LUTHER BURBANK 
Thornless blackberries and spineless cactus are 
productions of proven worth and long standing, 
which Mr. Burbank has now followed up with his 
thornless raspberry—with many other thornless 
plants to come. Why thorns at all, in the world 
of useful plants, when useful plants no longer 
need them? 
Whatever plant we observe we shall see some 
waste which might be eliminated, some weakness 
which might be overcome, some extravagance 
which might be checked—and all for the profit 
of producer and consumer alike. 
Still another important department of plant 
improvement lies in fitting plants to meet specific 
conditions. 
The grape growers of California, for example, 
had their vineyards destroyed by a little plant 
louse called the phylloxera, a pest which not only 
attacks the leaves, but the roots as well, and kills 
the vine. The growers found relief through 
grafting new vines on resistant roots which en- 
vironment had armored against this pest. 
When we think of the cactus, and the, sage- 
brush, and the desert euphorbia—of the conditions 
which, unaided, they have withstood and the 
enemies which they have overcome, does it not 
seem as if, with our help, we should be able to 
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