested. This was work re-
quiring accuracy and record of the strictest
type: like his records of after years, it was
scientifically and commercially exact.

It will be seen, the more closely one studies
the scope and sweep of this great work, that
accuracy of record on essentials is imperative.
A single error in this would throw out of gear,
so to speak, the whole machinery of a test.
The creator of the new fruit or vegetable or
flower would be utterly unable to tell whether
he was proceeding upon definite lines or
running through a whole series haphazard,
intermixing everywhere into other tests and
rendering the whole invalid. First and above
all, in a work of breeding carried on upon a

331

NEW CREATIONS..IN PLANT LIFE

small scale, accuracy of record must be had;
how much greater the need when the scope of
the work transcends that of all the plant-
breeders who have preceded him. A hint of
the diversity that develops in a given test and
a suggestion of the forces that must be kept in
control and whose movements must be noted
are seen in the fact that as much as a pint of
pollen has been used in cross-fertilizing the
flowers in a single lily test. The pollen from
one flower would be not more than could be

held upon the tip of a pen-knife blade, yet 4

every one of the hundreds of thousands of
plants that come from this gigantic crossing
must come under the eye of the one who
created them. )

It should also be borne in mind that
thousands of photographs have been made in
the midst of the tests, and, while not so
complete as the photographic records under
the new order of things, they are yet im-
portant data in establishing the sequence of
events. With the provision of ampler funds
for the carrying on of the work, details will
be recorded much more completely and the
records will prove invaluable, both scien-

832

j
.

al

THE PLAN BOOKS

tifically and economically. But they will not
be more strictly scientific, even in the eyes
of the academician, than these records which
have been kept of leading events in the life
history of some of the most wonderful plants
that even were given birth upon the earth.
If Mr. Burbank had taken time to answer
every criticism of his work or methods made
by pseudo-scientific men of inadequate
knowledge, he would have wasted many days
that have been given to the ennoblement of
the physical earth upon lines as strictly
scientific as those followed by the most dis-
tinguished scientists of this or any other.
century. But as real scientists have come to
know the man and to study his methods,
they have not hesitated to give him as great
honor for his scientific attainments as for his
marvelous accomplishments for the welfare

_ of the race. I do not know that Mr. Burbank

ever told any scientific man who ever visited
him that he kept these plan books. It is
more than likely that he never mentioned the
fact; it is only an incident in his lifework.
No doubt, had he given the matter thought,
telling the scientific men that such records

333

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

existed, it would have been welcome informa-

tion, an earnest to them of the scientific
attainments of the man.

But the fact that he has kept records,—
absolute and academic, if you will, even if
far less complete than he would have wished,—
this is not what gives him place in the ranks
of scientists. To find reason for this rank we
must look beyond the recording of data. Any
man with keen eyes and a note-book may
make records—the discovery of new truths
and the interpretation of old ones, the de-
struction of errors, the illumination of earth’s
secret places, the extension of human knowl-
edge,—these lie beyond. |

334

sostyeulajo puqAy s[qnop Maj vy} Jo 9uO

Ta ee ee

i)

CHAPTER XXI
THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

OOKING backward over the achieve-
ments of Mr. Burbank, one might natu-

, rally be led to ask, What of the inner life of

the man; has it, too, shown marked lines of
development ?
The physical life of the world has been

- changed by him as perhaps no other man
_ who has ever lived has changed it. In his

study of the subtler life of Nature he has
arrived at conclusions and developed theories
and disproved so-called laws in so significant
a manner as to entitle him to consideration

among the foremost thinkers of his generation.

_ No man, however prosaic by Nature, could
share Mr. Burbank’s life-long series of ex-
periments in plant improvement and _ plant
creation without being more or less attracted
to and influenced by the inner life of Nature—

; the subtle, intangible, but none the less real

life upon which man has been building
335

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

theories and laying out laws since the dawn
of creation. To Mr. Burbank himself, with
his highly organized, sensitive, intellectual life
and his intense imagination, these subtle
forces of Nature have been of absorbing
interest. Through the light of experience he
has seen with refined vision far into the
strange, deep life whose outward manifesta-
tions have been the field of his life- work.
_ He has not studied in an extensive and
expensive laboratory, nor confined himself
to the comfortable atmosphere of a conserva- —
tory. In point of fact, he has had no
laboratory at all, save that of the earth and —
the air and the sun. He has lived among no
spectacular surroundings. He has had the
seeds, he has had the generations of plants,
he has had the earth; he has used these seeds —
and these plants and the earth as no man —
ever used them before.
The result has been that not only has ne —
produced all these wonderful forms of life, —
but that, through the study of the imner —
life of Nature, he has arrived at conclusions
radically different from some of those which
may have been matured in the gentle atmos-

