UC-NRLF 
 
 SB 117 D3D 
 

 Complimentary Banquet 
 
 In Honor of 
 
 LUTHER BURBANK 
 
 
 . 
 
 Given by the 
 
 California State Board of Trade 
 
 at the 
 
 PALACE HOTEL 
 
 San rrancxsco 
 
 Septembe* J^^S 
 
C o 
 
u 
 
 442375 
 
/ Complimentary Banquet to Luther Btt?bank 
 
 o 
 
 President N. P. Chipman, on opening, said: . 
 
 GENTLEMEN : We are assembled here to-night to honor 
 a man whose whole life from boyhood has been spent in 
 communion with Nature and who has sought with reverent 
 spirit to fathom the laws related to plant life which have 
 been given to us by the God of Nature. It would there- 
 fore seem appropriate that before proceeding further we in- 
 voke the divine blessing upon the man, upon his work and 
 upon those here assembled. I ask Rabbi Voorsanger to per- 
 form this office. 
 
 Invocation by Rabbi 
 
 Introductory Remarks of President N. P. Chipman. 
 
 -I feel much relieved by the arrangement that has de- 
 volved upon Mr. Wm. H. Mills the duties of toast-master, 
 and to make the principal address in introducing our dis- 
 tinguished guest. I will, however, be permitted to have 
 your attention for a brief word. 
 
 In looking over the names of the men who have come 
 here to lay at the feet of Luther Burbank their tribute of 
 appreciation of the great work he has done, and is still do- 
 ing, to advance the importance of horticulture, I think I 
 can assure him that they represent the best citizenship of this 
 Commonwealth. I see here present residents of many 
 cities and counties and of many widely separated regions 
 of the State. High officials of all the co-ordinate depart- 
 ments of our State government are here ; heads of our chief 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 o 
 
 educational and other institutions; bankers, merchants, busi- 
 ness men of many occupations; representatives of the Press, 
 artists, men from all the learned professions, workers in 
 varied industries; horticulturists, gardeners and farmers, 
 whose pursuits have been especially ennobled and widened 
 by his patience and genius in short, no higher compliment 
 could be paid our guest in the personnel of an assemblage 
 than has been paid him by those who are here to-night to 
 do him honor. They might be more numerous but could 
 not be more truly representative. 
 
 And, my friends, there is every reason why this should 
 be so. Many of Mr. Burbank's achievements have become 
 a part of that industry which has made California famous 
 throughout the civilized globe, and that has taken and will 
 ever hold, first place among the agricultural industries of 
 this great State. 
 
 When Horace Greeley visited the Santa Clara Valley in 
 1857, ne stated in one of his letters to the New York Trib- 
 une that "fruit growing was destined to become the future 
 glory of California." Mr. Greeley saw with unerring 
 prevision that here were climate and soil in such happy 
 combination, as to give fruit growing a commercial 
 advantage not possessed elsewhere in the United States. Mr. 
 Burbank early in his career discovered that he could here 
 carry on his life work in the open field instead of in the 
 conservatory, and under the protection of artificial heat, in 
 the rigorous climate of New England ; and so the State be- 
 came enriched by his presence and his labors amongst us. 
 
 I must not violate the proprieties of the occasion by 
 dealing much with statistics. But there are a few figures 
 it would be well to remember, for they point the rapid evo- 
 lution of horticulture in California; they also show the 
 
 . 2 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Butbank 
 
 o 
 
 fulfillment of Mr. Greeley's prophecy, and if they do not en- 
 tirely account for it, they show the wisdom displayed by 
 Mr. Burbank in having become a Californian. 
 
 Prior to the opening of communication by rail with the 
 East the industry had no motive for expansion. So late as 
 in 1880 we exported of fruit but 546 carloads of ten tons 
 each. But in 1890 ten years later we sent out 16,194 
 carloads. In a report which I made to the California State 
 Board of Trade for that year it was shown that the value 
 of the fruit crop, sent out of the State by rail, exceeded that 
 of wheat and flour exports by over half a million dollars. 
 
 This was a startling revelation to the wheat growers of 
 the State but the figures could not be disputed. Great ac- 
 tivity in tree and vine planting followed and, with greater 
 or less persistency, has been continued, and, to-day, fruit 
 growing is the dominant industry related to the soil. 
 
