i6 



LUTHER BURBANK 



The little brick schoolhouse. 



one another's chin to "see if you love butter," and whistled 

 with blades of grass. He made pop guns from elderwood, 

 whistles from willows, bows and arrows from beech and 

 hazel, and toy canoes from the bark of the white birch. 

 He knew the spruce trees in the swamp where the best 

 chewing gum could be found. He knew the sweet birch 

 and sassafras trees with spicy bark, the ferns and sweet- 

 flags with edible roots; and mNlearning the uses of the 

 various trees, plants, and herbs that grew near his home, 

 he formed habits of observation which have proved of the 

 greatest value in his life-work. 



It was he, also, who led the little band of barefoot boys 

 and rosy-cheeked girls where the sweetest strawberries hid 

 in the meadow grasses, the biggest blueberries grew in 



