CHAPTER IV 

 THE WIZARD OF THE GARDEN 



The Story of Luther Burbank 



WHY does a thistle grow spines? Why do so 

 many plants put out sharp spikes and crooked 

 thorns? The answer is simple. The thorns 

 are put out simply for the purpose of protecting the plant 

 from animals that would otherwise devour it. Says 

 Luther Burbank: 



If we invite Mr Thistle or Mr Cactus into our garden and 

 patiently and earnestly convince him that all marauding 

 animals will be kept out it will not be very long before some 

 member of his tribe will see fit partly to discard some of these 

 exasperating pins and needles and put on a more civilized suit 

 of clothes. By careful selection from this one varying indi- 

 vidual others will be produced which will be absolutely spine- 

 less, to remain so as long as the marauders do not disturb them. 



Here in a few sentences you have the first secret of the 

 plant wizard, Luther Burbank, a man to whom every 

 gardener, every grower of fruit and flowers and vegetables, 

 owes a great debt, just as every grower of wheat owes a 

 similar debt to the English Garton brothers for their 

 improvements in cereals. That secret is selection. 



We propose to explain what is meant by selection and 

 to tell of the other methods by which this wonderful man 

 attained his remarkable results, but first we will explain 

 why we choose Luther Burbank out of many similar 

 geniuses as a typical hero of modern science. 



Luther Burbank was born in Lancaster, in the state of 

 Massachusetts, in the year 1849, ano ^ was the thirteenth 



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