A VISIT TO LUTHER BURBAXK 



75 



THE TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR CALLA 



as, with a quick, well-used-to-it air he 

 showed us stacks of photographs, the sugar 

 prune for which dazzling sums are now 

 being paid, the $2,500 plum, the $800 

 raspberry, the $2,000 calla, and the rare 

 begonia, a pinch of whose seed brought 

 $100; vegetables, nuts and berries, which 

 would not now be in existence and enjoyed 

 by us but for Luther Burbank. Yet few 

 bear his name, for notoriety he shuns, 

 ostentation he abhors, society he disdains ; 

 but with the production of every new and 

 beautiful flower or fruit which the world 

 craves, the legacy will be handed down, 

 the legacy beyond price, of sunshine, food 

 and medicine to the soul, which can never 

 be taken in overdoses — a medicine-chest 

 which will never be found empty. Mr, 

 Burbank strongly objects to being dubbed 

 the Wizard of Horticulture. ^'People often 

 jump to the conclusion,*' said he, "that 

 all new varieties are produced by crossing, 

 and with as little ceremony as with a 

 magic wand. It takes, however, an inti- 

 mate knowledge of plant life, a keen per- 

 ception of the useful forms when produced, 

 a sweet and abiding patience which knows 



THE DAISY AFTER MR. BURBANK HAS "LVIPROVED" IT 



no end, and the purse of a multi-million- 

 aire." "Witness the sugar prune and its 

 accompanying labor of sixteen years. As 

 an exemplification of the definition of 

 genius — ^"an infinite capacity for taking 

 pains'" — I know of none better than Mr. 

 Luther Burbank. 



One fact as to his first great desire on 

 coming to California impressed us deeply 

 — not the "filthy lucre," not a highly de- 

 veloped species of the equine or canine 

 race — instead an uncommon species of 

 plant life, "a variegated cabbage. 



I looked at the long, boxed-shaped head 

 denoting the thinker, the man of brains ; 

 at the stooped shoulders denoting the 

 scholar; I noticed the gentle, gracious 

 manner born of contact with the floral 

 world and not always practised by polite 

 society, and I thought the joy of a phre- 

 nologist to have been there then. To save 

 time, we suggested a stroll through the 

 grounds. He courteously offered to ac- 

 company us himself as guide. "A little 

 fresh air might be beneficial." He apolo- 

 gized for the "utter lack of bloom, of any- 

 thing to interest visitors." "Perhaps they 



