The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-05-24

lone OF the most important Q.
these was in progress at the time Oh
/ our visit, which was in the height OF
the cherry season. MI. Burbank told
MS hat he had at least 10000 yarle-
ties Of cherries under observation, ana
there were many single trees, none
of them of large size, which bore over
500 varieties each. Out Of this vast
number a very few are selected as
worthy Of being p~erpetuated. The
cherry-testing season IS a very siren
uous time, as the work of sampllng
all these thousands of varieties must
be done within a few days.
".First. a number of Mr.. Rurbanks
most trusted employees go through the
orchard tasting every seeding, ana
those which possess obviously supe-
rior qualities are indicated by tying a
white string OF the tWlg. MI.
Burbank then personally inspects these
and selects only those which ne con-
siders of special excellence. The pro
cess of elimination is carried still
further. and is the result Of the sea-
sons work perhaps fifteen or twenty
different kinds of cherries are pre-
served, all the rest being relentleSsiy
destroyed. The same method is pur-
sued in testing the enormous nunbef
of plunls. peaches, apples, prunes,
a~pricots, ounces, ape etc, when
Nj. Burbank has under cultivation
every year.
The Most Remarkable Tree in the
World.
1--WE were also greatly interested in
the experiments at S~ebastopol with
nut bearing trees. MI. Burbank showed
us a hybrid chestnut which he consid-
erS the ~ ost remarkable tree in the
world. This tree. not over ten feet
high. produces six or eight crops OF
chestnuts every year, blossonling and
fruiting, poisoning and fruiting'
from January until December. So
nuts placed in the ground viii produce
a tree which will bear fruit in six
months from the seed.
OF more practical value. perhaps,
than his hybrid chestnut, though not
so spectacular, is his success with his
hybrid Walnuts, of which we saw mum
erous specimens in all stages Of
growth. These trees, the result of
crossing the English walnut with the
common New England walnut or the
black walnut of California. possess
remarkable qualities Of rapidity of
growth, hardness, productivity and
timber value. We noticed some Of
these trees, only about q dozen years
old, which were eighty feet high, With
a trunk diameter of two feet. The
wood is characterized by q hardness
of texture and a fineness of grain
HIGH make it exceedingly valuable
for manufacturing purposes, while
their rapidly Of growth and adapt
ability to varying climates make it
certain that these trees Will be in
great demand for timber culture.
especially in reforesting denuded
treas"
The readers Of Home and Farm will
be interested in what Mr.. Gleason
says about the wonderberry:
Tyl - t-,,
it was first called-is the product of a
cross between two species Of Solanum.
that botanical family to which the
tomato, potato, eggplant, copper and
nightshade belong.
Mr.. Burbank and the Wonderberry.
THE new plant differs entirely
from it's parents, both of which are
valueless and are classed as ommon
weeds. The berries are precisely sim
liar in shape and color to large blue
berries, which they also resemble in
taste when fully ripe, and are pro
duced in great profusion, the plant
continuing to bear throughout The sea-
son until killed by frost.
"Being an annual. it is raised each
year from seed, and its qualities have
become SO firmly fixed that it shows
no tendency to revert to its original
type. Two years Mr.. Burbank
disposed of the w~onderberry to Mr..
ILLUS, a NGil- nor I1cuItuTlSt Oh
Now York.
Mr.. Burbank says:
1T is without question the best
berry ever introduced to this world.
as thousands on thousands of people
found last year and thousands more
viii find this season. It is almost as
difficult to adapt people to a new pro-
duct as it is to adapt a new product
to the people. The potato, tomato.
eggplant, pepper and numerous other
v9luab>e food plants belong to the
same family as the wonderberry.
vas warned as a boy not to eat toma-
toes, as they were poisonous, and they
We're grown for years as a curiosity
aid not considered fit to eat. The DO
tato 'hen introduced into Europe was
pronounced poisonous and peOp,e
could not be induced to eat potatoes
Tor a long time, especially in ireland.
until a great famine came and they
were compelled to eat them.
- know several people who now