LUTHER BURBANK 



conditions with changes so slight as to be almost 

 imperceptible, but gradually accommodating itself 

 to the conditions under which it lived and grew — 

 one such survivor out of all the billions of 

 cactus plants that have ever grown, would have 

 been sufficient to have covered the deserts of the 

 world with its progeny — to have produced all of 

 the thorny cactus which we have in the world 



today. 



***** 



"You see," said Mr. Burbank, "the cactus did 

 not prepare in advance to meet an enemy — it 

 simply adapted itself to changing conditions as 

 those conditions arose. First, surviving the desert 

 drought and the broiling sun, it threw its roots 

 deep so that its main source of life was below 

 ground. Then, attacked by an enemj^ which ate 

 off the leaves above the surface, it still had life 

 and resistance to try again. Ineffectually, at first, it 

 began to build its armor, but each discouragement 

 proved but the incentive to another attempt. It 

 is a vivid picture: the whole cactus family in 

 a death struggle for supremacy over an enemy 

 which threatens its very life — millions and 

 millions of the family perishing in the struggle, 

 and perhaps but one victorious survivor left to 

 start a new and armored race. 



"It is wonderful, too; but, whenever we plant a 



[20] 