 Sixteen thousand carloads seemed an enormous output, 
 and by many it was thought we had reached the limit of 
 eastern consumption. But mark what has followed. In 
 1904 our shipments out of the State, by rail and by sea, 
 of the products of the orchards, gardens and vineyards, 
 reached the enormous proportions of over 92,000 carloads 
 of ten tons each. Let me ask you to carry home with you 
 the concrete facts that 76,652 carloads were fruit in various 
 forms; 10,148 carloads were wine and brandy, and 5,251 
 carloads were vegetables. 
 
 You who are engaged in other State industries 
 and have had trouble to procure cars to handle 
 your products, will understand the reason for it. 
 You will understand, too, why the necessity for 
 moving the rapidly developing business of California 
 
c 
 
 Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 with her sister states, has inspired the building of a third 
 independent trans-continental railroad to California. 
 
 The State Board of Trade was organized in 1886 and 
 has ever since carried forward the work of encouraging im- 
 migration and promoting State development. In the earlier 
 period of its work its Hall of Exhibits, of the industrial 
 resources of the State, was visited monthly by a few hun- 
 dred people from other states. The number of non-residents 
 who now visit the exhibit exceeds 10,000 each month. The 
 correspondence of the Board is as wide as the countries 
 where California is known and this is almost world-wide. 
 That this organization has proven itself to be one of the 
 chief factors in State development its records show abundant 
 and gratifying proof. Our guest of the night has been for 
 many years an honorary member and when it was suggested 
 that this banquet be extended to him and he was requested 
 to give his consent, and to address his assembled friends, he 
 wrote in reply, among other things: "I accept; but as a 
 speaker not with complacence, pride or satisfaction. But 
 if it is for the benefit of the State Board of the State of 
 California, I submit with as good grace as possible; but 
 depend upon it, my words will be brief, and not to the point." 
 
 The State Board has from its inception put forward the 
 fruit growing industry as one of the principal attractions 
 of our State to homeseekers. While not neglecting other 
 industries it has looked upon fruit growing as the principal 
 industry related to the soil which could fully utilize and 
 which would also emphasize to the world the advantages 
 of our unique climate. 
 
 No one can now dispute the fact that the tide of immi- 
 gration to California was set in motion, and has been sus- 
 tained by the climatic conditions existing here; and these 
 
 . 4 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Bur bank 
 
 conditions were made know by the marvelous range of 
 fruits grown here greater in their variety and excellence 
 than can be produced elsewhere in any one country of Eu- 
 rope or in any one or all of the states of the Union. 
 
 The orange and lemon have given to Southern Cali- 
 fornia her wonderful prosperity and prestige. The raisin 
 grape has made the Fresno country famous as well as rich. 
 The prune has given to the Santa Clara Valley an enviable 
 reputation on two continents. 
 
 These fruits alone have turned the flow of many millions 
 of dollars to the growers of California, that formerly went 
 from this country to Europe; and experience has demon- 
 strated that all the commercial fruits that find a market 
 without the State are grown in all latitudes from Shasta to 
 San Diego. 
 
 We have not only captured from foreign competitors 
 the home market for several of our fruit products, but we 
 are successfully invading European countries with our wine 
 and brandy, our prunes, raisins, and dried and canned fruits, 
 and canned vegetables. 
 
 Fruit growing like all other industries has been and will 
 continue to be beset by discouragements and vicissitudes. 
 But it has maintained prominence among the tillers of the 
 soil in the countries of Europe for hundreds of years, and it 
 will always have prominence where Nature has furnished 
 conditions favorable to its pursuit. In this respect Cali- 
 fornia stands without a rival. 
 
 I offer no apology to our guest, nor to you who are here 
 to welcome him, for this passing mention of the commer- 
 cial aspect of the fruit growing industry and of its influence 
 in upbuilding the State. While Mr. Burbank has scorned 
 to profit by the many valuable contributions he has made 
 
 . 5 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 P Q 
 
 to this industry, after all is said of his splendid achieve- 
 ments, they benefit mankind chiefly, as they may be made 
 subservient to the demands of commerce. 
 
