Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu/96

 LUTHER BUBBANK 77 py's color; how he made the chrysanthemum-like daisy; how he taught the gladiolus new habits ; and how he made an ever- ktsting flower. He tells us about the business side of nut grow- ing; the paper shelled walnut; growing the almond inside of peaches ; making the chestnut bear in six months ; and a quick way of growing trees for lumber. And all this is just a ' ' sus- picion^' of the good that will come from the work Burbank has done for humanity. Yety much as they mean, it is not the Burbank creations, themselves, which mean most to the world. What the world most needs to have is a definite working knowledge of the methods used by Mr. Burbank to produce his new creations. For by the broad-spread dissemination of these methods the world will come to enjoy and profit by the creations of a thousand new Burbanks, producing new fruits, flowers, vege- tables, grains, trees and forage crops, of which even Mr. Bur- bank has never dreamed. And this broadcast dissemination of his methods has been, in fact, Luther Burbank *s life-ideal. To bring this about was the motive which actuated the organ- ization of The Luther Burbank Society. The Carnegie Institution, at Washington, appropriated a large sum of money for the promulgation of Mr. Burbank 's discoveries. After several years of effort, however, this pro- ject was abandoned, because it was the purpose of the Carne- gie Listitution to limit its activities to the production of works on pure science. In order, therefore, that this message of the world 's foremost plant breeder might go forth to the world with fitting sponsorship. The Luther Burbank Society was formed. Chartered by the State of CaUfomia, the so- ciety has no capital stock, no power to incur debts or earn profits. Its sole purpose is to assist in the final preparation of Mr. Burbank 's writings and to aid in the spread of his teachings, so that the greatest number may profit to the great- est degree. The Luther Burbank Society numbers among its members many of the foremost men and women of America. Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst, Thomas A. Edison, W. C. Brown, John D. Archbold, Frederick D. Underwood, these and many other public-spirited citizens became identified with the movement