LUTHER BURBANK 



thrive in ordinary soils and under ordinary sys- 

 tems of cultivation. No pampered pets are offered 

 from my grounds for general culture. 



I would urge any orchardist who operates on a 

 large scale to consider the matter of selecting as 

 far as possible varieties of fruit trees that are more 

 or less immune to disease, rather than to depend 

 on the at best somewhat precarious method of 

 warding off the enemies by spraying. Prevention 

 is better than cure with plants no less than with 

 human beings. But of course the renovator of an 

 old orchard, whose task is at the moment under 

 consideration, must work with the materials sup- 

 plied him and cannot ignore the fungus and insect 

 pests that attack his trees; althoiigh by dint of 

 proper grafting he may hope presently to trans- 

 form the character of the trees in such a way as 

 to give them partial immunity. The orchardist of 

 the future will have still better ones in these re- 

 gards. 



Planning a New Obchabd 



So much for the renovation of the old orchard. 

 I have spoken thus at length on this aspect of the 

 subject because of its obvious importance, and 

 because it aims at the correction of a widespread 

 condition and has to do with the possible restora- 

 tion of properties in the aggregate of enormous 

 value. 



[52] 



