The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-02-27

anu SioSSiHS, raising year af-
ter year thousands Of new seedlings.
only to be grubbed up as unavailing. I
at last was rewarded in creating a va
riety absolutely without spines or bris-
ties. The original plant from a seed
has grown in three years to a height
OIL SIX ieet and is six and one-half feet
IN diameter. l have half a dozen
other spineless varieties and they were
all put on the market for the first
time last summer, although some dis
honest dealers both here and in Eu-
rope have been Offering so-called Bur-
pank spineless cactus for couple of
years. The thornless varieties cannot
be raised from seed, but are propagat-
ed only from cuttings, which must
first be wilted in the sun for a week
or two before they will grow. After
that they root anywhere, any end ND
even in your overcoat pocket or on
the floor back of the stove"
A single leaf of the best variety of
the thornless cactus--the Santa Rosa
was sold for $1,000 to John M. Rut-
land of Melbourne, Australia, with the
right to sell in the Southern Hemis-
phere; and one leaf of another va
riety was disposed of to the same Au-
stralian horticulturist for $500.
S>NBut the forage proposition" con-
tinued Mr.. Burbank, lis by no means
all there is to cactus culture. The
fruits have wonderful possibilities.
Many of my helpers may prefer pear
to apricots or peaches, and 1 myself
find 1t delicious. There is great variety
in the taste of the different sorts, and
my ambition now is to produce a type
that will bear distinct varities Of cac-
tus fruit, the same as different vari-
eties of apples are characterized by
different fiavors.
Changing the subject now to flow
ers, the famous eschscholtzia, or Cali
eornia poppy. used to be known only
as yellow flower, but now the florists
will sell you a crimson variety. This
was six or seven years in the making
had often noticed individuals with a
bronzy tint on the outside of the pc
tails; but one day I came across one
that had a streak of red inside the
cup. 1 saved it's seed, and by the pro-
cess Of selection finally got good
crimson. 1t takes five or six genera
tions to fix any new variety.
Speaking Of poppies, 1 was once
surprised to get new red garden
poppy as the result of a cross between
two white varieties-the common
white opium poppy and another. Of
ten I am unable to account for un-
lookedfor results of my experiments,
but In this case the reason was to be
found in the tendency Of the opium
poppy sometimes to produce red flow
ers; and, though the particular flower
that 1 used in this cross was white. the
hereditary strain was in it's blood and
cropped out in the offspring.
"A desideratum in the improvement
of plants is to secure new varieties
that shall mature more quickly than
the original ones. Few people note
the fact that different individual
plants of the same species often have
different rates Of growth. You think
one blade Of blue grass in your lawn
grows just as fast as another, while,
as a matter of fact, some produce
their seed four or five times as quick
ly as others. 1t is the same way with
trees. i have been working for a
good while to produce a quick bear
Ing chestnut. The ordinary chestnut
Of the woods may take fifteen years
from the seeding stage to the nut
I have specimen tree
on NY grounds this year. six months
old. that has borne two perfect burrs
and each has it's regulation quota of
nuts. Now l can almost promise you
chestnuts while you watt
Failures? Oh, yes. I have failures.
Here is a picture of an improved
prune plum. 1t excels the old kinds
in size and sweetness, but it is q COM
plete failure as prune for the rea-
son that the skin. instead of splitting
lightly in shallow lines in the dip to
which prunes are subject before dry
ing, cracks wide open like a plum skin
in canning. Then there was my cross
of the raspberry and strawberry. The
Oretically that cross ought to produce
a good new fruit. I succeeded in get
ting between 800 and 500 vigorus