LUTHER BURBANK 



Thus it will be seen that my ancestry, like that 

 of most people in America, includes strains of 

 several nationalities. In talking with people who 

 seem to me over-zealous about their ancestors, I 

 am sometimes moved to say that although I never 

 discovered that any royal or exceptionally aristo- 

 cratic blood flows m our veins, yet, on the other 

 hand, there appears to be no record that any an- 

 cestor was ever detected as a criminal — ^which, 

 perhaps, from the standpoint of the student of 

 heredity, is a matter of far greater importance 

 than the other. 



The Burbanks, so far as I personally know of 

 them, were generally farmers, paper manufac- 

 turers, railroad men, teachers, and clergymen; 

 while on the Ross side my ancestors were more 

 often merchants, mechanics, and horticulturists. 



Few families of New England, I suppose, have 



a better-sustained record of representation in the 



learned professions, in civic duties, in military 



stations, and in public reforms, than the Burbanks. 



The Physical and Mental Environment 



OF Childhood 



My father's farm was located about three miles 

 north of the little village of Lancaster, Massachu- 

 setts, just off the main road to Harvard. 



There I was born — at least so the great family 

 Bible and the family traditions assure me — ^March 



[18] 



