having “created” it, and during the months which intervened between the 
publication of these articles in the Century Magazine and the publication 
of Harwood’s book, that statement was never contradicted by Burbank, I re- 
alize that he is a very busy man ; but it does seem to me that in a matter 
of that kind somebody representing him at all events should issue a state- 
ment saying: “No, I did not 'create’ that, but I am breeding from it and 
I expect to improve it.” That’s a fair statement. Now, there is hardly 
a botanical garden in the world that you cannot go in to-day and find a thornless 
cactus. In an exhibition that we had down at Herald Square Hall, here in New 
York, given by the American Institute, they exhibited three of these thornless 
cacti, just to show that such things could be had outside of Santa Rosa. And yet 
Harwood goes on to say that this is the plant that is going to turn arid deserts 
into populous plains, and that it will be in a certain sense the vine and fig tree 
of the desert. Bulletin No. 74, Dept, of Agriculture, is devoted exclusively to 
cacti as food for stock. It relates in detail how they are utilized at present and 
states further: “In this connection it may be remarked that were it not for the 
spines on this class of plants they would probably have been exterminated long 
ago and there is some doubt whether there would be any use for spineless forms in 
the future. One poet sung of Mr. Burbank as follows : 
“He touched the spiculed desert — cacti cursed — 
And turned its thorns to figs ; its thistles fruit. 
He nodded to the daisy half immersed 
In dwarfting dust, and lo ! a lily mute 
Rose from the weeds — a perfume with a flute.” 
That’s the way it affects the poet. They say when a poet gets after a man 
he is done for. Here is another “poem” that occurs to me. This man was a 
florist, and he is supposed to be one of the “knockers 
“O, Mr. Burbank, won’t you try and do some 
things for me? 
A wizard clever as you are can do them 
easily. 
A man who turns a cactus plant into a 
feather bed 
Should have no trouble putting brains into 
a cabbage head.” 
One of the first new “creations” in flowers that rivetted the attention of the 
people of the East was the Burbank Canna. That was produced probably by the 
same parentage as a similar variety produced in Italy. Unfortunately for Mr. 
Burbank, others were working along the same lines as he without his knowledge, 
and the year that he was ready to send out his canna we received from Europe 
two varieties, known as the Austria and the Italia. The Italia was such a glorious 
canna that it eclipsed the Austria completely, and the Austria and the Burbank 
were identical. It shows how, with the ocean between men working along the 
same lines, they will arrive at the same results. I could cite dozens of instances 
where that has occured. The Austria had the priority of claim, and so it remains 