 It would afford me great pleasure to speak in some de- 
 tail of Mr. Burbank's unselfish work for the benefit of his 
 fellow man, and of the consecration of his whole soul to 
 that work. I should like to tell you of the many evidences 
 he has given of his intense love for the State of his adop- 
 tion. But these, and of his high ideals, and of the simple 
 dignity and modesty of his daily life, while the world is 
 applauding in a way to turn the heads of most men, you 
 are to hear from others. 
 
 It remains my pleasing duty to transfer to Mr. Mills 
 the important office of further introducing our honored 
 guest and conducting the remaining exercises of the evening. 
 
 Upon being introduced as toast-master by General N. P. 
 Chipman, Chairman of the evening, Mr. W. H. Mills, in 
 introducing the toast "The health and success of Luther 
 Burbank," said : 
 
 GENTLEMEN: It was a Roman maxim that "Men do 
 most resemble the Gods when they create states." To our 
 modern conception th work of man is most in consonance 
 with the will of the Creator when he augments the life- 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 o~ Q 
 
 bearing stage of the earth. To make the earth more fruitful 
 and its bloom more radiant has been part of the religious 
 life of the honored guest of the evening. 
 
 We will not attempt to recount the achievements of Mr. 
 Burbank. That would be turning the accomplishment of 
 years into an hour-glass. He has done well in the past. He 
 is doing better now than at any former period of his inter- 
 esting career, and under the expanded opportunities now 
 open to him will do his best work hereafter. We may in- 
 dulge sentiments of gratitude for the past, joy for the present 
 and hopeful prophecy for the future. We offer to him the 
 helpfulness of encouragement and the happiness of apprecia- 
 tion, i 
 
 Wherever in the civilized world horticulture is practiced 
 the contributions of Luther Burbank to the improvement of 
 familiar species and to the origination of new species, are 
 known. In the most distant lands his name is familiar. ' We 
 do him honor to-night not only on behalf of California where 
 his work should be best known and his personal worth most 
 highly appreciated, but we greet him in the name of the 
 thousands throughout the civilized world who would be 
 glad to join with us in honoring him. We have not awaited 
 the coming of the sad task of writing epitaphs and compos- 
 ing testimonials to his life services and his personal worth, 
 but are tendering to him the commendation of "well done" 
 while his heart beats in responsive gratitude to this well- 
 deserved commendation and our happiness may be intensi- 
 fied by the pleasure we are conferring. 
 
 And now, gentlemen, it is my pleasant duty, on behalf 
 of this company, to propose the health and success of our 
 distinguished fellow citizen, Luther Burbank. 
 
 And may we drink this toast standing? 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Response, Luther Burbcnk. 
 
 "Mr. President and my highly esteemed but deluded 
 friends deluded if you expect Luther Burbank to exhibit 
 that ready facility in handling the English language which 
 these gentlemen who have been chosen to address you 
 possess: 
 
 "Ever since I came to this curious world I have steadily 
 on all occasions, tried to mind my own business and especially 
 to escape publicity, but alas, here I am once more dragged 
 out into the lime light. If you came here expecting me to 
 help on the fireworks you have my sympathy, but I congratu- 
 late you on the good judgment exhibited in your choice of the 
 gentlemen who have spoken and those who are yet to ad- 
 dress you. It was a fine bit of humor to place me in the 
 midst of such a galaxy of orators, and it must be very amus- 
 ing to you, but this part of the performance is no joke to 
 this victim of untoward circumstances. 
 
 "I was brought up in a family like most of you and my 
 eyes have always been wide open when something appeared 
 which promised to be useful to myself or others. Among 
 other things flowers and children never escape my notice, but 
 children respond to ten thousand subtle influences which leave 
 no more impression on a plant than they would on a sphinx. 
 You may say, 'well, what do you know about children ?' Any- 
 thing we love, we study, and I have observed that in search- 
 ing for good teachers you do not choose parents of large 
 families on account of their superior knowledge of children. 
 You generally select those who have no families of their own, 
 do you not? Therefore, as one of the latter class, I claim 
 the privilege of saying a wo^d for the helpless little victims. 
 
 "Some time ago I accorded a St. Louis clergyman a five- 
 
 .'8. 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 minute interview, the result of which is that I have been 
 plunged into the arena of child culture, and fantastic words 
 have been put in my mouth which were never uttered, espe- 
 cially in placing environment so far above heredity. They 
 are on the average equal, in fact, life is a fluctuating 
 balance between these two lines of energy. Sometimes one 
 holds the reins, sometimes the other, but both are always in 
 action where there is life. 
 
