The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-05-22

er Burbank have made his name a
household word throughout the
world, very few even of the residents
or his adopted State know anything
OF the Wizards" personality. He
mas no time for the limelight, even
II he had the taste, and, as he tells
you, he can talk more readily to his
MOWERS than to an audience of peo-
pie. On rare occasions, however.
when he emerges from his picketed
ground for little journey In the
world, to attend a florists conven-
ton or what not, he can be persuad-
ed to address sympathetic company
on the subject to which his life is de-
voted-the improvement of plants.
You can do anything you like with
a plant if you have time enough" he
observed as a picture of his thorn
less cactus patch at Santa Rosa came
to view. Twelve years ago l became
impressed with the possibilities of
the opuntia cactus. or prickly pear,
as a forage plant, if only the spines
and the bristles could be done away |
with. There exist in nature certain |
OF the cactus tribe which are thorn
less, but none of these are of suffi- |
cient size or are rapid enough grow
ers to be of practical value to the
stock raiser. had specimens of
opuntias sent to me from all over
the world, and by selection and cross
ing, raising year after year thousands
IL new seedlings, only to be grubbed
Up as unavailing, l at last was re-
varded in creating variety absolute
y without spines CT bristles The
original plant from a seed has grown
n three years to a height of six
eet and is six and one-half feet in
iameter.
Il have half dozen other spine-
ass varieties, and they were all put :
the market for the first time last i
ummer. although some dishonest 6
callers both here and in Europe have +
cen Offering so-called spineless cac- 6
is for a couple of years. The thorn +
'ss varieties cannot be raised from T
led, but are propagated only from r
attlngs, which must first be wilted s
the sun for week or two before h
ley will grow. After that they will h
'ot anywhere any end up-even in o
our overcoat pocket or on the floor $,
ack of the stove.'' o
A single leaf of the best variety of CT
e thornless cactus-the Santa Rosa h
was sold for $1,000 to John M.
of Melbourne, Australia, q,
ith the right to sell in the South .,
n Hemisphere; and one leaf of an ii
her variety was disposed of to the II
me Australian horticulturist for os
100. =,
But the forage proposition" con- il,
lued Mr.. Burbank, lis by no means hi
there is to cactus culture. The "a
ults have wonderful possibilities. #
any OF my helpers prefer pear to We
ricots or peaches, and myself find da
delicious. There is great variety Gil
the taste of the different sorts, So
d my ambition now is to produce So
type that will bear distinct vari- w;
- OF cactus fruit, the same as diff Ii.
'ent varieties of apples are char or
by different favors.
Changing the subject now to f1ow- nj,
!, the famous eschscholtzia, or CAL an
rnla poppy, used to be known only va
yellow flower, but now the for lin
Will sell you crimson variety. tiff
Is was six or seven years in the to
king. I have often noticed indi- am
uals with bronzy tint on the out emf
OF the petals; but one day
ne across one that had a streak of "
inside the cup. l saved its seed in
by the process of selection finally ton
a good crimson. 1t takes five or of
generations to fix any new variety. w,
Speaking of peoples, I was once far
prised to get new red garden YER
py as the result of a cross be- sim
en- two white varieties, the COM Re,