234 LUTHER BURBANK 



tion by the experts. One of these is the vigor- 

 ous habit of growth of the plant, through which 

 it comes about that it may be propagated almost 

 as readily as a weed; will root almost as easily 

 as blue grass, and will bloom when only two or 

 three inches in height, and keep on blooming 

 month after month, and year after year, if the 

 buds are not actually frozen. 



Another exceptional quality, which some prac- 

 tical horticulturists might regard as constituting 

 a merit surpassing all the rest, is the power of 

 resistance of the Burbank rose which the Santa 

 Rosa shares to those ever-present foes of the 

 rose family, mildew and rust. 



The new roses appear to be absolutely im- 

 mune to the attacks not alone of these, but of 

 other fungoid enemies. 



Their healthiness under all climatic conditions 

 is their final and definitive quality. 



MAKING PLANTS IMMUNE TO DISEASE 



This quality of immunity to disease, while pri- 

 marily due, no doubt, to the enhanced vitality 

 given the plants through hybridization, has 

 been accentuated and developed by persistent 

 selection. 



In this regard roses do not differ from prac- 

 tically all other plants with which I operate. I 



