THE LUTHER BURBANK SOCIETY 



day when they were to be brought forth and put 

 into tangible shape for the benefit of the many. 



The reader will find throughout these pages a 

 number of photographic reproductions which 

 vividly show the painstaking care with which 

 Luther Burbank, almost from boyhood, recorded 

 his experiments. 



It was because of this long fixed determination 

 that when the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 nearly ten years ago, approached Mr. Burbank, he 

 willingly entered into an arrangement whereby his 

 work was to be given to the world through this 

 agency. 



It is not to the discredit of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution, or to the discredit of Luther Burbank, that 

 this effort, after a great expenditure of money and 

 a number of years of conscientious work, pro- 

 duced no fruit. Most great undertakings experi- 

 ence a number of false starts before they are fin- 

 ally launched on their way to accomplishment. 

 And such was the case with the beginnings of this 

 work. 



Laboring alone, and many years in advance of 

 his time, it was not to be expected that Luther 

 Burbank could be interpreted in the language of 

 contemporary science. And in fact, with true 

 Yankee keenness, he much preferred that his bene- 

 fits be reaped directly by those who practice agri- 



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