The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-03-17

covered by DIR. Joachim Camerius of
Leipsic, who demonstrated the sexual
ity of plants in 1891. It was the recog-
milton of this principle which made
possible the process of hybridization
The first plant hybrid was produced in
1913 by Thomas Fairchild, an English
gardener, who crossed the sweetWilliam
with the carnat1On. Another English
man, Thomas Henry Knight, has been
called the father of plant breeding. His
work extended until 1898, and was
based upon the scientific principles
recognized by Darwin and his fol-
lowers. In all of the achievements of
Luther Burbank there has been no
radical departure from the methods of
these earlier men. Burbank's genius
lies in his wonderful patience and the
magnitude of his experiments. The
breeding of plant like the breeding of
animals is dependent upon crossing,
or the securing of new individual
progeny from parents Of distinct
species. Mutations or changed forms
spring up generally from unknown
causes, as, for instance, when a col
ored flower yields white blossoms.
These mutations can be produced at
VIA Wy d oludy vi lHtlI plbu- |
ucts, as Luther burbank demonstrated
when. by taking a yellow poppy upon
which h noticed some crimson lines,
he increased it's red in other genera
tions by selection, until he has now
been able to produce a field of crimson
popies in place of the golden Esch-
scholtzia, which grows wild in such
luxuriance in California.
II |
1t is doubtful If any scientist ever
has given to the world products of
greater practical value than are some
of those which are credited to Luther
Burbank. His first effort was towards
the Improvement of the potato: to Sc
cure this he made his first great sac
rifice. T%hirty-five years ago potatoes
were round, comparatively small and
most of them red-skinned. Now these
old-fashioned potatoes are difficult to
find. The whole world raises the Bur-
bank potato, which is long in shape,
white skinned and several times the
size of the old-fashioned tuber. In his
work for the Improvement of the po-
tato Burbank accomplished three
things Of universal benefit. He in
creased it's size, multiplied the number
which could be produced in a single
hill, and improved the quality and
flavor. According to an estimate made
by the department of agriculture the
Burbank improved potato is adding
more than $4,000, 600 annually to the
output of the country. 1t is as we'll
known abroad as at home, and a care
full estimate gives the sun of $500, 000,-
600 as the value which it has added
during 80 years to the farm incomes of
the world.
SO great has been the decrease in
the production Of walnut trees that
their extinction seemed threatened and
the supply of black ain lumber is
practically exhausted. Now Burbank is
offering to the lumbermen a new wal
nut tree which possesses wonderful ad-
vantages over the old. The old black
walnut tree was slow of growth. 1t
took at least 20 years under good con-
ditions to produce a tree 25 feet high
and IS inches in circumference. The
new Burbank walnut tree in II wears
will reach a height of so feet and a
circumference Of so inches. At a cost
of 81 a tree for planting this new wal
nut in 10 years will yield a lumber
value Of $4,000 an acre. It is a fine
grained, hard wood, capable of taking
a high polish in finishing. 1t is lighter
in shade than the old walnut, more
nearly resembling mahogany.
The results which Burbank obtains
nave been brought about by the large
number of plants he has under OBJ
serVatiOn in making a study, permit
ting him a wide range of selection. In
stead of having a few square feet of
ground or a few plants in pots, he uses
acres of ground, if necessary, in MAX :
ing a single test. Instead of having a .
dozen or fifty hundred plants in maxi !
Ing a given test, he nay have a million, :
all of them similar. out of this mill !
hon ne may, perhaps, save only one /;
in the last sitting, but that one will be :,
the best of all. The rest are all likely Il
10 De destroyed by huge bonfires which :
clear the ground for other plants. J,
In the course of fruit development J.
ne makes countless grating expert :
mentS. one old apple tree, which is as :;
much beloved by Mr., Burbank as a hui l.
man friend, has carried CRAFTS and pro- !,
duced over q thousand varieties OF :,
lrult. An old cherry tree has borne -
o"o different kinds of cherries and .
plums, and has Played no small part in 9
the work of developing the stoneless =
fruit which is no longer an imaginary !
product In the development of each :,
new species some special object is :,
aimed for. 1t may be a certain flavor 81
or Fragrance to the fruit. for instance, :,
a ounce has bees produced having an 6.
lnulsputable pineapple flavor. The ',
plumcot is a new fruit which is a cross +,
etWee the plum and the apricot, and r.
Is an Improvement upon both of the ;,
parent fruits, Upon one part of his =,
Call1ornla experiment farm Mr.. Bur- =,
bank has 10000 different kinds of plum n,
trees growing in two rows. Each of il
'hese possesses some distinct quality cs
winch may be developed or discarded a,
to its value in improving the h,
quality of the fruit.
IN the year 1905 the Carnegie insti- u,
-ution of Washington made an appro- -
orlation amounting to 500, 900 in all, ~,
'Atenulng over q period of five wears. II,
n ma 4 A "a rI a..