336

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

phere of the laboratory, or in the calm
- seclusion of the library. He has not been
_ attempting to formulate any laws. He has
- not set out to overturn the conceptions of
other men. He has carried forward his work
with passionate eagerness for the truth. His
creative work has been for the good of
the world; his studies have also been for
the welfare of man, never for the glorification
of self. They have never been entered into
with the spirit of the academician, or with
any preconceived theories waiting to be
put into laws. Plain, old-fashioned truth.
has been his seeking: If, in reaching the goal,
he has been obliged to cast aside some of
the impedimenta of the scientists, it has not
been in anger, but because of haste.

Very early in his career, even when he had
but begun his preliminary business life, two
words ever rang in his ears, How? and Why?
Day by day he sent these words forward
into the hidden realm of Nature, and day by
day they came back to him laden with
answers. How came it that a certain plant
upon which he was conducting a given
experiment had gathered to itself certain

337

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

attributes through centuries of life, while, at
the same time, as steadily rejecting other
attributes ; just as successive generations of a
given family gather and reject certain family
traits? How much of it was heredity, how
much of it environment, how much a direct
mingling of these two, how much, if any,
could be traced to neither?

And then the other word, Why? Why
was all this done, and why was it all so
persistently veiled from human eyes?

In the midst of the exacting toil as he
worked among his plants, this constant study
of Nature broadened his mind. Year by year
his sight became more refined, his knowledge
deeper. He read much upon the subject,
particularly Darwin. He made the most
careful study of the conclusions reached by
other men who had sought for the secrets
of Nature’s life, and how they came to these
conclusions. Sometimes noting that certain
improbable conclusions had been reached
from certain premises, he set to work to
discover the soundness of the premises, only
to find that they were unsafe to trust. He
early discovered, also, that some of the men

338

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

whose rank was highest in the departments
of science most nearly related to his work
came to their conclusions from inadequate
data. 2

For example, one man would arrive at a
certain conclusion, or law, if he chose so to
designate it, from the facts developed in a
series of experiments with a dozen plants,
carried on in a garden or a conservatory.
Possibly, from the study of these plants,
their habits, their changes under breeding
and selection, these conclusions would be
held absolute and applicable to a far wider
field than that in which these few individuals
were found. Working with the same plant,
a flower or a fruit as the case might be,
Mr. Burbank arrived at absolutely opposite
conclusions. But, in place of a dozen plants,
he used a hundred thousand; in place of
a corner in a garden or a narrow space under
the glass of a hothouse, he used an acre
of ground in the open; in place of a dozen
distinct plants from which to make con-
clusions, he dealt with over two thousand
species; and thus he was able to command
an outlook broader than man had ever

339

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

had before. Willing at all points to yield the
moment he was convinced of error, it was
yet inevitable that his own sound judgment
should tell him that when his vast experi-
ments developed results diametrically opposed
to the results of the scientists working in
circumscribed quarters, he was bound to
stand by his own. Twelve plants in a given
test might do certain things in concert and
thus apparently establish a law, but a hundred
thousand plants, indeed, sometimes a million
plants, in the same test by developing ab-
solutely contrary conclusions, utterly set
at naught the significance of the twelve.
This may very clearly be seen in the results

of his observations along the lines of the
so-called Mendelian Laws.

Mendel, a parish priest in Briin, Austria,
a devoted student of botany, prepared a
paper in the year 1865 in which he showed,
as a result of his years of investigation, that
certain laws were bound to obtain in the
breeding of plants. When two peas, for
example, were crossed, two prevailing sets
of characters or characteristics were developed.
One of these he called “dominant,” certain

340

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THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

prominent characteristics of the parent dis-
closed in the offspring, as color of flower,
length of stem, shape of leaves, form of seed,
arrangement of flowers, and so on. Certain
other parental characters he called “recessive,”
appearing in lesser number in the new
plant, or disappearing altogether. These char-
acteristics appeared in the offspring in an
invariable ratio, that of three to one. Seventy-
five per cent of the characters of the new
plant,—form, color, development and so on,
would be “dominant,” twenty-five per cent
would be “recessive.” The recessive char-
acters thereafter bred true, but the dominant
ones produced progeny one-third genuine
dominant,—which also bred true to their
own type, and two-thirds cross-breeds, the
latter, when self-fertilized, giving out the
old ratio of seventy-five per cent “dominant”
characters, twenty-five per cent “recessive.”