 "On this subject even many alleged scientists seem very 
 much muddled, and how can those who do not make it a 
 special study be expected to have well-defined ideas on it? 
 
 "Biologically considered, each human being is only an 
 outside expression of the great tree of human life, and what 
 I shall say to you this evening is in the belief that any subject 
 is better understood when seen from several slightly different 
 points of view. 
 
 "The great questions at stake are, Which has the more 
 influence in building the life of a child, heredity or environ- 
 ment? And, Are acquired characters inherited? My own 
 observations prove that all characters that are inherited have 
 once been acquired, and that heredity is only the sum of all 
 these past environments, which if impressed on the heredity 
 long and strong enough in any specific direction will become 
 a part of heredity itself, and this new heredity, already 
 slightly changed by these late environments will have to meet 
 new environments as before, which will by repetition become 
 fixed in the ever new and constantly fluctuating heredity. 
 
 "Did you ever think what is the most pliable and the 
 most precious product of all the ages? It is not pigs, mules, 
 books or locomotives, cotton or corn but children. Children 
 cannot all be treated alike; each has his or her special in- 
 dividuality, which is the most valuable of all endowments. 
 
 . 9 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 o 
 
 If all were alike no progress could be made, and right here 
 comes the weakest point in the present educational systems. 
 
 "I have long been studying on the intricate complexity of 
 the action of hereditary and environmental forces on life, 
 both in plants and in man and these comparisons and deduc- 
 tions came clearly, sharply and naturally. 
 
 "It has been said that to improve a child we should be- 
 gin with the grandparents. This is only a half-truth, which 
 perhaps had better never have been said. Do not waste any 
 of your time on grandparents unless you commence on them 
 in earliest pliable childhood. If we hope for any improve- 
 ment of the human race we must begin with the child, as the 
 child responds more readily to environment than any creature 
 in existence. The change may come in the first generation, 
 and it may not. It may not show at all for many genera- 
 tions, but patience and constant attention will finally be re- 
 warded in the survival of the most beautiful, the most prec- 
 ious or the fittest, whichever you may wish to call it. 
 
 "You all know that some great force is necessary to 
 change the aspect of minerals and metals. Powerful acids, 
 great heat, electricity, mechanical force or some such in- 
 fluence must be brought to bear upon them. Less potent in- 
 fluences will work a complete change in plant life. Mild 
 heat, sunshine, slight change in atmosphere and greatly 
 diluted chemicals, will all directly affect the growth- of the 
 plant and the production of fruits and flowers. And when 
 we come to animal life, especially in man, we find that the 
 force or influence necessary to effect a transformation is ex- 
 tremely slight. This is why environment plays such an im- 
 portant part in the development of man. 
 
 "In child-rearing environment is equally essential with 
 heredity. Mind you, I do not say that heredity is of no con- 
 
 . JO . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Bui-bank 
 
 sequence! It is the great factor, and often makes environ- 
 ment almost powerless. When certain hereditary tendencies 
 are almost indelibly ingrained, environment will have a hard 
 battle to effect a change in the child, but that a change can 
 be wrought by the surroundings we all know. The particu- 
 lar subject may at first be stubborn against these influences, 
 but repeated application to the same modifying forces in suc- 
 ceeding generations will at last accomplish the desired object. 
 
 "All animal life is sensitive to environment. You can 
 change the oyster by gradually changing its environment, and 
 you know the oyster is a very low type of life. Take an 
 ox, a horse, a dog, a man, and that which often counts most 
 in the development of each is environment ; but of all living 
 things the child is the most sensitive. Surroundings act upon 
 it as the outside world acts upon the plate of the camera; 
 every possible influence acting exteriorily will leave its im- 
 press upon the child, and the traits which it inherited will 
 be overcome to a certain extent, in many cases being even 
 more apparent than heredity. The child is like a cut dia- 
 mond, its many facets receiving sharp, clear impressions not 
 possible to a pebble, with this difference, however, that the 
 changes wrought in the child from the influences without, 
 become constitutional and ingrained. A child absorbs en- 
 vironment. It is the most susceptible thing in the world to 
 influence, and if that force be applied rightly and constantly 
 when the child is in its greatest receptive condition the ef- 
 fect will be pronounced, immediate and permanent. 
 
