312 



niscovi;HY 



Possibly a more hardy disease-resisting root than 

 any yet known to us may evolve. More than that, 

 the experiment may lead on to others, and some 

 horticultural genius more talented than his fellows 

 may hit upon an epoch-making discovery which may 

 affect the food-supply of the whole world. 



One such genius has already appeared. 



I mean Luther Burbank, the plant wizard of Cali- 

 fornia, whose services to his State and to mankind 

 have been recognised in that neighbourhood by the 

 setting apart of one day a year as a holiday in his 

 honour, and calling it by his name. 



I feel sure the English nation would do more than 

 that for anyone who, following in his steps, could by 

 some means increase, say, the yield of the sugar-cane 

 tenfold ! Who says this is an impossibility ? I am 

 confident that Burbank himself would not admit 

 such a word. 



A side-line to this study, less dramatic and striking 

 perhaps, consists in converting what has formerly 

 been an annual crop into a perennial one, with the 

 attendant saving in tillage and seeding, although with 

 naturally greater expenditure on manures. This has 

 been already done in the case of perpetual spinach, 

 and more lately still with broccoli ; indeed, I have 

 heard of these new broccoU yielding thirty heads in 

 a season, and doing this continuously for several years ; 

 for they are hardy and resist any ordinary frosts. 



Perhaps Burbank 's greatest achievement of all, and 

 the most valuable to man, is his spineless cactus. 



This plant, as we all know, will flourish on waterless 

 wastes where no other vegetation can e.xist. Also, it 

 was previously known that the stems contained sub- 

 stances rendering them suitable fodder for cattle, 

 but their prickly spines prevented them being of 

 any use in this way, or in fact for anything. But 

 Luther Burbank determined to overcome this diffi- 

 culty, and trained all his intelligence on the task of 

 creating a cactus without spines, in order that these 

 erstwhile deserts should be no longer barren, but 

 should become grazing lands for herds of beasts, which 

 would find in the new production both food and drink 

 — for the stems contain a large percentage of water. 



The history of repeated experiments and disap- 

 pointments before this end was attained need not be 

 gone into ; enough that thousands of acres formerly 

 unprofitable now support large numbers of beasts, 

 which in their turn become food for man ; more still, 

 this spineless cactus bears a wholesome and dehcious 

 fruit. 



Among his other wonders are a white blackberry, 

 a stoneless plum, a dwarf chestnut, and the potato 

 called by his name. All those breed true, and go on 

 doing so. The story of what he has accomphshed on 

 these lines on his twenty-two acres in California is a 



veritable romance. He is himself an enthusiast, as 

 he must needs be, to persevere and keep on trjnng and 

 trying again in the face of difficulties and set-backs. 

 He has already achieved much, and has a whole- 

 hearted faith in the immense future before this work, 

 and the tremendous possibilities open to those who 

 take it up. His thoughts were first directed to this 

 study by those little potato seeds I mentioned. As a 

 youth, he noticed a seed-cluster on a potato plant, 

 and on sowing these the following year, he wais amazed 

 to find that each seed produced a potato absolutely 

 distinct from its brethren. As a result of this experi- 

 ment, he made sufficient money to take him from his 

 home in Massachusetts to California, where he deemed 

 the magnificent climate would be an important factor 

 in the success of such work. There he has worked 

 ever since, patiently and devotedly ; some slight idea 

 of how patiently may be formed when we consider 

 that the Sun-berry took twenty-five years to produce 

 a single berry. It was developed from two different 

 Solanums, neither of which yielded an edible fruit. 



His object in life is to make " two blades of grass 

 grow where one grew before," in which he has been 

 abundantly successful ; although he holds that as j-et 

 we have only touched the fringe of this vast subject, 

 and sees no reason why this earth could not easily 

 support double the population it now does, if only 

 more people would pursue this fascinating study in 

 a truly scientific spirit. 



And what pursuit could be more engrossing or far- 

 reaching in its results ? If a discoverer of new con- 

 tinents is a benefactor to mankind, is not he who 

 enriches and beautifies the lands we already know, 

 and enables them to produce two tons of grain, or 

 whatever it may be, where only one grew before ? Is 

 not our homage and gratitude due to him in no less 

 degree ? 



November Number 



We hope to print the following articles in the next 

 number: 



1. New Interpretations of Romanticism. By Prof. J. 



G. Robertson. 



2. Nelson's Approach at Trafalgar. By Prof. J. 



Holland Rose. 



3. The Independence of Psychology'. By Dr. C. S. 



Myers. 



4. The People of Ancient Rome. By J. Wh.\t.mough. 



5. The Exploration of the Sea. By Dr. R. N. Rt"D- 



MOSE Brown. 



6. Pasteur. By E. Cahen. 



7. The Potato. By G. C. Golgh. 



8. The Structure of an Atom. By Dr. A. S. Russell. 



