Luther Burbank Story
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Luther Burbank (1849–1926) was a renowned American horticulturist, botanist, and pioneer in agricultural science. He is best known for his significant contributions to plant breeding and the development of hundreds of new plant varieties, including fruits, vegetables, grains, and ornamental flowers.
Burbank's work revolutionized agriculture and horticulture worldwide. Through his innovative techniques in plant breeding, he aimed to create plants with improved qualities such as disease resistance, higher yields, and better flavor. Some of his most famous creations include the Burbank potato, the Shasta daisy, the Santa Rosa plum, and the Freestone peach.
Burbank was also known for his experimental methods and unconventional approaches to plant breeding. He utilized techniques such as crossbreeding, hybridization, and selection to achieve his desired results, often working with thousands of plant varieties at his experimental farms in California.
Beyond his scientific achievements, Luther Burbank was a prominent figure in popular culture during his time. He published numerous books and articles on plant breeding and agricultural topics, and he was a sought-after lecturer and educator.
Burbank's legacy continues to be celebrated today, and his contributions to agriculture and horticulture have had a lasting impact on global food production and plant breeding practices. He is remembered as one of the most influential figures in the history of American agriculture.
The Paramahansa Yoginanda dedicated his book Diary of a Yogi to Luther. Because of his spiritualism and communication with plant life.
His neighbors complained that he was a tree burner, not a tree grower, as only 1 in 10,000 seedlings of his countless cross pollinations might be worthy of naming and promoting, with the other 9,999 to be disposed of in dozens of giant burn piles.
His methods were not always purely scientific method, depending on intuition in addition to observation for many of his selections, and often purposely obscure and secretive to protect his work, but his results were renowned. He was seen by an amazed and enchanted public as the ‘Plant Wizard of Santa Rosa’.
Burbank plums
The 113 named varieties of plums introduced by Luther Burbank (1849–1926) were by far the most numerous and arguably the most significant of his horticultural accomplishments. He began by importing 12 seedlings from Japan in 1885, including ‘Abundance’ and ‘Satsuma’ (Prunus salicina). The cultivars he released in the late 19th and early 20th centuries played a crucial role in developing commercial cultivation of Asian-type plums in California, the United States, and much of the world; they also served as founding clones for later breeders. His crowning achievement was ‘Santa Rosa’ (introduced 1906), which in 1945, ‘Santa Rosa’ accounted for 36% of the California plum harvest. Many of Burbank’s other cultivars of primarily P. salicina ancestry were extensively cultivated in California in the early and middle 1900s, including ‘Beauty’ (introduced 1911), ‘Burbank’ (1888), ‘Duarte’ (1911), ‘Eldorado’ (1904), ‘Formosa’ (1907), and ‘Wickson’ (1895). His most important introductions of European plum (P. domestica) were ‘Improved French’ prune (1898), ‘Sugar’ prune (1899) and ‘Standard’ prune (1911). Some of Burbank’s more obscure introductions never received general distribution and have disappeared; others such as ‘Santa Rosa’, ‘Shiro’ (1899), and ‘Elephant Heart’ (released posthumously in 1929) still are commonly cultivated today in home gardens and for sale at local markets.
After Burbank’s death, his wife leased the collection at Gold Ridge in Sepastopol to Starks Bros. Nursery of Missouri (founded 1816), who then released the famed ‘July Elberta’ peach and other selections from the extensive test grounds. They actually trademarked the Burbank name to describe his varieties. Though most of the trees were destroyed by Starks Bros. (so as to hide anything good they missed), Elizabeth sold the Goldridge Farm to be used for low-cost elder housing, with the stipulation that a few acres would be preserved as orchard- and so it stands today as a public park in Sebastopol.
Luther Burbank had a significant connection with Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards Co., one of the largest fruit tree nurseries in the United States. The connection primarily revolves around the propagation and distribution of some of Burbank's most famous plant creations.
In the early 20th century, Luther Burbank partnered with Stark Bro's to introduce and distribute several of his plant varieties to a broader audience. Stark Bro's recognized the value of Burbank's innovations and worked closely with him to propagate and market his creations.
One of the most notable collaborations between Luther Burbank and Stark Bro's was the introduction of the Burbank potato in 1912. This potato variety, developed by Burbank, became highly popular due to its disease resistance and high yields. Stark Bro's played a crucial role in distributing the Burbank potato to farmers and gardeners across the country, contributing to its widespread adoption.
Additionally, Stark Bro's also distributed other Burbank creations, including fruit trees like the Santa Rosa plum and the Burbank cherry, as well as various ornamental plants and flowers.
The partnership between Luther Burbank and Stark Bro's helped bring many of Burbank's plant varieties to a wider audience, further cementing his reputation as a pioneering horticulturist and contributing to the diversity of agricultural crops and ornamental plants available to growers and gardeners.
During his lifetime he mentored many workers, and one named Fred Anderson later went on his own to work on breeding fruit, creating the famed ‘Le Grand’ line of nectarine cultivars.
A young man worked under Anderson, another generation learning the methods of Burbank, his name was Floyd Zaiger.
In 1954, Zaiger and wife Betty purchased a 2.5 acre nursery and began breeding heat-tolerant azaleas as a hobby. In 1956 and 1957, he apprenticed with breeder Fred Anderson, a protege of Luther Burbank and developer of the nectarine.
There are two biographies, Garden of Invention and Gardener Touched with Genius. The Garden of Invention is more pleasant of the two to read.
INTERESTING LINKS:
Burbank plant contribution HERE
The plum mistery HERE
12 Volume set HERE
Wickson and Elephant Heart Formosa is another big one
To know more about zaiger CLICK HERE
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