These “laws,” so-called, would provide
means for determining in advance what
results would follow in the breeding of
plants; and, if carried forward into animal-
breeding, would be of inconceivable value.
Quite generally throughout Europe these

341

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

laws have been accepted by the scientific
world. |
Over and over .again, through a series
of many years, dealing with millions of
plants and upon a scale which dwarfs all
other experimentation, Mr. Burbank has
disproved these laws. In the street in front
of his home in Santa Rosa stands a row of
~ walnut trees, already referred to. These may
be taken as a fair illustration of the manifold
facts bearing on the points which have been
developed by him. Instead of following any _
set proportion or ratio, the parental character-
istics appeared in the children with absolutely
no regard for law or even order, while many
new characters were developed. ‘Thousands
of different forms were assumed by the leaves,
for example, absolutely unlike the forms
of the parent leaves. The nuts which came
from the new trees were often wholly unlike
those of either parent ; indeed, very frequently,
they were wholly different from any walnuts
ever known before. Sometimes there were
five leaves on a stem, sometimes twenty or
thirty, sometimes fifty. Many assumed, too,
a most delicious fragrance, a character wholly

342

hey

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

lacking in either of their forebears. Nor
did the new trees show any similarity in
growth to the old, a new tree in thirteen
years having grown six times as large of
girth and six times as tall as the parents had
grown in twenty-eight years.

Here, as in hundreds of cases all through
his career, the so-called laws have been
absolutely disproven by the evidence accu-
mulating in the tests carried on upon so
colossal a scale. The old laws were announced
upon much such reasoning as this: Here
are ten or twenty or even a hundred men;
a certain number of them will yield to
temptation of a certain type, a certain other
per cent will stand fast: seventy-five of
a hundred children born of vicious parents
will grow up scoundrels, twenty-five per
cent saints. The instances, for illustration,
develop as predicted, but outside the hundred
examples lie ten million others, influenced,
as in the case of Mr. Burbank’s plants, by
a million hereditary tendencies and a million
events of environment leading to totally
different ends, setting at naught the inferences
to be drawn from the hundred.

343

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

He would welcome, with the eagerness
of any lover of truth, any confirmation of
law, for his whole life is pledged to law.
He had no ulterior purpose in disproving
the Mendelian laws: in point of fact, he
had disproved them over and over again
years before he knew they existed.

Mr. Burbank, in another instance, has

brought to light the absurdity of reasoning —

from inadequate data. Leading scientists
have maintained, and their followers have
added the weight of their evidence, that
“acquired characteristics are never trans-
mitted.” In the limitless fields of operation
before him, Mr. Burbank has not only
disproven this over and over again, but
has established the, opposite, that acquired
characteristics are the only ones that are
transmitted.

Another theory, now widely accepted by
scientific men, the theory of mutation, or
saltation, new forms of life being produced
by springing from the parents by a sudden
leap or bound, evolution thus going on by
rare and sudden leaps, appears to have been
overthrown by Mr. Burbank. Instead of

344

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS —

any law or other force governing these
peculiar mutations,— which mutations, it has
been held, produce new and stable varieties
from which Nature selects those which are
fitj— Mr. Burbank, times without number,
has produced these strange mutations at
will. They can be produced, he says, by
anybody who systematically sets to work to
disturb the life habits of the plants. Thus
the peculiar phenomena which scientific ob-
servers on a small field have so sedulously
studied, and have at last come to consider
the result of a supreme act of Nature, are
entirely within the province of any market-
gardener or amateur plant-breeder. In ad-
dition to this, he has demonstrated that
that which the scientists have called mutations
are not periods in the plant life at all, but
only states or conditions, the result of heredi-
tary tendencies and environments.

Putting the matter in condensed form
he says:

“By crossing different species we can form
more variations and mutations in a_ half
dozen generations than will be developed by
ordinary variations in a thousand generations.”

345

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

It is but natural that out of all the
intimate relationship he has borne to Nature
and out of all his many years of intense
study of her inner life upon so grand a scale,
he should have reached certain well-defined
theories. One of these pertains to heredity,
a term at best vague, which has been loosely
held. Out of the years of his investigations,
carried on upon such a colossal scale, he has
established the principle that heredity is
“the sum of all the effects of all the en-
vironment of all past generations, on the re- —
sponsive, ever-moving life forces; or, in other
words, a record kept by the vital Principle
of its struggle onward and upward from
simple forms of life; not vague in any re-
spect, but indelibly fixed by repetition.”

He condenses this into the statement:
Heredity is the sum of all past environment.

Heredity now becomes something far
different from what it had before been held
to be. “Every plant, animal and planet,” he
holds, “occupies its place in the order of
Nature by the action of two forces,—the
inherent constitutional life-force with all its
acquired habits, the sum of which is heredity ;

346

‘THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS .

and the many complicated outside forces or
environments. To guide the interaction of
these two forces, both of which are only
different expressions of the one_ eternal
force, is, and must be, the sole object of the
breeder, whether of plants or animals.”

