STORIES OF LUTHER BURBANK 

 AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 



PART I THE CHILD 



CHAPTER I 

 THE HOME 



When, on the yth of March, 1849, a tiny boy baby came 

 to a happy family in the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 

 nobody knew that a great naturalist's life had just begun. 

 The snow was beginning to melt on the New England 

 hillsides, and under the ground millions of flowers were 

 awakening. 



Only the pretty pussy willows, however, were brave 

 enough to venture out. Quickly they put on their soft 

 gray fur coats, pulled soft gray fur caps over their tiny 

 heads, and hurried up into the chilly spring air to be the 

 first to welcome their dear friend, little Luther Burbank. 



The Burbank family lived in a large brick house, set 

 some distance back from the road. Over it swayed the 

 graceful branches of a great elm tree, in which every year 

 the golden orioles hung their swinging cradles and poured 

 out their notes of joy. 



