156 LUTHER BURBANK 



pink cheek is admired by every lover of nature, as she 

 gracefully hangs from her slender stems, or peeps from 

 beneath her canopy of green leaves. During the months 

 of May and June she seems perfect. When one visits an 

 orchard of these trees and is permitted to taste the fruit, 

 further improvement seems hardly possible. 



The Black Tartarian, also when fully ripe, is delicious. 

 It is so sweet and juicy when first taken from the tree, one 

 wonders how it could be made better, but the master, in 

 his vision, sees cherries far superior to any yet produced. 



The first cherry pupil was the purple Guigne, noted for 

 its earliness. The teacher wished it to become still larger, 

 earlier, sweeter, and more productive. Even a day's differ- 

 ence in the ripening of the cherry crop means much to the 

 California producer, for the first fruits of the season are 

 shipped East and bring high prices. 



So the work was begun. Thousands of pits were saved 

 from the Guigne, and soon the kindergarten was full of 

 young cherry pupils. All the best were later promoted to 

 Gold Ridge. They were grafted onto large, strong trees, 

 many hundreds being put on each tree. From the best of 

 these, seeds were saved and other trees were grown. The 

 process of selection in this case was a long one, and con- 

 tinued for many years before the first cherry pupil was 

 graduated. This tree was sold, and the proud purchasers 

 named it "The Burbank Cherry" in honor of the master. 



The new tree is vigorous and never fails to produce large 



