LUTHER BURBANK 



comparative test might be made. It remained for 

 Luther Burbank, with his theory of starving a 

 living thing to make it hasten its reproduction, to 

 cut from two to seven years out of the long wait 

 for the fruit which is to tell the story of the 

 heredities which were confined within the seed. 



It is possible, at this point, to give but the 

 barest glimpse of the results which Mr. Burbank's 

 improvements in grafting have made possible. 

 Under the proper heading the details of method 

 will be fully explained, together with a summary 

 of the results of hundreds of thousands of grafts, 

 showing that, while the average time of fruiting 

 has been brought down to less than two seasons, 

 in some exceptional cases Mr. Burbank has 

 secured fruit for testing the same season that the 

 graft was made. 



Here, too, it is not possible to convey more 

 than a general idea of his plans which, in every 

 operation, are aimed toward the end of producing 

 the quickest possible test. Whether it be the 

 quince seedlings bearing fruit in six months; or 

 three-foot chestnut trees loaded down with nuts; 

 or twelve year old walnut trees, the size of their 

 seventy year old cousins all through this work 

 the plan and the method is to save time for the 

 individual plant as well as to provide short-cuts 

 for the process of evolution, 



[200] 