He speaks of a vital Principle. He does
not attempt to establish its essence or
identity, but he says:

“When simple cells become joined together,
mutual protection is assured, and we know
that they exhibit ‘organized forces in new
directions which were impossible by any
of the individual cells not associated in a
cell-colony with its fellows. These cell-
colonies will, if environment is _ favorable,
increase in strength, while colonies less favor-
ably situated may be crippled or destroyed.
We see this natural selection in all life, every
day all around us. But this is only one of
the many forces at work in the upward,
outward and onward movement of life.”

Other men who have gone deeply into
the inner life of Nature have given the
world elaborate systems by which to account
for and interpret many of the acts of Nature.

347

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

It seems but fair to say that very much of
these systems has been built up upon a
slender base of experimentation. From his
unparalleled opportunities of observation he
arrives at certain conclusions. He does not —
ignore the Survival of the Fittest or the
principles of Natural Selection, but he goes
beyond them. The grand principal cause
of all existing species and varieties of earth,
sea and air, he holds to be the Crossing of
Species. Upon this point he says:

“The very existence of the higher orders
of plants which now inhabit the earth has
been secured to them only by their power
of adaptation to crossings, for through the
variations produced by the combination of
numerous tendencies, individuals are _ pro-
duced which are better endowed to meet
the prevailing conditions of life. Thus, to
Nature’s persistence in crossing do we owe
all that earth now produces in man, animals
or plants; and this magnificently stupendous
fact may also be safely carried into the
domain of. chemistry as well; for what are
common air and water but Nature’s earlier
efforts in that line, and our nourishing foods

348

The improved everlasting flower to be used in millinery

ag ee He eee

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

but the result of myriad complex chemical
affinities of later date ?

“Past tendencies must fade somewhat

as the new ones are added, and as each
individual has ancestors in untold numbers,
and as each is bound to the other like the

numerous threads of a fabric, individuals
within a species, by thus having very numer-
ous similar lines of heredity, are very much
alike; yet no two are just alike. Cross two
species and see what the results will be:
Sharp mutations and variations appear, not
in the first generation, as the two are bound
together in a mutual compact, which, when
unloosed by the next and succeeding gep-
erations, will branch in every direction as
the myriad different lines of heredity combine
and press forward in various new directions.
A study of plants or animals belonging to
widely different species and even genera
which have been under similar environment
for a long time will always show a similarity
in many respects in the various means they
are compelled to adopt for defense in the
preservation and reproduction of life. Desert
plants often have thorns, acrid qualities and

349 -

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

reduced foliage surface, while in moist cl-
mates thorns are seldom seen, and foliage
is more abundant and not so often acrid
or distasteful. Similar environments produce
similar results on the life-forces, even with
the most distantly related plants or animals.
This fact alone should be proof enough,
if proof were still needed, that acquired
characters are transmitted, even though in
opposition to numerous popular theories.
All characters which are transmitted have
once been acquired. The life-forces are con- —
stantly pressing forward to obtain any space
which can be occupied, and if they find
an open avenue, always make use of it,
as far as heredity will allow.”

In this new century the new man comes,
discarding the narrow canvases of the studios,
and, upon the great canvas of the earth’
itself, he traces the supreme function of
Nature, the Crossing of Species; and with
this, the working of a vital Principle eternally
recording Heredity, that sum of all past
environments. He sees all Motion, all Life,
all Force, all so-called Matter, following the
same law of heredity in plant- and animal-

350

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS

hfe, 2 forward movement toward attractions,
through lines of least resistance.

Summing up, he says:

“My theory of the laws and underlying
principles of plant creation is, in many
respects, opposed to the theories of the
materialists. I am a sincere believer in a
higher power than man’s. All my investi-
gations have led me away from the idea of
a dead material universe tossed about by
various forces, to that of a universe which
is absolutely all force, life, soul, thought, or
whatever name we may choose to call it.
Every atom, molecule, plant, animal or planet,
is only an aggregation of organized unit
forces, held in place by stronger forces, thus
holding them for a time latent, though
teeming with inconceivable power. All life

‘on our planet is, so to speak, just on the

outer fringe of this infinite ocean of force.
The universe is not half dead, but all alive.”

