LUTHER BURBANK 



The order for twenty thousand prunes was 

 given by Mr. Warren Button, a wealthy merchant 

 and banker of Petaluma, and later of San Fran- 

 cisco, who had conceived a sudden interest in 

 prune-growing and wished to undertake it on a 

 large scale wtih the least possible delay. Mr. But- 

 ton had seen something of my work, and he came 

 to me in March, 1881, and asked if I could furnish 

 him twenty thousand prune trees ready to set out 

 the coming fall. 



At first thought I was disposed to answer that 

 no one on earth could furnish twenty thousand 

 fruit trees on an order given in March for deliv- 

 ery in the fall of the same year. But, after think- 

 ing the matter over for a few minutes, I decided 

 that the project was not quite so hopeless as it 

 seemed. 



If almond seedlings were used for stock, and 

 prune buds June-budded on these stocks, the thing 

 might be accomplished. 



Mr. Button agreed to furnish what financial aid 

 was needed during the summer to pay for help 

 and to purchase the required number of almonds 

 for planting. So the bargain was closed, and I 

 entered on the task with enthusiasm. What made 

 the project seem feasible was the knowledge of 

 the fact that almonds, under proper conditions, 

 sprout almost at once like corn, unlike nearly all 



[88] 



