278 LUTHER BURBANK 



many blades of grass, so much grain, or per- 

 haps, so many slabs of cactus; while the pota- 

 toes, lettuce, and coffee which go with it come 

 out of the ground direct. 



Our clothing is from cotton or flax, or perhaps 

 a sprinkling of wool, or from the mulberry tree 

 on which the silkworm feeds. 



Our shoes and our woolens, like our steaks, re- 

 solve themselves into grass. 



The mineral kingdom supplies the least of 

 our needs; and the animal kingdom is wholly 

 dependent on the vegetable kingdom. 



Who can predict the result when the inventive 

 genius of young America is turned toward this, 

 the greatest of all fields of invention, as it is now 

 turned toward mechanics and electricity? This 

 important line of effort would probably have been 

 more enticing if patents could be obtained for 

 meritorious plant inventions, but so far no pro- 

 tection whatever can be extended, even though 

 the new self-repeating products were worth, as 

 some of them are, a thousand million dollars 

 each. 



