LUTHER BURBANK 



with the making of windmills, water wheels, stat- 

 uary, and ornamental pottery had always been 

 but slightly subordinate to the love of wandering 

 in the woods and studying the flowers and trees 

 and wild creatures. 



It was recalled by my elders that from earliest 

 boyhood I had taken delight in the investigation 

 of a little wooden cradle in the attic; also that an 

 old spinning wheel and sundry delapidated pieces 

 of furniture had particularly allured me. 



A little later I had experimented in the back 

 yard with an old tea-kettle, and developed an 

 untiring steam whistle that aroused but probably 

 did not especially please the neighborhood. 



In due course my mechanical experiments 

 continued until a miniature steam engine was per- 

 fected which had such practicality that I after- 

 wards sold it to be used in propelling a small 

 pleasure boat. So I might claim to have been an 

 innovater in the development of the now popular 

 motor boat. My experiments, however, were made 

 a few decades too early. 



At the Lancaster Academy, which I attended 

 after gaining sufficient preliminary knowledge in 

 the district school, I was particularly interested in 

 free hand drawing, which was found very easy, 

 and I had always an interest in designing. So my 

 father, observing these propensities, concluded 



[44] 



