LUTHER BURBANK 



cannot be cultivated to advantage, because it 

 ceases to produce much fruit when removed from 

 the wild state. My experiments did not justify 

 this belief, as the bushes brought from the east 

 were if anything over-productivCi I have never 

 seen plants of any kind produce a greater quan- 

 tity of fruit in proportion to the weight of the 

 plant. 



During the ripening season the bushes seemed 

 to be a solid mass of berries. This over-produe- 

 tion of fruit greatly restricted the growth of the 

 plants themselves. 



By way of comparison I one season removed 

 all the fruit from a certain number of the bushes. 

 Relieved of the burden of fruit production, these 

 plants made a large growth, quite outstripping the 

 others; and the second year they produced a 

 splendid crop. I was convinced that under proper 

 conditions the blueberry might become profitable 

 under cultivation in California but had not time 

 to follow up the matter, and all were presently 

 destroyed. 



The same fate awaited a collection of huckle- 

 berries, bilberries, and other blueberries of vari- 

 ous kinds that I had gathered from British Amer- 

 ica, Oregon, Washington, and even from Norway. 

 More recently I have received an allied plant saidi 

 to be of unusual value from the mountains of 



[168] 



