Foreword 



Just as a stranger, going into a home for the 

 first time, will see, vividly, either beauties or 

 incongruities which constant association has 

 dimmed in the eyes of the steady occupants, just 

 so, a fresh mind maj'^ be better able to visualize 

 the more common processes, all too familiar to 

 me, which I employ in my daily work. 



There are, in fact, many details in my routine 

 which are no less important because they are 

 common to me and which may need some little 

 explanation when described to others in different 

 walks of life. 



I have, therefore, asked my associates, whose 

 new viewpoint should enable them to observe 

 these details in clear perspective, to present in 

 this — the first volume, a survey of the working 

 methods employed; so that the reader may in 

 the first few chapters be brought to the point 

 where he and I may go out into the fields 

 together, and work among our plants with perfect 

 understanding. 



LUTHER BURBANK. 



Santa Rosa, California 

 January 7, 1914. 



