AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 25 



and the tall stalks of corn bearing great ears and tower- 

 ing above the table were far better than those raised by 

 the Pilgrim fathers under the direction of Massasoit. 



The mother, from whom Burbank inherited much of 

 his love for Nature, brought bouquets of beautiful flowers 

 and placed them on the table among the vegetables. 

 Glasses of transparent jellies, jellies of crystal white and 

 ruby red, also jams of various kinds from the mother's 

 winter store, were arranged in pyramids among the gar- 

 dener's displays. But the exhibit that most attracted 

 the curious as well as the scientific observer was seven 

 plates, each containing the product of one of the seedling 

 potato plants that Burbank had so carefully tended. 



One of the greatest seedsmen of the United States was 

 invited to visit the fair and to deliver the opening ad- 

 dress. In the course of his remarks he referred to the 

 seven plates of seedling potatoes and to the possibility of 

 their development, predicting a brilliant future for the 

 producer. 



At the close of the programme Burbank was introduced 

 to this man of note. The seedsman inquired how he 

 produced the potatoes, and offered to buy number fifteen 

 if, after further trial, it proved as good as it then promised. 



Cultivation for testing and to increase the stock con- 

 tinued until the fall of 1875, when Burbank sent to the 

 seedsman the potatoes he had raised from number fifteen, 

 and received for his new product $150. The seedsman 