351

CHAPTER XXII
HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

ie it be difficult accurately to assign a man ~
to his final place in the world within a
generation, or even a century, of his death, it
is. far more difficult properly to locate him
while still in the flesh. At the same time, if
the deeds done have been apart from those of
other men, and of commanding significance,
without duplication in their sweep in history,
we may, by some consideration of his accom-
plishment and some setting forth of his men-
tal furnishing, fairly suggest something of the
estimate posterity may place upon him.
First among all other things, Luther Bur-
bank is unique among men in his knowledge
of Nature and in his manipulation and inter-
pretation of her forces. Other men have been
plant-breeders and have produced remarkable
results in improved fruits and flowers. They
have achieved a merited reputation; indeed, in
some cases this high reputation has passed on

352

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

{P into a certain measure of fame. Some of these
_ have been working along strictly scientific
| - lines, others have been enthusiastic horticul-
i} -_ turists or seedsmen, preéminently practical
: - using agencies to reach certain desired
| ends without thought of the rationale of their
| 4 emp instruments and methods, or any esti-
_ mate of the forces at work. These latter men
are artisans in plant-breeding, building in
"many a case beautiful and important works.
But Mr. Burbank has not only created

~ plants and improved them upon a colossal
* seale, but he has, at the same time, studied
_ nature with infinite patience and skill, observ-
i ing her manifestations, analyzing her laws,
and defining and interpreting her functions.
His life-work has been primarily two-fold in
_ its sweep: First, embracing the widest possible
service to the world; and, second, accomplish-
ing this service under the most exacting and
persistent adherence to scientific truth. He is,
in his department of life, scientist and philoso-
pher and plant-breeder and _horticulturist

_ bound into one. He has not confined his
' study, as other men have, to a narrow field.
_ All the great experiments he has carried on

353

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NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

are in a certain sense similar in character, but,
at the same time, each is different from each
other one and each one leads into new and
untrodden paths. He is preéminently an ob-
server as well as a man of rare intuition and
wonderful power of memory. He not only
notes those essentially obvious characteristics
which the average man may see, and assigns
them unerringly to their proper place, but he ~
looks further on and deeper into the subtler
‘life of nature and, as unerringly, assorts and
eliminates and assigns. He adds all these
manifestations of nature to the sum of all his
experiences, and from them all he draws for
his material for his own mental furnishing —
and equipment.
I have ridden with him over the road to
Sebastopol on fair winter days when the
earth was’ green and _ beautiful, and have
many a time been struck by the swiftness
with which he would turn from the dis-—
cussion of some deep problem of human —
life to note the peculiar brilliancy of the -
song of some early linnet in the hedge; or to
point out the fact that the crimson-winged ~
blackbird on the fence was tardy this season —

354

The re-created wild onion flower, Brodiwa capitata, changed from

a deep purple to purest white and greatly increased in size

Ling aa

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

in putting on his colors; or to call attention to

_ some peculiarity of a parasitical moss growing

upon a huge live-oak; or to point out how a
certain piece of roadmaking in progress should

_ be done to secure the best results for economy

or permanancy; or swiftly to note some geo-

logical sign along the way that proved the

theory that this beautiful valley hard by the
Pacific was an arm of the sea not longer ago
than the day in the winter of 1577 when Sir

Francis Drake, harassing many seas upon his

buccaneering voyages, sailed over the very
ground we were traveling over on his way up
the great bay of San Francisco. Then swiftly
backward his thoughts fly to the subject
under consideration,— perhaps the elusive but
fascinating phenomena that have their mani-
festation in the acts of the subliminal self, or
the curious coincidences of mental telepathy,
or the survival of the soul after death, or some
acute problem in sociology, or some topic

_broadly religious or humanitarian. In any

such discussion, one must steadily be impressed
by the clarity of his mental vision, by the
neatness and precision of his language, by the
cogency of his thought.

355

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

It has become the academic fashion to take
the ground that, unless a man is a man of
record, unless he keeps a close and systematic
note-book, so that at any given time he can
refer authoritatively to any given step in a
given research and show precisely what the
conditions and what the tendencies at that
moment, he cannot be classed a scientist. In
the unusual sweep of his lifework, unusual in
its results as well as in his understanding of its
inner life, Mr. Burbank has steadily set at

naught this contention. He has not kept such

records of his work as should have been kept,
—and no one better than himself knows and
laments this fact,—such records as his larger

opportunities now provide; but the keeping of ©

these records in the past would not have made
him a scientific man,—they are incidental,

even if important. He has not disdained rec- —

ords, he simply has not had time to make

them himself or money to hire others to make ~
them, and yet in his plan books, elsewhere

‘

j

noted,— books which probably not one man in ~

ten thousand who has visited him ever heard —

of,—he has been eminently scientific, even —

from the standpoint of the academician
356

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ee rs ee
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HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

