LUTHER BURBANK 



Thornless blackberries and spineless cactus are 

 productions of proven worth and long standing, 

 which Mr. Burbank has now followed up with his 

 thornless raspberry — with many other thornless 

 plants to come. Why thorns at all, in the world 

 of useful plants, when useful plants no longer 

 need them? 



Whatever plant we observe we shall see some 

 waste which might be eliminated, some weakness 

 which might be overcome, some extravagance 

 which might be checked — and all for the profit 



of producer and consumer alike. 



***** 



Still another important department of plant 

 improvement lies in fitting plants to meet specific 

 conditions. 



The grape growers of California, for example, 

 had their vinej^ards destroj^ed by a little plant 

 louse called the phylloxera, a pest which not only 

 attacks the leaves, but the roots as well, and kills 

 the vine. The growers found relief through 

 grafting new vines on resistant roots which en- 

 vironment had armored against this pest. 



When we think of the cactus, and the sage- 

 brush, and the desert euphorbia — of the conditions 

 which, unaided, they have withstood and the 

 enemies which they have overcome, does it not 

 seem as if, with our help, we should be able to 



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