Bancroft I \h 



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Some Results of Mr. Luther 

 Burbank's Life Work 



UTHER BURBANK, most famous 

 plant-breeder of all time, 1 liken 

 unto Robert Louis Stevenson. 

 There is in him that same gentle- 

 ness, that tremendous capacity for 

 hard work long sustained, that 

 frA^ same daringness to launch out into 



<^sr*J new fields, casting aside the use- 



less traditions of the past and re- 

 taining those which are of value, and there is 

 that same sympathy with all things which 

 marked the gentle Stevenson. And because Mr. 

 Burbank understands the ways of plants as Stev- 

 enson knew the ways of men, he has in him that 

 quality which passes into genius. Therefore, no 

 one can describe works of Mr. Burbank so that 

 another may duplicate them, though it is probable 

 that Mr. Burbank's researches will be of as in- 

 estimable value to science as the plants he has 

 originated are of commercial value to humanity. 

 Mr. Burbank has originated or developed more 

 than 2000 new species, sub-species and varie- 

 ties of plants, including vegetables, fruits, grains, 

 grasses and flowers. Perhaps the latest origina- 

 tion of Mr. Burbank which has attracted most 

 comment of the press is the spineless cactus. 

 This is the cactus generally known as the prickly 

 pear, or, scientifically, opuntia. Mr. Burbank's 

 spineless cactus, however, is more than a cactus 

 without spines. It is a luscious, nourishing forage 

 plant, said to be about half as nourishing as al- 

 falfa and equal in nutritious properties to most 

 of the clovers. Acre for acre, the yield of 

 spineless is much greater than alfalfa. The 

 size and character of the wild plant has been 

 radically improved by Mr. Burbank and the 

 acrid juice found in the wild cactus is eliminated 

 in the spineless variety. The strain has been 

 established and a spineless cactus plant one year 

 old on Mr. Burbank's farm at Santa Rosa is as 

 high as a man's shoulders. One of its leaves 

 would feed a sheep all day. 



Only those who have seen cattle die amid the 

 cactus jungles of the great Southwest can 

 realize what an inestimable boon spineless will 

 be to humanity. It will be several years yet be- 

 fore Mr. Burbank is ready to place the spineless 

 cactus upon the market as a commercial proposi- 

 tion. He hopes, among other things, to originate 

 a variety which shall grow in every part of the 

 United States. Mr. Burbank's work is too well 