But, in considering Mr. Burbank’s place

in the world, it must steadily be borne in
mind that he is primarily not a mere recorder
or reporter of facts. Two men stand in the
_ presence of a great historic event, it may
_ be the signing of a treaty for international
_ peace, or the elevation of a prelate of the
church, or the inauguration of a president,

or the crowning of the King in the historic
Abbey by the slow-moving Thames. One
man carries a camera, the most perfect of
its kind, ready to reproduce everything that
transpires, accurate to the verge of painfulness.
The other is making mental, and, so far as

may be, manual sketches upon paper, the

basis of future action; one is a photographer;
the other a painter. One gives a record of
the event, exact to a nicety, perfect in detail,
truthful in outward exposition, but as devoid
of soul as the sensitized plate upon which
the scene is printed; the other paints a

‘masterpiece in which the splendid scene

reappears in its proper perspective with
non-essentials eliminated, with essentials in
proportion, and, over all and through all,
the very soul and spirit of a noble historic

357

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

event. One records, the other creates; one
is the perfection of mechanism, the other
is the incarnation of truth; one is purely
and everlastingly material, the other is as
everlastingly spiritual.

The average so-called scientific man, the
one who has made the course of the uni-
versity with distinction, but who puts his
knowledge to no higher purpose than to record

certain facts which he accumulates and tries |

to set in logical sequence beyond certain
other facts, is an important man in the

construction of the framework of science, —

but, slightly to change the figure for con-
sistency’s sake, he is the photographer, the
recorder, while Mr. Burbank and every other
man along down the long line of noble
descent, the clans of Darwin and Spencer,
and Huxley and Tyndall,—is the painter,
the creator.

Reference has been made to Mr. Burbank’s
attitude toward modern education. It should
not be thought that, because he has not had

a university training, therefore he is inimical —

to such training. It is not the training in

itself that he antagonizes or deplores, but ~

358

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about one-fourth natural size

ie a Ee ie Te tina ee 02

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

the character. of the training, often, to his

mind, in the department to which he has
given his life, fatally deficient, tending toward
artificiality and veneer, as well as toward a

certain specialized one-sidedness. He _ has

taken his place in the world on this point
alongside many other men of prominence
who are now secretly or openly opposed to —
certain superficial tendencies in modern edu-
cational life, and stands for such a revision
of curricula as shall leave the average college
and university graduate master of certain
essential fundamentals of which too often
he is lamentably ignorant. In discussing the
moral and religious influence of science,
Herbert Spencer takes occasion to quote

- Tyndall on inductive inquiry, and the latter’s

words are so illustrative of the life of Mr.
Burbank that they are here quoted:
“Tnductive inquiry requires patient in-
dustry and an humble and conscientious
acceptance of what Nature reveals. The
first condition of success is an honest recep-
tivity and a _ willingness to abandon all
preconceived notions, however cherished, if
they be found to contradict the truth. Believe

359

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

me, a self-renunciation which has something.

noble in it, and of which the world never
hears, is often enacted in the private ex-
perience of the true votary of science.”

The recognition of Mr. Burbank was at.

first slow because he has steadfastly refrained
from courting publicity, but it has proceeded
upon steadily advancing lines. One of the
most satisfying public acts in his career so
far, because it was an act of his fellows, was
the striking of a gold medal in his honor,

in May, 1903; on the part of the California —

Academy of Sciences, a notable body of
western men. It was the date of the fiftieth
anniversary of the establishment of the
Academy. Mr. Burbank was chosen as the
one whom this commemoration medal should
honor. On the obverse of the medal are

~ the words:

California Academy of Aciences
Awarded to
Luther Burbank

For Meritorious Work in Developing Pew
Forms of Plant Wife. May 18, 1903

360

Bi

a PE Ce ee ee ee ne ee

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

On the reverse is a design of the goaaesses
Pomona and Flora placing a laurel wreath
upon the head of a young man engaged in
budding a fruit tree.

He has received visits from many of the
leading scientific men of two hemispheres,
who have been generously appreciative of
his great work, as well as thousands of calls
every year from people in other walks of
life from many different countries; he has
received letters from great men throughout
the world, among them a number of crowned
heads, some speaking words of praise for his
scientific achievements, some bearing elo-
quently upon his service to mankind; he
has been given many recognitions at county,
state and worlds’ fairs; he was elected the
first honorary member, out of a_ possible
ten, of the Plant and Animal Breeders’
Association of the United States and Canada ;
he is a Fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and an
honorary member of numerous scientific
societies; the degree of Doctor of Science
has been conferred upon him by Tufts
College; he is a lecturer on scientific plant-

