LUTHER BURBANK 



of warriors wilh every hand against it, needs no 

 such care. Eveiy one of the fifty or more wart-like 

 eyes on its every slab is competent to throw out 

 a root, a fruit, or another slab — whichever the 

 occasion seems to warrant. 



Lay a cactus slab on hard ground, unscratched 

 by a hoe, and the eyes of its vinder side will throw 

 long yellow roots downward, while the eyes on 

 the upper side await their opportunity, once the 

 slab is rooted, to throw their other slabs and their 

 blossoms upward. 



As the tiny buds grow from the eyes, it is 

 impossible by sight or microscopic examination to 

 determine which will be roots, which will be 

 fruits, or which will be other slabs. It is as though 

 the cactus, inured by hardship and prepared for 

 any emergency, waits until the very last possible 

 moment to settle upon the best-suited means of 

 reproduction — as though the bud, having started, 

 becomes a root if it finds encouragement for roots, 

 or a fruit if seed seems desirable, or an upward 

 slab if this can be supported. 



Nor does its attempt at reproduction require 

 much encouragement. Fifty j'oung cactus slabs 

 laid on a burlap-covered wooden shelf four feet 

 above ground were found to have thrown long 

 roots down through the burlap and through the 

 cracks of the boards within a few days. 



[2-1] 



