Vol. LVII. No. 2539. NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 24, 1898. 
LUTHER BURBANK AND HIS WORK. 
THE STORY OF A USEFUL LIFE. 
A Yankee hoy ; learned a trade but came back to the farm; 
California a genial climate for experimenting ; com¬ 
plete arrangements ; vast scope of his work ; great skill 
and patience required ; four promising new plums. 
Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, Cal., began by orig¬ 
inating the Burbank potato while he yet lived in 
Massachusetts, and millions of bushels of that choice 
variety have since been grown and marketed, in many 
parts of the world. He came of horticultural stock on 
his mother’s side, for she is of the Burpee family, which 
is represented at Philadelphia by one of the most 
eminent flower and vegetable experts in the world. 
She is past 85 years of age, and lives with her son in 
California, witnessing the results of his useful life. 
Ilis father’s family were of a mercantile and manu¬ 
facturing turn of mind. Although born and reared on 
a large farm in Massachusetts the boy Luther was 
sent, when 18 years old, as an apprentice to the Ames 
Plow and Spade Works at Worcester, to learn 
wood-turning and patternmaking. The love of 
Nature and outdoor work, which came from his 
mother’s blood, would not allow him to endure 
the confinement and dust of the shop ; so, after 
three years of it, he bought a small farm near 
Lunenburg, Mass., and began experimenting 
with plant life. It was here that he grew the 
Burbank potato from seed. 
lie told me once that he loved to work with 
plants from childhood, and can remember a big 
crying spell he had over smashing a pot with a 
cactus plant in it, when he was less than three 
years old. He soon became inspired with the 
idea of devoting his life to originating new 
fruits, flowers and vegetables. Thinking the 
climate of New England uncongenial to this 
line of work, he moved to Santa Rosa, Cal., in 
the Fall of 1875. He started a small nursery 
there, in which the olire was a specialty. When 
I visited him there in 1888, he had all his prop¬ 
agating houses full of olive plants. He was 
constantly experimenting with seedling fruits 
and flowers, and, although this work was not so 
profitable as the nursery business, he loved it 
better, and sold out all but the experimental 
part, that he might devote his whole time and 
means to it. 
At his home within the city limits, he has 
about 10 acres, all devoted to experiments, and 
a large modern greenhouse, in which some of 
his most delicate work is done. At Sebastopol, 
which is a few miles distant in the foothills, he 
has 18 acres closely set to experimental trees 
and plants, besides about 30 acres for farm experi¬ 
ments. Mere curiosity or pleasure seekers are not ad¬ 
mitted to his premises, for he has no time to devote to 
them, neither does he wish them to give information 
outside until he is ready. 
At one time there were on his grounds over 80,000 
seedling lilies. Mr. Burbank originated a new strain 
of the gladiolus, of which he sent me 10 of the choicest 
varieties about 10 years ago. He sold out the whole 
lot to an Eastern nurseryman. Over 1,000,000 seed¬ 
lings were grown before he was satisfied to send out 
his stock. He grew thousands of seedlings of the 
Iris, and also originated new varieties of the calla 
and rose, that are decided improvements. The chest¬ 
nut and walnut have received attention at his hands. 
Some of the most phenomenal varieties of the chest¬ 
nut ever known were originated by Mr. Burbank. 
The Persian walnut has been crossed upon the wild 
walnut of California, and various other crosses of the 
same nature were made in this family, which have re¬ 
sulted in some remarkable varieties. Among the ber¬ 
ries, he has made crosses and grown millions of seed¬ 
lings. He has repeatedly accomplished what was 
long thought to be impossible, in the crossing of the 
blackberry and raspberry, and even the strawberry 
and raspberry. The latter cross resulted in nothing 
of value, but the former has given us some very excel¬ 
lent varieties. Some of his quince seedlings are of 
the very highest character and will, in due time, prove 
themselves so in culture. 
He is making a new lot of crosses at blooming time, 
planting a new lot of seeds, and fruiting a new lot of 
seedlings every year. Not long since he wrote me 
that he had over 2,700 new seedling plums fruiting 
this year. Of these but few, and possibly none, will 
be finally saved by him and sent out to the public. 
He requires several years’ trial before allowing any¬ 
thing to be sent out, or even named. The consummate 
skill, the enduring patience and the immense expend¬ 
iture of time and money necessary to accomplish what 
he does is rarely imagined and perhaps never fully 
appreciated. 
