The Donaldsonville chief., 1912-11-09
N UMBER IA
BuRBAAKs's EARLY CORN.
a First Experiment Which, Led the
Plant Wizard Into His Present
Field.


Field.
When Luther Burbank was Just
J graduating from his teens into his
. twenties on a Massachusetts farm he
. discovered q way to have roasting
, ears ready for the market ten days
to two weeks ahead of his neighbors,
The whole secret OF my plan, .
says Mr.. Burbank, "was to make a
most searching selection OF the ear.
liest ears for seed, and to germi.
nate this seed before planting it.
Before my neighbors, or I, could
begin spring ploWing, I obtained
fresh stable manure which / mixed
with leaf-mo1d from the Woods-about
half and half, While this mixture
was moist and hot placed the corn
in it, mixing the whole mass together
lightly. Thus, allowed it to stand
until the seed had thrown out roots
ranging from two to six, or even
leight, inches in length, while the tops
| had made a growth Of about one.
half to an inch.
In the meantime, as soon as pos
sible, the land was prepared to re-
ceiye this sprouted corn by making
drills about four feet apart. Along
liberally, no attention being paid as
to whether 1t was right side up or
otherwise. then covered it about
one.half inch in depth. 1t was no.
thing unusual to find the corn up
and growing the next morning; and
this method, alone, insured me a
crop at least week in advance of
all other planters who could reach
the Fitchburg market.
But this was not all. As said
before, the kernels were planted
quite literally along the drills Some
would show a very strong growth
and some a weak growth. The
weaker ones were pulled out after
a few days and the stronger ones
left at distance of about twelve
to eighteen inches apart. Thus, by
selecting the strong fr',m the weak,
and giving the best fitted the best
opportunity TO grow, gained q
total advance Of from ten days to
two weeks over my competitors.
The result was that i averaged
SO cents dozen for my corn with
an eager market, where my competi-
tors found their product, two weeks
later, q drug on the market at 10
tcents or less per dozen. s ss'ssss'
The illustration OF the early roast.
/ ing ears is typical Of Luther Bur.
banks methods. He uses no means
| in guiding nature which are not With-
ia the easy reach Of every one to
use. His whole array of Tools and
equipment could be duplicated for q
few dollars. Probably SO per cent OF
the farmers OF America have more
money invested in appliances than
Luther Burbank has.
And his whole life of experiment
has been conducted upon a tract Of
land comprising less than eight
acres, most Of which is taken up by
the residence and by lawns; SO
that the principal Work-ground has
been three-acre section OF the
eight-acre plot.
What Luther Burbank has done, he
now proposes to teach others to do.
That has been the ideal OF his
life--to place in convenient form
a detailed working exposition OF
his methods, so that every man, in
the measure of his ability, may be
his own Burbank-so that every man
who raises things from the soil,
either for pleasure or for profit, may
apply the Burbank methods on his
own land to those very plants from
which he derives his enjoyment or
his income.
For more than nine years the prep
aratiOn OF the Burbank manuscript
has been under way. During these
nine years Mr.. Burbank has un-s
lsWervingly held to his intention to
make his writings clear, plain, in
structive and practical, SO that the
methods he has employed can be put
to the widest use by the greatest
number.
In order that this message of Cali
fornia's most illustrious citizen may
| go forth to the world with fitting
sponsorship, the Luther Burbank
Society has been organized. Char
Itered by the state of California, the
Isociety has no capital stock, no pow
Ter to incur debts Or earn profits. Its
| home is in the old Luther Burbank
homestead ID Santa Rosa, and it
numbers among its members some
| of the foremost men and women in
America.
| It's purpose is solely to assist Lutf-
Ter Burbank in the final preparation
| OF his writings and to aid In the
widespread dissemination of his teach
lings, SO that the greatest number
Imay profit i'm the greatest degree,
to teach the thousands of Burbank
lessons simple and as profitable
as the early corn lesson-to a world
which depends upon the soil for
Everything it has.
| List OF Letters
| Remaining In the postoffice at Don,
aldsonyil1e for week ending Nov. 81:
| De1phia Bell, Rev. j. w. Brown,