The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-07


 daisy, larger, more beautiful, more hardy and would flower in every cli- mate perennially. The result was his Shasta daisy, one of the most beauti- ful flowers ever seen-of clear brilliant white, great size, the center of pure yellow, resting upon slender yet strong stems.
 Ten thousand seeds required for this one experiment? Yes, and often the ten thousand become fifty or hundred or five hundred thousand before he gets what he wants. It is this large dealing that has differentiated MT, Burbanks plans from those of other meh
 He speedily learned that great re- suits are not to be obtained from inad- equate methods. The ten thousand daisy seeds were only a starter. Mill lions and millions of daisies were grown from these seeds. and it was only after the experiments were com pleted and the habits of the Shasta permanently fixed that the experiment tai plants were destroyed.
 In vegetables he has produced equal ly wonderful results. As elsewhere re- lated the potato that bears his name was his first achievement. Tomatoes, forage plants, sugar beets have felt his magic touch to the great enrich ment of the world,
 In fruits his labors are starting. He has made a giant plum, rich and de- licious in flavor juicy hardy, pro- life bearer and the largest known; his prune is full of sugar, larger, earlier and moer productive than the best of the old varieties. He welded the plum and the apricot and has given to the world the plumcot which combines the hardness of the plum with the rich dellciousness of the apricot.
 The same process has given us a quince with the flavor of the pineapple, thus increasing the fruit value of the former. He is working on the black berry, and we shall ultimately receive at his hands large. rich, luscious ber- ry, two or ehtrnei HROIN mrfdlu ", two or three inches in length, al most seedless, with thornless bushes and flavor rich and delicate. On his proving grounds experiments by the hundreds of thousands are go- | ing on all the time, some of them not completed, though they were begun twenty and even thirty years ago.
 Luther Burbank's early life In Cal ifornia was attended by many hard experiences He was very poor and was obliged to take any work that came to hand. He cleaned out chicken coops, helped in market gardens, got an odd job here and another there, passed through a very severe illness, went on the tramp for work, until fin ally he was able to start little nur- sery on his own account.
 Then, all at once, he did something that made those who knew about it look at him. An order came for 10000 young prune trees. Could he fill it in rino months?
 He hadn't prune tree on his place, and how was he going to supply 10000 | in nine months? He got together all the men and boys he could find to , plant almonds for him. They grew rap idly. When they were ready he had 2O,CG0 prune buds for them, and in a short time the prunes were budded in- I to the growing almonds, and before the time was up the trees were delivered to tho delighted ranchman.
 | And I have seen these 10000 prune trees They are growing to-day, and it is really one of the finest orchards in l California.
 Before he disposed of his business his returns were $1GOO0 a year. Then he sold out. What for? To rest? To take
 holiday trip? No! Now he was ready to give his whole life to the experi-
 ment he had been dreaming of for year'.
 But it is well known fact of all history that the dreamer and experi- menter is seldom money maker. So | 1t was with Burbank. His experiments were costly. Soon his interest money
 was all gone. He began to use up the principal
 Year after year he worked on, now and again letting the world know of some new discovery. His fortune began to dwindle, yet he never faltered. He determined to keep on as long as his
 money held out, and then, said he, in talking to me of his period;
 q was willing to begin over again If I had to. I felt sure could earn enough to live on, and if motif I had grown too old and feeble, Provi- dence would see that was cared for in some way or other"
 In his method of working Burbank is quick and decided. It was my privi- lege to be with him during one morn ing in his proving ground at Sevasto pol, some seven miles from his home.
 Row after row of young plum trees, covered with fruit, stood before us. Two assistants were with us, one with handful of white cords and one with handful of brown or black ones.
 "These are all grown from the same seed. Now see how they differ"
 He picked few plums from the first tree Rapidly he looked at one, careful ly tasted 1t, and said, Kill" I had scarcely got my teeth into the first plum when he was on to the next tree and the next and the next, with a rap- idity that was simply astounding. His keen eyes, trained to scientific accur- acy, saw at what seemed to me to be one glance all the attributes of the tree. One taste satisfied him as to tex ture, juiciness and flavor of the fruit, and thus, almost in a moment, he had decided whether that tree was worth keeping for further experimentation or was to go to the bonfire.