 "There is no doubt that if a child with a vicious temper 
 be placed in an environment of peace and quiet the temper 
 will change. Put a boy born of gentle white parents among 
 Indians and he will grow up like an Indian. Let the child 
 born of criminal parents have a setting of morality and de- 
 
 . II . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 ceney, and the chances are that he will not grow into a 
 criminal but to an upright man. I do not say that heredity 
 will not sometimes assert itself, of course. When the crim- 
 inal instinct crops out in an individual it might appear as 
 if environment were leveled to the ground, but in succeeding 
 generations the effect of constant higher environmnet will 
 not fail to become fixed. 
 
 "We in America form a nation with the bloods of half 
 the peoples of the world within our veins. We are more 
 crossed than any other nation in the history of the world, and 
 here we meet exactly the same results that are 
 always seen in a much crossed race of plants; all 
 the worst as well as all the best qualities of each 
 are brought out in their fullest intensities, and 
 right here is where selective environment counts. All 
 the necessary crossing has been done, and now comes the 
 work of elimination, the work of refining, until we shall get 
 an ultimate product that will be the finest human race 
 which has ever been known. It is perhaps this country which 
 will produce that race. Many years will pass before the 
 finished work is attained, but it is sure to come. The char- 
 acteristics of the many peoples that make up this nation will 
 show in the composite with many of the evil characteristics 
 removed and the finished product will be the race of the 
 future. 
 
 "In my work with plants and flowers I introduce color 
 here, shape there, size or perfume, according to the product 
 desired. In such processes the teachings of nature are always 
 followed. Its great forces only are employed. All that has 
 been done for plants and flowers by crossing, nature has al- 
 ready accomplished for the American people. By the cross- 
 ings of bloods strength has in one instance been secured, in 
 
 . n . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 another intellectuality, in still another moral force. Nature 
 alone could do this. The work of man's head and hand 
 has not yet been summoned to prescribe for the development 
 of a race. A preconceived and mapped-out crossing of bloods 
 has found no place in the making of peoples and nations. But 
 when nature has already done its duty and the crossing leaves 
 a product which in the rough displays the best human at- 
 tributes, all that is left to be done falls to selective environ- 
 ment. 
 
 "Man has by no means reached the ultimate. The fit- 
 test has not yet survived. In the process of elimination the 
 weaker must fall, but the battle has changed its base from 
 brute force to mental integrity. We now have what are 
 popularly known as five senses, but there are men of strong 
 minds whose reasoning has rarely been at fault and who are 
 coldly scientific in their methods, who attest to the possibility 
 of yet developing a sixth sense. Who is he that can say man 
 will not develop new senses as evolution advances? Psychol- 
 ogy is now studied in the public schools throughout the coun- 
 try, and that study will lead to a greater knowledge of these 
 subjects. The man of the future age will prove a somewhat 
 different order of being from that of the present. He will 
 look upon us as we to-day look upon our ancestors. 
 
 "Statistics show many things to make us pause, but after 
 all the proper point of view is that of the optimist. The 
 time will come when insanity will be reduced, suicides and 
 murders will be fewer and man will become a being of fewer 
 mental troubles and bodily ills. Wherever you have a 
 nation in which there is no variation there is comparatively 
 little insanity or crime, or exalted morality or genius. Here 
 in America, where the variation is greatest, statistics show a 
 greater percentage of all these variations. 
 
 . 13 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 O 
 
 "As time goes on in its endless and ceaseless course, en- 
 vironment will crystallize the American nation. Its varying 
 elements will become unified and the weeding-out process will 
 probably leave the finest human product ever known. The 
 color, the perfume, the size and form that are placed in 
 plants will have their analogies in the composite, the Ameri- 
 can of the future. 
 
