The Washington times., 1921-05-08

knows little or n0thlng.
No blsring Of brass bands or w1v-
ing Of flags greats these victors Of
many . battle fought to change the
very nature OF Nature itself.
! Except among their own ilk. their
praises are unsung. But they are not
eourting publicity: they do not care
to have their achievements flauutsd
in the magazines and newspapers. or
their names family wstchwords.
They are contented II they have
succeeded in producing . new plant,
or increasing the yield OF an old
plant. for the benefit OF mankind.
The man who 10 directing this work
10 Prof. Lee Cleveland Ccrbett. horti-
cuiturist of the Department OF Agri-
culture.
He has an once. q stsnogrnpher n
everything at 220 Fourteenth street
northwest, but his Workshop II In the
greenhouses at the Arlington expeei-
mentation farm.
Prof. Corbett snstchsd . few min
.utes from his work yesterday to tell
some thing OF the work his depart
ment is carrying on.
There IL nothing blatant about Prof.
Coybett He IL modest-almost els
tressingIy so. for the interviewer hsd
great difficulty In getting him even
to refer in passing to his own achi,ve-
ments in botanical research. But be
has nothing but praise for his rs
sistants and associates.
Prof. Corbett is tall and wiry. bas
wisp Of a gray mustvche and great
shock sf gray hair.
So gteat have been his achieve
ments in the botanical world that
botanists have called him the second
Luther Burbank"
Perhaps one OF the most interest
ing freak flowers to be created BY
Professor Corbett is the big yellow
csrnation, hundreds OF which may be
seen growing In the greenhouses ~
Arlington.
The creation was the result OF
much patient work. 1t came after
many experiments OF pealenisins
"bullhead" carnations with the single
variety. The result was . beautiful
bloom containing the best properties
Of each variety.
TURN OUT FREAK PLANTS.
For years scientists had demon
strated that 1t is possible to control
the form Of plants, and Professor
SGEUStt h1o thS shVShy hhot ~ NV
same token IL was possible to con.
troll the color also.
BY dint OF careful poIlenising hs
obtained a perfect yellow, carpation--
the envy Of florists and fiower-lovers
| One of the nrst freak grating
&C achievements of the Department Of
Agriculture experts was way bach
in 1892. when Professor Bailey
grated a tomato vine to a potato
plant. When the grating process.
was completed, q vine bearing on one
side healthy potatoes, and on the
other side luscious tomatoes, was thu
result.
Since that time many freak plant
have been the result OF the graftint
and polarization work of AGricul
tuye Department botanists.
1t Is Infinitely easier to graft sof;
ones" Prof. Corbett said. SPEAK
ing OF freak grating achievement 4
our men took the crateagus. Or thor
bush. plant that grows will
throughout the country, and grAftc'
to it's roots and stem ounce trees
The grated tree Is not bothered u.
insects which 80 often destroy tn
straight-away ounce tree.
Bridge grating Is another exploi
of our men. Sometimes rats and fis,,
m,ce gnaw the bark OF tree one o
two feat from the ground. Ordina I'll,
that tree dies. Our experts discov
cred that by process known /,
bridge grating we could save th
lives Of many trees thus attacked.
Healthy scions, or branches, wer
grated, one end to the root of tn
tree and the other to the bark abev
tho upAwed Area The san V,e
tn rough these scions, and the life o
the tree Is saved
over in Arlington there are 5000
Easter lilies that have been grove
not from bulbs as one would natural
ly expect, but from seeds.
| Every year about so per cent OF tn
Easter lily bulbs shipped here fror
Japan and Bermuda rot. When tn
experts OF the Department Of Ayr
culture made Easter lilies con,
from seeds" II was found that ss Do
cent Of the seeds were in prime cond
ton and the result was a great ir
crease In the Easter lily output.
"Mr. slammed was sent out to Cal
1 fornia to take census OF orang
trees" Prof. Corbett said. "We ha
an idea that nurserymen were props
eating their orchards from dron
trees. These drones were we'll shape
and looked healthy enough, but whe
the harvest came the yield WASH
there.
"a careful study was made OF thes
trees. IT was found after sewers
years Observation that by elim'
mating the drones the orange outpu
was greatly increased. We believ
that N this Is true with oranges