361

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

evolution in Leland Stanford University; ne
has been granted a subvention of a hundred
thousand dollars by the Carnegie Institution.
He has not attempted to fathom all the
depths that Nature holds, but he has so
sounded those depths he has selected for
investigation, and so set his life to the
advancement of the world, that his place
must not only be a noble one today, but a
still more commanding one tomorrow. It is
not too much to say that volumes could
be prepared from the newspaper references
to Mr. Burbank made in the past year or two.
The following quotation from a New Jersey
newspaper, the “News,” of Newark, may be
taken as a fair summing up of the more
‘serious popular estimates of his life and
achievements :

“Luther Burbank,— until recently an
unknown name,—has bestowed upon the
world a greater increment of values, in things
done and things inevitable, which are for
the permanent betterment of civilization, than
any score of celebrities in this decade or in
any previous decade or century, when the
fact is submitted to ultimate analysis. He

362

yuowidoyaaap jo ssoooad ut suinyd Jo sarjoreaA Mou puesnoyy Ajo T,

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

has produced more new plant-life, fruits,
grasses, trees and flowers, than any other
man who has ever lived. He has done with
an intelligent purpose, clearly grasping its
end and on a large scale, what a few have
done accidentally or capriciously, on a small
scale. He comes nearer to being what may
be called a creative mind in the product of
organic growth than any other scientific
worker on record. . . . His name is bruited
today all over the civilized world. Hundreds
of able experimentalists are no doubt eagerly
following in the path he has blazed. What
science will accomplish, thus set in motion,
the wildest imagining may easily fail to
grasp. The reflex of all future achievement
will throw back its glory to brighten Burbank’s
aureole, for he will have been the master
and protagonist. Is it too much to say that
among the great benefactors of their race
Luther Burbank will be unique in the splendor
of his monument? That can never crumble
while sunshine, air and soil carry on their
chemistry.”

Hugo de Vries, the Dutch botanist, when
in this country in 1904, said of Mr. Burbank

363

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

at a banquet which he attended in San
Francisco:

“The flowers and fruits of California are
less wonderful than the flowers and fruits
which Mr. Burbank has made. He is a great
and unique genius. The desire to see what
he has done was the chief motive of my
coming to America. He has carried on the
breeding and selection of plants to definite
ends. Such a knowledge of Nature and such
ability to handle plant-life would be possible
only to one possessing genius of a high order.”
+ That which distinguishes Luther Burbank
is four-fold in its bearing —

1. He is unique in his knowledge of
Nature and in his physical manipulation
and interpretation of her forces.

2. He has already accomplished in his
chosen line of life more than any other man
who has ever lived; indeed, when the full
sweep of all his achievements shall finally
come into view, it may not be unfair to say
that not all the plant-breeders who have pre-
ceded or accompanied him have done so much
for the world. He has done more in a gener-
ation in creating new and useful types of

364

ee a eat re ae dd a es DO ee

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

plant-life than Nature, unaided, could have
done in a millenium,— more, indeed, than
Nature, unaided, would ever have accom-
plished.

3. His direct influence upon the physical
character of the world is no less significant
than his influence upon his contemporaries.

4. He is not only a great power in the
physical manipulation of Nature, but he is
a deep and accurate thinker and a man of
indisputable scientific attainments.

I cannot better conclude this necessarily
imperfect showing than by the following by
David Starr Jordan, president of Leland
Stanford University, in answer to a request
as to the place of Luther Burbank in the
world:

“It seems to me that Mr. Burbank, while
primarily an artist, is, in his general attitude,
essentially a man of science. Academic he
doubtless is not, but the qualities we call
scientific are not necessarily bred in the
academy. Science is human experience tested
and set in order. Within the range of
molding plants, Mr. Burbank has read care-
fully, and thought carefully, maturing his

365

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

own generalizations and resting them on
the basis of his own knowledge. Within the

range of his own experience he is an original —

and logical thinker, and his conclusions are
in general most sound. He is not a physiolo-
gist, still less a histologist, and the phenomena
of heredity as shown in cell-division and
cell- multiplication he has not studied for
himself. ‘The researches of Weismann and
those suggested by his theories of heredity
Burbank has given little attention to, and
he has, therefore, a confidence in the inheri-
tance of acquired characters, such as effects
of environment, which most biologists of
today do not share. On the other hand, many
of the best of them would fully agree with
Burbank.