 "And now, what will hasten this development most of 
 all? The proper rearing of children. Don't feed children 
 on maudlin sentimentalism or dogmatic religion; give them 
 nature. Let their souls drink in all that is pure and sweet. 
 Rear them, if possible, amid pleasant surroundings. If they 
 come into the world with souls groping in darkness, let them 
 see and feel the light. Don't terrify them in early life with 
 the fear of an after world. There never was a child that 
 was made more noble and good by the fear of a hell. Let 
 nature teach them the lessons of good and proper living 
 combined with an abundance of well-balanced nourishment. 
 Those children will grow to be the best men and women. Put 
 the best in them by contact with the best outside. They will 
 absorb it as a plant does the sunshine and the dew. In clos- 
 ing, I will give you an appropriate Burbank chestnut and you 
 will all notice that it is a graft. An old lady went to buy a 
 clock. The clerk elaborated on the many excellencies of one 
 of them and ended by saying: 'It will run eight days without 
 winding.' 'Ach! Gott in Himmel! Eight days witout 
 vinding. How long vould it run if it was vound oop ?' " 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Mr. Mills: 
 
 GENTLEMEN: There is a very marked appropriateness 
 in this testimonial banquet now tendered by the California 
 State Board of Trade. For sixteen years it has been the fixed 
 purpose of this organization to educate the people of Califor- 
 nia in the enlarged possibilities of the climatic environment of 
 this State. We are far from having exploited the possibilities 
 of the soil and climate of California. Our semi-tropical cli- 
 mate, the fertility of our soils, and the clemency of our sea- 
 sons, afford opportunity for the introduction here of many 
 objects of culture which would enhance the wealth-producing 
 capacity of our agricultural and horticultural classes, and 
 confer an increased profit upon all field culture. 
 
 But the field of exploration has by no means been ex- 
 hausted. The next toast of the evening is: "The Agricul- 
 tural and Horticultural Resources of California," and the 
 response has been committed to the very able hands of the 
 Governor of the State, Honorable George C. Pardee. 
 
 Response by Governor Pardee. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen'. The Governor of 
 California has had, and will have, many pleasant duties to 
 perform. But none of them has been and none of them 
 will be quite so pleasant as that which he is this evening 
 called upon to perform, viz : express the high regard in which 
 this evening's honored guest is held by the people of this 
 State. 
 
 Working quietly and modestly among his trees and vines, 
 
 . 15 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 P Q 
 
 our friend Burbank has worked what, to our lay minds, ap- 
 pear almost like miracles. He has changed the characters 
 and appearances of fruits and flowers, turned pigmies into 
 giants, sweetened the bitter and the sour, transformed noxious 
 weeds into valuable plants, and verily set the seal of his 
 disapproval upon much that to him and us seems wrong in 
 Nature's handiwork. For us he has done much; and to 
 him the whole world is indebted. 
 
 We sit here to-night to render tribute to his greatness. 
 Proud to call him "citizen of California," we marvel at the 
 skill with which he has worked his many miracles. And 
 we wonder why we did not know of him before. But genius 
 always struggles against a sea of adversity, and the really 
 great must prove their worth before it is accepted by the 
 world at large. No wonder then that California has been 
 slow to realize that living here within our midst a genius 
 capable of playing tricks with Nature has been cajoling 
 plums to mate with apricots, turning, better than a lawyer 
 can, the black to white, even disarming the desert cacti of 
 the spines, which wise old Nature, thinking to protect and 
 save them, had placed upon them. 
 
 California has much to be proud of, much with which 
 to conjure. Our sun is more genial, our winters and sum- 
 mers more pleasant, our Yosemite deeper, our trees taller, 
 our women handsomer, our men braver, our acres more fer- 
 tile than those of any other country in the world. Yet I 
 doubt if California has been more widely heralded by any 
 one of these than it has been by the fame of him in whose 
 honor we are met here to-night. 
 
 What will he do for us ? What has not one of his early 
 products done for all the world ? The starving poor of Ire- 
 land have had ample cause to bless the genius that produced 
 
 . \6 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 ^.... -4 
 
 Q 
 
 so lowly, but so important a thing as the potato that bears 
 his name. What will he do for us? The cactus that 
 blooms upon our deserts will, robbed of its spines, perhaps 
 give opportunity for man and beast to populate our almost 
 lifeless wastes. What will he do for us? New fruits, new 
 flowers, new trees seem to spring into being obedient to his 
 Alladin-like touch. Do we want a better plum, a larger 
 berry, a brighter, more fragrant flower, we turn to Burbank, 
 and he gives it to us. 
 
