LUTHER BURBANK 



ing the hardness of texture of its parents, as the 

 hybrid walnuts do, the tree thus produced would 

 by itself go far toward solving the problem of 

 re-forestration. The oaks quite frequently hy- 

 bridize in a state of nature. 



Granted a producer of soft white wood such as 

 probably can be made by combining the white pine 

 with some of its allies; a producer of hard cabinet 

 wood such as a hybrid between the British oak and 

 the American white oak would probably consti- 

 tute; and the hybrid walnuts already in existence 

 as producers of woods of the hardest and finest 

 texture for cabinet purposes granted further 

 that the other new trees have the capacity for 

 growth which the hybrid walnuts show and a 

 triumvirate of trees would be attained that could 

 be depended on to go forth and gladden the de- 

 vastated hillsides and valleys with trees that would 

 jointly meet every need of carpenter and cabinet 

 maker, adding incalculable billions to the wealth 

 of our nation. 



And of course we need not by any means con- 

 fine attention to these few most typical trees. 

 There are beeches and chestnuts that are near 

 relatives of the oak, each of which serves its own 

 particular purpose as the provider of wood having 

 unique quality. The beech, for example, is prized 

 by the chair maker for his furniture, and by the 



[176] 



