82 



Mv Dear Burbank : Your Xkw Creations in Fruits and Flowers for June, 1893, 

 received. Although I kuew you had been experimenting in hybridizing with more or less 

 success for years, I was not quite prepared for the revelation unfolded by the book with its 

 illustrations. I congratulate you on these triumphs. As an old friend I share with you 

 the feeling of honest pride in your benefits conferred on Floriculture and Horticulture. 

 I am glad I had the discrimination to place you on the Board of Trustees for the Botanic 

 Gardens, and I am sure your co-trustees will share with me the feeling of satisfaction." 



J. B. Armstrox(V, Cloverdale, California. 



Col. Armstrong is the one who donated to the State of California about eight hundred 

 acres of the finest giant Redwood forest hill and dale for a botanic garden, and has since 

 bestowed upon it a permanent endowment for its preservation and improvement. The 

 picturesque scenery and natural advantages of this great tract are varied, and will give the 

 opportunity for all time to those who would see the primeval grandeur of the Redwood 

 forests which are fast passing away. 



"We cannot say enough in praise of the Burbank Plum; it is superior to all other 

 varieties ; the most fastidious cannot find fault with it. This is without doubt the best and 

 most profitable Plum in cultivation." I). Hav & Son, Auckland, New Zealand. 



IMPROVEMENT OF CEREALS. 



Grain crops may, like most other plan's, be improved in various ways, and the improve- 

 ment often is so marked as to distingtiish the product as an entirely new variety. This is 

 especially not infrequently the case when a cross of different varieties has taken place, 

 either accidentally or by judicious selection of parent plants, the stigmas of the flowers of 

 one chosen variety being fertilized with the pollen of another, taking precaution to prevent 

 self-fertilization. This method of improving grains or other plants recjuires a great deal of 

 skill, care and patience, and even wlien these conditions have been combined, the result 

 will be uncertain. And even in the most favorable case several generations of cultivation, 

 selection, and often repeated and various crossings are required before a new and improved 

 variety can be established. Hence it will be understood that this method of improvement 

 is rather out of the way of the general farmer, and must be left to the experts, who will be 

 more likely to fail than to succeed. No wonder that very high prices are paid for new 

 varieties of seeds and grains. — J. PEDERSEN-BjERG.\ARn, Denmark, in A)iiericafi A^ricul- 

 turist. 



"The good will survive ; the worthless will go under. Business tricks may help for a 

 time, but honesty will prevail." — Fred Donier. 



