LUTHER BURBANK 



ments, except on a limited scale, and in intervals 

 of arduous practical duties. Longer delay was not 

 to be thought of. I was eager to take up the pro- 

 jected work, and it was not deferred for a season 

 longer than was absolutely necessary. 



Even before I could see my way to the aban- 

 donment of the practical work of the nurseryman, 

 projects were in hand that were preparing the way 

 for the new activities. In particular, I had sent to 

 Japan to secure seeds and cuttings of a great 

 variety of fruits. It seemed certain that I could 

 better afford to hire collectors in foreign lands to 

 secure material than to go to foreign lands in per- 

 son in quest of it. 



The first consignment of Japanese seeds and 

 seedlings reached me November 5, 1884. In prep- 

 aration for their coming I had purchased the 

 Dimmick place and prepared my experiment 

 grounds a few months earlier. And when the 

 consignment was in hand, with the representatives 

 of exotic species of fruits, I felt that a new era 

 had begun for me, and that the long frustrated 

 plans were about to find realization. 



The following year, so well had the nursery 

 business prospered, I was able to purchase a farm 

 at Sebastopol, seven miles away from Santa Rosa, 

 where the conditions were more favorable for the 

 growing of some types of plants. 



[102] 



