LUTHER BURBANK 



much as we can that is useful and practical, of 

 the single strand of life's thread which has to do 

 more immediately with the thing in hand. 

 ***** 



"What do you put in the soil to make your 

 canna lilies so big?" 



"How often do you take up the bulbs of your 

 gladioli?" 



"How late do you keep your strawberry plants 

 under glass?" 



These, and a hundred others of their kind, are 

 the questions which visitors at the experiment 

 farm are continually asking Mr. Burbank. 



It is not that Mr. Burbank undervalues the care 

 of plants, or does not appreciate the importance 

 of cultivation. 



But his questioners fail to realize that his work 

 has been with the insides of plants and not with 

 their externals. 



Of the details of working method — of the little 

 tricks that save time — of Luther Burbank's bold 

 innovations which many gardeners may have 

 dreamed, but none have ever dared to do — of 

 these, in the volumes to come, we shall find plenty. 



Yet, we shall find ourselves, too, searching the 

 times when things were not as they are, in order 

 to get glimpses of things as they are to be — and all, 

 not from the standpoint of theory, but merely to 



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