106 City Homes on Country Lanes 



ods and no effort to monopolize the mighty forces which 

 he has learned to appreciate and direct. The miracle 

 of the new flower or fruit, or vegetable he would make 

 as common as the sunshine. He would like to see a 

 Luther Burbank in every garden, new light breaking on 

 every horizon, and each morning another morning of 

 creation. So would he pass the priceless heritage to 

 the future. 



To study Luther Burbank as he is studied by the 

 few, one joins the Burbank Society and reads the story 

 of his work as it is set forth in his own twelve volumes 

 under the editorship of Dr. Henry Smith Williams, the 

 noted student, historian and social scientist of New 

 York. But to study him as the many may do, one gets 

 Dr. Williams' own volume, "Luther Burbank, His Life 

 and Work." Here, in the compass of 329 pages, with 

 many illustrations, one gets a swift summary of the 

 man, his ways and his achievements. But in order that 

 the mystery which surrounds his work in the minds of 

 so many people may be modified, if not dissipated, the 

 following is quoted from Dr. Williams' book: 



"The fundamental principles of plant development 

 through which Mr. Burbank thought to develop new 

 and improved varieties were not in themselves novel 

 or revolutionary. They consisted essentially in the 

 careful selection among a mass of plants of any in- 

 dividual that showed exceptional qualities of a desirable 

 type ; the saving of seed of this exceptional individual 

 and the carrying out of the same process of selection 

 among the progeny through successive generations. 



"Couple this method of selection and so-called line 

 breeding with the method of cross-pollenizing different 