“In his .field of the application of our

knowledge of heredity, selection and crossing
to the development of plants, he stands
unique in the world. No one else, whatever
his appliances, has done as much as Burbank,
or disclosed as much of the laws governing
these phenomena. Burbank has worked for
years alone, not understood and not appre-
ciated, at a constant financial loss, and for this

366

A cactus blossom

TP ipa AOS nr

HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD

reason,—that his instincts and purposes are
essentially those of a scientific man, not of
a nurseryman nor even of a _horticulturist.
To have tried fewer experiments and all of
a kind likely to prove economically valuable,
and finally to have exploited these as a
nurseryman, would have brought him more
money. In his own way, Burbank belongs in
the class of Faraday and the long array of
self-taught great men who lived while the
universities were spending their strength on
fine points of grammar and hazy conceptions
of philosophy. His work is already an in-
spiration to botanists as well as horticulturists,
opening a new line of research in heredity,
as well as a new field for economic advance.
Already his methods are yielding rich results
in the hands of others. We shall, by such
means, find much more than we now know of
the evolution of organisms, while the improve-
ment of organisms for the use and pleasure
of man is yet in its infancy.

“Scientific men belong to many classes ;
some observe, some compare, some think, and
some carry knowledge into’ action. There
is need for all kinds and a place for all. With

367

NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE

a broader opportunity, Burbank could have

done a greater variety of things and touched
life at more points; but, at the same time,
he would have lost something of his simple
intensity and fine delicacy of touch,—things
which the schools do not always give and
which too much contact with men sometimes
takes away.

“Great men are usually men of simple,
direct sincerity of character. These marks
are found in Burbank. As sweet, straight-
forward, and as unspoiled as a child, always
interested in the phenomena of Nature, and
never seeking fame or money or anytuing
else for himself. If his place is outside< the
temple of science, there are not many of
the rest of us who will be found fit to enter.”

All that Luther Burbank has received,—
observation of the keenest type, unsurpassed
intuition, knowledge, understanding, scientific
attainment, in a word, genius of the highest
order for the interpretation of the work to
which he has devoted his life,—he has accepted
as a sacred trust, not to be dissipated but
to be administered with unswerving fidelity
to the common interests of mankind.

368

ee ee ee SS

THE SURVIVAL OF
THE UNLIKE

A Collection of Evolution Essays Suggested by the
Study of Domestic Plants

By L. H. BAILEY

Professor of Horticulture in Cornell University
515 Paces. 22 ILLusrRaTIONs., $2.00

To those interested in the underlying philosophy of plant life,
this volume, written in a most entertaining style, and fully illus-
trated, will prove welcome. It treats of the modification of plants
under cultivation upon the evolution theory, and its attitude on
this interesting subject is characterized by the author’s well-
known originality and independence of thought. Incidentally,
there is stated much that will be valuable and suggestive to the
wo: ng horticulturist, as well as to the man or woman impelled

by a love of nature to horticultural pursuits. It may well be called,

indeed, a philosophy of horticulture, in which all interested may
find inspiration and instruction.

Tue Survival or THE Unie comprises thirty essays touch-
ing upon The General Fact and Philosophy of Evolution (‘The Plant
Individual Experimental Evolution, Coxey’s Army and the Russian
Thistle, Recent Progress, etc.); Expounding the Fact and Causes
of Variation (The Supposed Correlations of Quality in Fruits,
Natural History of Synonyms, Reflective Impressions, Relation
of Seed-bearing to Cultivation, Variation after Birth, Relation be-
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Tracing the Evolution of Particular Types of Plants (the cultivated
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THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
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OUR NATIVE FRUITS

By L. H. BAILEY

Professor of Horticulture in Cornell University
472 Paces 125 Ixiusrrarions. $2.00

In this entertaining volume, the origin and development of the
fruit peculiar to North America are inquired into, and the person-
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‘have given attention to American economic-botany. The conclu-
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_ Tue Evorurion or our Native Frurrs discusses The Rise of
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The Branch of Promise, John Adlum and the Catawba, Rise of
Commercial Viticulture, Why Did the Early Vine Experiments
_ Fail? Synopsis of the American Grapes); The Strange History of

the Mulberries (The Early Silk Industry, The ‘* Multicaulis Craze”);
Evolution of American Plums and Cherries (Native Plums in

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Cherries, Dwarf Cherry Group); Native Apples (Indigenous
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volution of Blackberry and Dewberry Culture (The High-bush
Blackberry and Its Kin, The Dewberries, Botanical Names); Va-
rious Types of Berry-like Fruits (The Gooseberry, Native Currants,
Juneberry, Buffalo Berry, Elderberry, oy lg Cranberry,
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mon, Custard-Apple, Tribe, Thorn-Apples, Nut-Fruits); General
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Say ke Cee,

THE
OUTLOOK TO NATURE

By L. H. BAILEY

Professor of Horticulture in Cornell University,
Editor of “The Cyclopedia of American Horticulture,” etc., ete.

Cioran. 12mo. $1.25, Ner

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