Q)mplfmentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 



^ . . . <^ 



"As time goes on in its endless and ceaseless course, en- 

 vironment will crystallize the American nation. Its varying 

 elements will become unified and the weeding-out process will 

 probably leave the finest human product ever known. The 

 color, the perfume, the size and form that are placed in 

 plants will have their analogies in the composite, the Ameri- 

 can of the future. 



''And now, what will hasten this development most of 

 all? The proper rearing of children. Don't feed children 

 on maudlin sentimentalism or dogmatic religion; give them 

 nature. Let their souls drink in all that is pure and sweet. 

 Rear them, if possible, amid pleasant surroundings. If they 

 come into the world with souls groping in darkness, let them 

 sec and feel the light. Don't terrify them in early life with 

 the fear of an after world. There never was a child that 

 was made more noble and good by the fear of a hell. Let 

 nature teach them the lessons of good and proper living 

 combined with an abundance of well-balanced nourishment. 

 Those children will grow to be the best men and women. Put 

 the best in them by contact with the best outside. They will 

 absorb it as a plant does the sunshine and the d&w. In clos- 

 ing, I will give you an appropriate Burbank chestnut and you 

 will all notice that it is a graft. An old lady went to buy a 

 clock. The clerk elaborated on the many excellencies of one 

 of them and ended by saying: 'It will run eight days without 

 winding.' 'Ach! Gott in Himmel! Eight days witout 

 vinding. How long vould it run if it was vound oop ?' " 



