LUTHER BURBANK 



family, might lead one to suppose that the pro- 

 duction of the new variety had been a task of 

 great difliculty. Perhaps from the standpoint of 

 the average plant breeder it could hardly be 

 said that its creation was altogether easy; yet 

 compared with some of my other plant develop- 

 ments the production of this one was at least 

 relatively simple. 



The original stock from whicli the new variety 

 was developed, came to me from the antipodes. 

 It was sent by the firm of D. Hay & Son from 

 Auckland, New Zealand. 



The first two or three shipments were lost, as 

 the plants died on the way, but at last I obtained 

 half a dozen very diminutive roots that showed 

 some signs of life. These, as anticipated, produced 

 stalks during the winter instead of following the 

 conventional rhubarb custom of putting forth 

 stalks for onlj'^ a few weeks in the spring. 



The stalks of this original winter rhubarb, 

 however, were very small — about the size of an 

 ordinary lead pencil — and certainly not worth 

 cultivating for immediate use, as they would 

 have proved quite unmarketable. The plant was 

 admitted to have no great value in New Zealand. 

 Indeed, in point of quality of stalk the imported 

 plant bore no comparison with ordinary pieplant 

 of our gardens. 



[174] 



