270 LUTHER BURBANK 



Nor are the insects and fungous diseases the 

 only enemies which plants can be taught to over- 

 come. Trees have been trained to bloom later 

 in the season so as to avoid the late spring frosts 

 which might nip their buds ; and to bear earlier, 

 that their fruit may be gathered before the early 

 frosts of fall have come to destroy. The gladio- 

 lus has been encouraged to rearrange its blos- 

 soms, shorten its stalk and thicken its petals, so 

 that the hot sunshine and the wind no longer 

 ruins its beauty. 



And the prune, which at times must lie on 

 the ground till it is gathered or even cured, had 

 the habit, here in California, of ripening about 

 the time of the equinoctial rains of fall. It has 

 been helped to shift its bearing season earlier, 

 so that, now, when the rains come, some of the 

 newer prunes have been cured and are under 

 cover. 



In all of these enemies of plant life: 

 insects, fungous diseases, rains, winds, frosts, 

 snows, and the parching heat of the plains, 

 there are opportunities for great improve- 

 ment in plants, trees, grasses, grains, and 

 flowers. 



Yet these enemies form the least important, 

 perhaps, of the special conditions to which plants 

 may be accommodated. 



