LUTHER BURBANK 



flower must be plucked before it opens, as it is 

 inedible after coming to maturity. 



By crossing various varieties of the European 

 artichoke, and by selective breeding, Mr. Burbank 

 has developed new varieties that are exceedingly 

 large, the flower heads being more than two feet 

 in circumference when open. The mature flower, 

 with its mass of blue flurries, is so attractive that 

 it is sometimes allowed to open and picked for 

 ornamental purposes. 



The artichoke has been so little worked with 

 that it offers good opportunities for the amateur, 

 either through cross-breeding or merely through 

 selection. Plants grown from the seed are sure 

 to show a certain range of variation, and you 

 may readily develop improved varieties by select- 

 ing seeds from the best and repeating the selection 

 through two or three successive generations. 



Parsley, the mints, the mustards, cabbages, 

 turnips, peppers all of these have been worked 

 with extensively by Mr. Burbank, and all have pos- 

 sibilities of development that make them attractive 

 for the amateur. 



Another vegetable with which one of Mr. Bur- 

 bank's greatest triumphs has been effected is the 

 winter rhubarb, which came from New Zealand 

 with a stem scarcely larger than a lead pencil, 

 but which has now been developed until it is of 

 gigantic size, and which has taken on the habit 

 of perpetual bearing. The latter habit is ex- 

 plained, in part at least, by the fact that the 

 rhubarb came from another hemisphere. Summer 



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