Some of his choicest new plums, that have been un- 
LUTHER BURBANK IN 1888. Fig. 299. 
der test sufficiently long to warrant being sent out, 
are shown at Fig. 301, page 605. All of them are new, 
and three of them have never before been publicly 
mentioned so far as I know. The specimens from 
which the drawings and descriptions were made were 
sent to me last Summer directly from Mr. Burbank’s 
hands. The representations I made are under, rather 
than over, what the facts would warrant, as they ap¬ 
peared to me, and he wrote that the specimens were 
under size. 
Royal is the result of a cross made by using pollen 
of Simon upon one of the Botans. It is about the 
largest plum I have ever seen, except Kelsey. The 
shape is oval and quite regular. In color, it is a deep, 
reddish purple, very rich-looking and attractive. The 
flesh is yellow, and firm until fully ripe, when it be¬ 
comes melting and juicy. It is almost a freestone. 
The flavor is a pleasant subacid, with a peculiar aroma 
that is deliciously refreshing. The quality is much 
better than that of any early plum I know, and is 
good compared with any kind. It ripens before Wil¬ 
lard or Red June. Mr. Burbank says: “It is the 
earliest plum known, about the largest of any season— 
five times larger than Willard or Red June, and be¬ 
yond any comparison to them in flavor.” He also 
says that the tree is a remarkably vigorous and 
shapely grower, has large leaves, and is as productive 
and sure to bear as Burbank. If this variety prove as 
valuable elsewhere as at Santa Rosa, it ought to be 
the early plum above all others. 
Bartlett is another variety which came from a 
cross of Simon upon Delaware. Its size is medium 
to large and the shape peculiar, being decidedly heart- 
shaped, with a distinct suture on one side. The color 
is a dull purplish red. The flesh is yellowish and soft 
when fully ripe. The stone is large and long. Its 
flavor is very peculiar, being like that of the Bartlett 
pear, hence the name. The quality is very good to 
best, which, with its earliness (it ripens July 25 at 
Santa Rosa), productiveness and vigor of tree ought 
to place it well up in the scale. 
Ciialco was sent out for testing a year ago and again 
this year. It is a seedling of Burbank pollinized by 
Simon and resembles the Simon in shape, which 
is flat, but is larger and very much better in 
quality. I would call it very good, and quite 
free from the peculiar bitterish flavor of the 
Simon plum. The main objection that will be 
raised to it is the resemblance to the shape of 
that variety, which has become unpopular in 
market, because of its flavor. The color is rich 
yellowish red. The texture of the flesh is about 
all one could desire. The stone is small in pro¬ 
portion to the flesh. 
Garnet is my choice of all the new plums 
which I have tested. It is a cross between 
Wickson and Satsuma. It is large, being over 
two inches in diameter and nearly round in 
sha^ie. The surface is smooth, dark wine—red 
or garnet—being very handsome. The flesh is 
garnet color, too, and rich-looking. This color 
suggested to me the name Garnet, which Mr. 
Burbank has accepted. In flavor it is excellent, 
being tart enough, yet not sour, but a delicious 
subacid. No plum that I have eaten is better, 
and when cooked, it could scarcely be equaled. 
It has all the high flavor of Satsuma when 
cooked, which has heretofore been far above all 
other plums when in that condition. The sea¬ 
son of Garnet is at least a month earlier, as it is 
fully ripe by August 1. The tree is very fruit¬ 
ful. I look for this plum to take a high place in 
public favor. h. e. van deman. 
R. N.-Y.—We are glad to be able to give two 
pictures of Mr. Burbank. The one shown on 
this page was printed in Tiie R. N.-Y. 10 years 
ago. The one on page 654, Fig. 300, was recently 
taken and shows how kindly the years have dealt with 
our friend. Ten years mean much in a busy life. It 
is long enough to leave a lasting mark on one’s feat¬ 
ures. During the past few months the American peo¬ 
ple have had many lessons in face reading. The faces 
of leading soldiers and sailors are familiar, and should 
Dewey or Schley or Sampson or Roosevelt pass through 
a company of intelligent men, they would be recog¬ 
nized and honored at once. Yet, what have these men 
done for the real happiness and refinement of human¬ 
ity, compared with those who, like Luther Burbank, 
make use of the forces which God has put in the world, 
not to destroy, but to uplift and improve. Still, few 
would recognize this man who has done so much for 
horticulture, and who promises so much in the future. 
Such notoriety would be objectionable to him, and 
yet, why should not his work be ranked above that 
of the warrior whose duty is to destroy? Most men 
find but little of either fame or money in the work of 
developing new varieties in fruits or flowers. It is 
largely through a love for the work that their labors 
are continued. 
