Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-01-22
WIZARDS OF PLANT CULTURE
NPrOf. B. @. Buffum and J. Slant Brown
Revolutionize Plant Life.
BUFFUM HAS EXPERIMENT FARM
Makes Speciality Of Producing New
Forage Plants Adapted 90 the
New Country-Brovvn Has
New Potato.

NAAAa ANhaAhNN Us "a WIZARD IN the kIOMLn
Of new species in fruits and vegetables.
but apparently able 20 do as he wills in
his field OF research and experimentation.
The success Of Burbank in his sphere,
like in all other realms Of original research
and investigation has stimulated other
men 20 greater effort in similar activities.
Wyoming, TOO, has her students Of plant
and tree life.
The men In Wyoming who bid fair to
cause Burbank to look TO his Iaurels are
Prof. B. c. Buffum Of worland and j.
Slant Brown OF Ionia. Both are at the
Omaha Land Show. Both men reside in
the Big Horn basin, one Of natures most
favored spots in the United States. For
It is here. with the unfaIling and generous
water supply taken from its many streams,
that crop failure Is unknown, and the
moisture so necessary is certain and may
be regulated as even nature may not.
Prof. Buffum is well known for his
production Of new winter emmer or
spelt, unlike anything hitherto grown. He
is located on a large, fine seed and ex-
perimental farm conducted upon lines OF
his own.
The other man, j. Slant Brown, a claim
ant for fame, is rancher. known through
out the length and breadth OF the Big
Horn basin as a fruit grower, and one
that has had exceptional success in a zone
practically untried so far as fruit growing
IS concerned. Brown has produced some
thing, he says, that will make the whole
horticultural and gardening world sit up
and take notice.
This man, as a glance at his cut win
reveal, is a man Of great tenacity Of pur-
pose, and a man of most original ideas in
matters pertaining TO agriculture and
horticulture. He has succeeded in produc-
ing an entirely new specie of fruit-an
apple and a potato-in a way that those
familiar with plant life told him could
not be done.
Skaters Old Theories.
Brown maintained that he could do it.
This was two or three years ago. He kept
plugging-experiment He has accom-
plshed It, apparently. He says, what he
has succeeded in doing viii almost revo-
lutionize the growth and cultivation Of
apples and vegetables. This man seems to
. have taken a short cut through the long
Journey to new varieties, and by doing so
has astounded the pomologist and student
of plant life and shattered all old theories,
while they have chung to that OF time
honored grating and likewise polarization
methods.
j. Slant. Brown. the Big Horn rancher,
declares he has discovered a new method
OF producing and propagating varieties of
fruits and vegetables entirely different
from the ones hitherto utilized. SO sure Is
he, Mr. Brown has taken the precaution
to have his discovery protected by the
patent office, having filed his letters some
time since.
His method is not by polarization or by
grating, of course, but by the simpler
means of combining the woods of two diff
ferent varieties which in turn produces an
apple resembling both parents. Further
more his system will produce wood and
leaves whose appearance are unlike that OF
either variety which he combines. The
leaf is distinctly disimilar to that of either
parent in coloring, saw-li1e indentations or
their edges, and in size The backs of the
leaves are covered with silvery-like fuzzy
down.
Brown has conducted his experiments fol
the last two or three years, and the ne
result thus far is a distinct variety Of
fruit tree wood OF course no fruit ha;
yet been produced by the new tree. thi'
<will require from three to five years more
But he states that spirit of confidence anC
hopefulness that characterizes all h,
undertakes, that there is no doubt what
soever, but that his new tree will beal
fruit in the usual course Of time tina
nature requires.
Applies Principle to Potatoes.
Now. he, taking the same principle EN-
ployed in the instance of the apple tre
and which has created a new wood, or il
common terms a new variety of apple tree
annltaH m ne Ia
little, II any difference in the process. an,
the result has been an entirely new speci
OF white or Irish potato, which has almos
a perfect spherical shape with a beautiful
white firm texture or meat, with clos
grained cells. This new tuber resemble
an apple more in shape and size than
does any potato known The eyes ar
small and smooth, with scarcely any de
preston at all The vine upon whlc
they grow Is of a dark rich green Blu
the strangest. the most remarkable thin
OF ali, there is no bud or blossom to b
found upon the vine he has brought int
existence. Out OF a very great number O
the new variety he has grown but onl
one or two possess buds or blossoms.
The new potato plant. MI Brown sayi
Is tremendously prolific. stherc being MOI
potatoes to each hill than are found o
any othef potato pant grown IN me ~
Horn basin. They are of uniform size an
quality Says he, In a few years the oil
methods in vogue now viii be a thing ,
the past in the propagation OF plants an
fruits, excepting the seeds OF very sma
plants"
The man who has done these things
about 80 years OF age, and few men thirt
years his Junior have his physical stamina
his undying dogEed determination. hop
funess and ambition. He is a type of Il
men that have redeemed the waste plac,
OF Wyoming, who are, I'm the upbuilding
the new empire OF the Big Horn basil
which is as large as all of the New EN-
land states, demonstrating what may
accomplished with water controlled by ma
and spread over his land at viii and plea
ure
Makes Garden of Desert.
In few more years J. slant. Brown W
have a princely income from the acreal
he now has planted in apples and 9th
small fruits at IOnia, Big Horn count
Wyoming. This land ne has wrested frc