The San Francisco call., 1908-11-19
BURBANK TELLS OF
RARE EXPERIMENTS
Horticultural Wizard Explains
Marvellous Achievements to
Large Gathering
Lectures on Remarkable Work
and Predicts Great Future
for Spineless Cactus

BERKELEY, Nov. 1s.-Luther Bur
bank. the wizard h0rticulturist of Santa
Rosa. or. as he would prefer TO be
known. the master plant architect. re-
vealed his magic secrets to a large
audience in Hearst hall tonight. Very
simple these secrets sounded as they
were explained one by one by the
great scientist, but the myriad colored
slides depicting the wondrOus achieve
ments in plant and fruit which the
application of these same secrets had
wrought convinced the hearers that
the speaker indeed deserved his title.
Color, size, shape. flavor and fragrance
he declared to be but building mate
rials 10 be shifted from plant to plant
and from fruit to fruit at the will of
the grower. He said in part:
! We build a plant today very much as a car
penter builds house. We put IN any flavor
color, In any quantity that we desire. We
vert plants which have hitherto yielded but
sparsely into abundant bearers Plant life is
rears resrS more piiaole than minerals lew
vary and that species fixed. But
.r'eE Know that species vary and that plants vary
within species. There two plants alike.
viduality
By crossing two different species of plants
We break up the old habits of the parent
plants. and By obtaining seedlings from this
cross we have the raw material for plants OF
very d1nerent kind from either OF the two
originals.
Burbank declared that the underly-
ing principle of plant architecture lay
In the fact that variations may be pro-
duced by culture and crossing. and
tnat these variations can then be fixed
by selection. Continuing he said:
| Plant life has existed along with the lives
n
plants have never been dependent on man. the
very existene OF man is and always has been
almost wholly dependent upon the silent but
plants
Two plants may produce the kind Of
foliage and yet bear very different kinds Of
rroits. Many plants are not well liked In re
production. The parent plant may be a very
hardy specimen and abundant bearer. while
the Seeding will bear very poorly Then, per
maps, seeding produced from the Seeding will
display all the characteristics OF the original
| plant.
! II is simple matter 10 produce various
eolors and havOrs in fruits The color Of a
fruit can be changed to any shade desired.
| Colors which habitual with a plant are
| easily fixed, while others more difficult
Fragrance may be changed in the same way.
Ordinarily the verbena is entirely without frag-
rance or has a disagreeahle odor. few years
ago by selection l produced the Maynower YER
/ bena, which has most delightful odor. Also
| by selection l succeeded in giving fragrance 10
the calla lily. which usually IS odorless or
smells somewhat like muriatic acid.
1t is also possible TO add new fragrance
and new colors. In one Of my hybrid walnut
| trees / have produced a very delightful frag-
rance in the leaves. while the walnut foliage has
usually disagreeable odor.
The talk was illustrated with 125
lantern slides displaying many of the
| improved varieties of fruits and plants
which Burbank has produced in the
last 40 years.
Particularly interesting was the
scientists description of the improve
ments which he has recently made in
his new spineless cactus. These plants.
which Burbank confidently declares
will soon provide one of the chief food
supplies of the world for both man and
beast have been radically altered in
their fruit. foliage and growth. and
are now enormously productive. About
/ $4,000 pounds of fruit to the acre is
the yield which the eacti on his farm
at Santa Rosa produced in their third
bearing year
Burbank declares that the fruit of
the spineless cactus, known as the
opuntia. is more delicious than either
bananas or oranges, and he is borne
out in this statement by ]. A. Filcher
of the state board of agriculture. The
| cactus plants are said TO be tremen-
dously hardy, and the crop. it is said.
will never fail
Recently $4,000 pounds of cuttings
from the cactus plants were sent TO a
big dairy farm in the Sacramento val
| ley to be planted. The fruit has been
marketed to a certain extent in New
York and San Francisco. but as yet it
has not become widely known.
Burbank announced that he is now
engaged in working on various i'm
provements in peaches, plums. walnuts.
chestnuts. roses. callas. raspberries,
blackberries, new forage plants and
many other varieties.
He repeated his explanation of the
rule that no visitors are admitted to
his gardens in Santa Rosa, declaring 8
/ that the average number of visitors
who wish to be shown his grounds is
5000 each year, and that IL he ad-
mitted them his whole time would be
given up to entertaining sight seers.
<.rrOr rn. -HHS - .-.--