Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1913-02-27
WORKS IN MIRACLES
Luthe' Burbank a ,Ean Who A1-
C1mpIishes Wonders.
visit to His Estate and Actual Sight
OF H. h!arsels he r.as wrought
Is Needed to Convince
the SkeptlG.

The Wonders accomplished by .Lu.
ther Burbank II they 30 on increasing
In number as they have In the past
will IN. ke another Thousand and
One" Marvellous tales. 4 recent visi-
tor to his California estate writes to
the Craftsman:
He took Us into his gardens and
told us how he had coaxed the thorns
from the blackberry and then made its
fruit white, how he had changed the
colors OF flowers at will doubled and
trebled their size. made their stems
long and twining. or strong enough to
support the added weight OF number.
less blooms of the original single bios.
som.
He showed us a bed Of oenothera
one petal Of which would cover an en-.
tire blossom Of the parent plant and
which obeys his command to bloom
afresh each morning during the sum-
mer He showed us pears four times
rs productive as the Bartlett. cobless
corn. stoneless plums seedless grapes,
the rhubarb that Is commonly called
1.-The mortgage litter" because 1t 10
ready for the market six weeks before
any otl.r kind and has flavor and
texture that make it yield 81 600 an
acre the first year after planting
I'VE saw new flowers in the making
new vegetable almost ready to be
given to the world We tasted sew
eral kinds OF luscious new strawber'
ries. were showered with petals OF
roses from which a Long Island flor,
list declares he has sold over 100000
worth of plants and flowers by follow
ing Mr. Eurbank's advice on hybrldiz'
ing
Finally our brains would hold no
more and we began to doubt the ties.
timony of our sense when he showed
us his latest and most wonderful
achevement-the thornless cactus.
which one scientist says Is OF as much
Importance as the discovery OF new
continent did not dare set down
In my notebook all that ! heard him
tell about this wonderful plant. 80
simply followed him about eating the
thornless fruit( which alone was
enough to make one forget everything
but its delicious favor. while his ex
plantations and figures scared above
my ability to comprehend or record
But the next day ! returned pored
over his books and records and &C
Ouired facts about this plant. which Is
destined doubtless to redeem the
no nan
cactus that had been considered not
only worthless, but a positive pest. and
made II produce a fruit that resembles
the watermelon In juiciness with
flavor reminiscent OF pneapp'es'
strawberries and pears After this
delicious crop is gathered the plant Is
used for feeding stock OF all kinds
Corn under favorable circumstances,
will produce approximate one ana
half tons OF food an acre, alfalfa as
much as Ave tons an acre and the
burbank spineless cactus will harvest
200 tons to an acre.
II can produce s. 200 worth OF de
natured alcohol an acre as against
s35 worth from Indian corn. The Gao
tus pear, as the fruit Is called. can be
grown at much less expense than 1t
takes to produce oranges: there is
never a crop failure and the market
price equals that OF the oranage, They
make excellent jelly. jam, strip. and
the juice of the crimson variety makes
a wholesome permanent food coloring
When planted eight feet apart the
nj. ,nts will nearly meet In two seasons
growth The spineless cactus responds
phenomenally to cultivation-it has
M narallel In the history Of cultivated
n,ants It produces tremendous ton
mage, requires no irrigation ID an eA
cellent bedding for hogs' chickehs'
sheep and goats. 1t has no insect or
fungus enemies One planting Is am
ri. for repeated cuttings.