232 LUTHER BURBANK 



to be obnoxious, deserve to be named as offering 

 possibilities of usefulness if properly educated. 

 These are the thistle (Cnicus) and the burdock 

 (Lappa). 



That the thistle is a succulent herb that brows- 

 ing animals have found palatable, is proved by 

 its development of an elaborate system of pro- 

 tective thorns. Of course, these thorns must be 

 eliminated if the thistle is to be transformed into 

 a garden vegetable. The thistles are not a whit 

 more thoroughly cursed with thorns than their 

 nearest relative the artichoke was when first 

 brought under cultivation ; and not more so than 

 some of the recessive artichoke seedlings are at 

 the present day, even when grown from the most 

 carefully selected stock. 



I have grown various thistles extensively from 

 seed, and although I have worked more especially 

 for variations in color of the flower, yet I have 

 paid attention also to the quality of leaf, and I 

 am quite convinced that it would not be difficult 

 to produce a spineless variety. 



Indeed these experiments have advanced far 

 in that direction. 



The leaves and stalks of the plant may 

 readily be developed so as to make a very 

 palatable vegetable, comparable in its uses to 

 spinach. 



