Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-10-03
BURBANK THE PLANT KING.
GContinued from First Page.1

because IL WOuiu hcSp hiih lioih othSi
work that was Of greater importance.
Instead of accepting the fortune the
Frenchmen offered him. he gave them
some seed, and told them to raise their
own flowers.
Half in complaint, half In congratu-
lation, he explained that 1t was i'm
possible to patent a flower or a vegeta-
BILE or a tree or any kind Of plant He
considered this injustice. Authors can
copyright books, manufacturers can
protect their inventions, but botanists
have no way of securing the results Of
their labor and study, and must share
them with the world. But he said he
did not care. The fame and satisfac-
ton he enjoyed were all he wanted.
His future has been provided for by
the Carnegie Institute. so that he Is
perfectly free to work out his ideas
without considering the important
matter of bread and butter. Mr.. Bur-
bank says that he made an Independent
fortune in the nursery business before
he went into scientific research. Then
he began to run behind about $1,000 a
year until his savings were exhausted
and his home was mortgaged. He did
not know what to do; he could not
abandon the work he was engaged In;
he could not go back to a commercial
basis. The state university offered him
professorship, but he declined 1t.
Then Judge Morrow of the United
States district court, who Is one Of his
most devoted friends, arranged with
the Carnegie Institute to give him a
subsidy Of $4,000 year for ten years.
"At first 1 was disposed to decline
tit seemed such large amount"
said Mr.. Burbank. II feared that l
would not give satisfaction and was
afraid 1t would tie my hands But
the Carnegie people relieved me Of my
embarrassment. They give me the
money-s2,5OO every three months
without any strings attached to 1t and
without any conditions. They do not
restrict me or instruct me, and do not
even make an accounting, so that now
I am perfectly free to work cut my ex-
periments without thinking Of the fu-
ture. I have nothing to worry about
or give me anxiety.
"I have quite an expensive establish
ment, nine acres here and fifteen acres
more six miles from town. I employ
eighteen and sometimes twenty gar
deners 1 have correspondents all over
the world sending me new things and
keeping me posted as to what other
men are doing. All that has to be paid
for. I have to issue catalogues. The
Russian government alone exhausted
my supply of catalogues last year. My
postage bill Is $50 a month. I receive
an average of $50 letters a day, ask
ing all kinds of questions-how to
raise children, how to preserve fruit,
what kind of windmills I use begging
for seeds and slips and flowers, ask
ing for all kinds Of horticultural infor-
mation-and, Of course, most Of them
want my photograph and autograph.
It would take large sum Of money to
supply photographs to the people who
ask for them. But the money Is not so
important to me as the time. Every
moment Is precious. I have been fif-
teen years trying to get few days
vacation, and the greatest favor you
could do me would be to ask the read
ers of your paper not to come here or
| to write me letters"
And that was the last word. AS we
bade him good-by at the gate inquir-
ed If there was anything I could do
for him.
NO" he replied, in a tired voice,
Except to tell people not to come here
to see me and not to write me letters.
I'd like to see everybody and write to
everybody, II I could, but I can't. 1t
would take all my time" .
That is strictly true 1t is also true
that Mr. Burbank could make ten and
twenty times the income allowed him
by the Carnegie Institute II he would
put his affairs in the hands Of COM
petent business manager to stand be-
tween him and the public. His garden
Is filled with novelties in plant life,
fruits, berries, vegetables and flowers,
which would command big prices. He
could get anything he asked for them.
But he is thinking Of something else.
He showed us an empty bed In his
garden, and a pile Of withered plants,
which had been rooted from 1t the pre-
vious day.
Those plants might have been sold
to nurserymen for thousands Of dol
lars" he said, but they had been
cultivated purely as an experiment
which had not resulted to my satisfac-
ton, so rooted them up and threw
them away"
He tries to conduct his affairs on
business basis, but he does not know
how to do it. He Is easily imposed upon
and is as trustful as a child whenever
he encounters an interesting person or
problem. Hundreds Of people break
through all the barriers by which he
has tried to protect himself and defy
the warnings he has set up. His sec
retary or his servant, who answers the
doorbell, requires every visitor to fill
out the following blank: