no LUTHER BURBANK 



are again made, until now the berries of thornless vines 

 have attained a superior flavor, and in size equal the other 

 cultivated varieties. 



Thornless has at last graduated. He never shows a 

 sign of a thorn and is as smooth as a willow twig. All 

 children will hail his advent with delight. 



How much of the future profit and pleasure would have 

 been lost to mankind had Burbank destroyed the few 

 seeds of the envelope cannot be estimated. The work of 

 changing all our berries to thornlessness is progressing, 

 but it' is still in its infancy. 



CHAPTER XXV 

 THE NEW STRAWBERRY 



About thirty-five years ago a number of strawberry 

 pupils from different lands entered the plant school. One 

 came from New England, where, no doubt, many Puritan 

 children had feasted on the fruit of its ancestors. Another 

 came from Alaska, the home of the little brown Eskimo; 

 while still another sailed over the broad Atlantic, then 

 travelled by rail across the United States until it was so 

 near the mighty Pacific that the moistened breezes re- 

 vived its drooping stalk and withered leaves. Its home 

 was in Norway, "the land of the midnight sun." 



These plant pupils were a long way from home, still 

 they were content, for they received the best of care from 



