LUTHER BURBANK AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 165 



tightly until Jack Frost's reign was succeeded by warm 

 sunshine. Then the delicate pink and white blossoms threw 

 off the cloak of brown, and among the green foliage sang 

 the robin, the wren, and the thrush on their return from 

 winter homes in the tropics. 



As the blossoms faded away and the tiny apples formed, 

 then reddened, and finally acquired stripes of carmine and 

 gold, the different varieties were closely watched and 

 studied. It was he who discovered the first faint coloring 

 of the Red June and Williams. He became acquainted 

 with the names of the many kinds, for one of his early 

 treasures was a book with pictures of the different fruits in 

 outline. Many of these may now be seen in the same old 

 book, shaded by irregular pencillings made by boyish 

 fingers. 



As some of the trees in the orchard bore inferior fruit, 

 George, his older brother, decided to secure twigs or shoots 

 from the best varieties of that time and graft the trees. 

 Luther was then only five or six years of age, but he be- 

 came interested in his brother's work. He could not 

 understand why the fine large limbs of his favorite trees 

 should be cut off. His brother explained that the little 

 shoots would later bear better fruit than the larger and 

 older branches. Luther saw that his brother made a small 

 slit in a limb, then pried it open, and set in the tiny cut- 

 ting from another tree. It seemed strange to him that the 

 two would unite and become one, and that the fruit would 



