The Meeker herald., 1905-05-13
LUTHER BURBANK,
The PLANT WIZARD.
-E@3>-
ihs Man With Ten Potatoes What He
Has AeeoApssAed Sinee--Some Of
Ab Woadsrful Fruit. Flower,
y End Vegetable Creations-.
! Ths fhornless Cactus.
w YHEN Luther Burbank came
NM to California. nearly thirty
" years ago, he had with him
ten Burbank potatoes, the


partial result of his youth
full study, research and experiment
AS boy. working in his uncles pillow
factory, he was of an investigating
turn of mind, and his instructive desire
to better the things at hand resulted
in the invention of wood working
machinery that was so valuable that
he WAS offered special Inducements to
remain ut the factory. But he had
been working among plants, following
out the bent inherited through his
mother, whose family included famous
hOrticulturists. So lie quit his factory
work. and turned his attention to the
development of plant life. The potato
was the first subject of his research.
and this he perfected until the Burbank
potato was produced. Then. his health
failing. he sold all his potatoes but ten.
and with them as his plant stock in
trade came TO California. settling per-
manently near Santa Rosa.
This was in 1879. Since then. the
Burbank potato. which gave him his
first fame has added millions to the
wealth of the world. But it was only
the beginning of his work. During the
generation that Burbank has worked in
California. he has originated, developed
and placed at the service of the world
new and improved plants. fruits. vese-
tables and grains so numerous that
it would be difficult to catalogue them.
He has not only bettered what he
found at hand but has originated
totally new species. creating. appar-
emily from nothing. but in realty out
of hitherto worthless material, plants
that had never grown before. He has
transformed the Shasta daisy, once
almost a weed. into n huge. fragrant
flower. He has made the amary!lis.
take on new shape and added beauty.
He has taken flowers that Were beau
tiful but of disagreeable Odor, and
made them wonderfully fragrant.
And within the last few months he has
perfected flower that. cut from the
stem. still retains its lustre, its velyety
texture, and its fragrance. One of
these flowers, cut months ago, has
been hanging III Mr.. Burbank's house
ever since. and shows no sign of
whitening. 1t Is expected that this
discovery will work Il revolution in
millinery.
But to make the beautiful things of
earth more beautiful has constituted
but IL small portion of Mr.. Burbank's
work and research. He has improved
almost every variety of fruit, and has
placed new ones upon the markets.
Wonderful results have been achieved
with prunes and plums. By the most
persistent endeavor he has brought
forth a seedless plum, rich, juicy,
palntable; has made skinny, feshless.
sour prunes into huge. fat. sugary
ones. He has crossed the plum and
the apricot. the result being the plum
cot" fruit most valuable to COM
merce, and has given another plum
the flavor of the Bartlett pear. The
ounce. through his work, has been
made smooth OF skin and palatable
in its raw state. Not only has he
developed white blackberry. but has
to his credit the first recorded instance
of the production of fixed species by
man. This is the primus, offspring
of the native California dewberry and
the Siberian raspberry. He has
worked with the rhubarb until he has
secured plant that will grow here
nearly the whole year.
Mr.. Burbank's experiments with tile
walnut have been very interesting.
He sought to produce n nut with no
tannin, and with comparatively thin
shell. The first trees bore nuts with
shells so thin that the birds pecked
through them and ate the meat. He
began again, and now has achieved
his original design "a white-meated
walnut and thin shelIed, of exquisite
flavor.
The last and probably the greatest
of Mr.. Burbank's achievements is the
production of the thornless cactus.
Nature gave this desert plant defense
against animals thus permitting it
to grow luxurianfly with little danger
of molestatlon. But in rocky. inacces-
sible places, where animals could not
penetrate, the cactus became, in time
through lacking need of defense, COM
paratively thornless. Mr.. Burbank Sc
cured some OF these plants. ana for
years has experimental, until he now
has cactus free from prickly surface
smooth, velvety, and as full of juice
as the desert variety. 1t is about half
as nutritious as alfalfa. and grows
where that grass would not survive
for a week. 1t is estimated that there
are one million square miles of desert
land in the United States, nearly all
of 1t worthless. Even with irrigation
brought to its highest development,
not more than one-fifth of this land
could be made fertile. But the cactus
will grow on every inch of 1t, and its
stem contains both food and water
for cattle. 1t is probable that in time
Mr.. Burbank's transformation of this
plant will result in millions of acres
- 60 Ia H1s 10