LUTHER BURBANK 



culture, and also to secure varieties that will be 

 of value in producing a fiber that has something of 

 the quality of silk. 



Even now tons of milkweed seed pods just 

 before they are ready to open are dried in the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley and shipped to Japan, where they 

 are used to make a kind of felt. In the Philippines 

 there is an allied plant, the Kapok, which supplies 

 a fiber much used for filling pillo\vs and the like. 



It is considered within the possibilities that a 

 variety may be produced that will be of value for 

 the production of rubber, as the juice of some 

 species has excellent rubber qualities. 



The native varieties of milkweed are exceed- 

 ingly hardy and as they are perennials they may 

 be worked on season after season. There is great 

 variation as to vigor of growth, size of leaves, com- 

 pactness of plants, and color and form of leaves, 

 as well as regarding the size, color, and abundance 

 of blossoms. The seed pods, with their white, silk- 

 like fiber also vary greatly. And there is corre- 

 sponding variation as to the amount of latex or 

 milk produced by the stalks. 



All in all, then, there is scarcely another tribe of 

 plants that shows a wider range of interesting 

 qualities for observation of the experimenter. 



Another wildling offering attractions of a dif- 

 ferent character is the so-called painted cup, or 



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