 Hitherto the farmer and the horticulturist have groped 
 in almost total darkness, taking now and then some better 
 thing that happened to fall within their grasp, but never 
 fully realizing how that which they prized came into being. 
 Now, like Columbus, Burbank has shown us the way to new 
 continents, new forms of life, new sources of wealth, and 
 we, following in his footsteps, will profit by and from his 
 genius. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster, it is a double pleasure for me to be 
 here to-night. I am glad and proud, as an individual, to 
 honor him whom I may designate as "friend," and I am 
 glad and proud, as Governor of California, and speaking 
 for the million and three quarters of our people, to bid the 
 evening's honored guest a hearty and a heartfelt "God- 
 speed" in all his future work. 
 
 Mr. Mills: 
 
 GENTLEMEN : 
 
 "Earth gave its chosen men of strength; 
 
 They lived, and strove, and died for me 
 To stretch my road a nation's length, 
 And toss the miles aside for me." 
 
 . J7 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 o 
 
 This is the poetic expression of a very profound philos- 
 ophy, and the poet Rudyard Kipling sought by this means to 
 enforce the value of citizenship in a great nation. 
 
 Our National Government has been ready at all times 
 to respond to this duty of stretching the road of the in- 
 dividual citizen "a nation's length," and making the heights 
 of achievement easily accessible. We are honored by the 
 presence of Honorable George C. Perkins, senior Senator of 
 California, and to him has been assigned the sentiment: 
 "What the Government of the United States has done for 
 Agriculture and Horticulture." It affords me the highest 
 pleasure to introduce our able and distinguished fellow-citi- 
 zen, Senator George C. Perkins. 
 
 Response, Senator Perkins. 
 
 Emerson has said: "If a man can write a better book, 
 preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than 
 his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the 
 world will make a beaten path to his door." 
 
 The force of this maxim has been truthfully illustrated 
 in the life of our distinguished guest, for scholars and scien- 
 tists not only from our own country, but from many foreign 
 lands have made the pilgrimage from afar to the Mecca of 
 Santa Rosa to see the cactus and rose bloom without brier 
 or thorn, and to taste delicious fruits whose flavor has been 
 intensified by his wooing. 
 
 Only once do I remember of our guest being misrepre- 
 sented. It was in Philadelphia when I called at a nursery 
 
 . 18 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 O Q 
 
 to procure some cuttings of the Burbank rose. I asked the 
 salesman who this man Burbank was, that had roses named 
 for him, and who it was said could beat old Ireland in 
 growing potatoes. He replied that Burbank was a French- 
 man living in the south of France who accidently discov- 
 ered the new potato while endeavoring to win a prize of- 
 fered by a French association to the one who could grow 
 garlic and onions without the offensive odor and not vitiate 
 the flavor of the vegetable. I assure you I took great pleas- 
 ure in telling that nurseryman that Mr. Burbank was by 
 compulsion a Yankee, born in Massachusetts, but by choice 
 he became a Californian, and his name was the pride of 
 our State. 
 
 But I am reminded I should speak to the sentiment pro- 
 posed: "Our Government Aid to Agriculture" and with 
 your permission I want to say parenthetically that all 
 which relates to the cultivation of the soil has a peculiar 
 interest to me. Perhaps it is because I have even now a 
 vivid recollection when a barefooted New England boy how 
 it hurt to stub my bare toes against the rolling stones in 
 the field when planting corn and beans. Or it may be be- 
 cause later in life I ploughed the ocean, sowing not a few 
 wild oats and harrowing the feelings of those who felt an in- 
 terest in my welfare. But I am more than grateful that 
 the harvest I have reaped has not all been tares. 
 
 As you are aware, the Department of Agriculture was 
 established by an act of Congress May 15, 1862, with a com- 
 missioner of agriculture in charge. It did not become an 
 executive department of the government until February 9, 
 1889, when the secretary of agriculture became classed as a 
 cabinet officer. Norman J. Coleman of Missouri, then Com- 
 missioner, was commissioned Secretary of Agriculture Feb- 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q Q 
 
 ruary i3th, and served to March 6, 1889 twenty-one days 
 when President Harrison, having been inaugurated, ap- 
 pointed Jeremiah M. Rusk of Wisconsin Secretary of Agri- 
 culture. He was succeeded four years later by J. Sterling 
 Morton, of Nebraska, who served during President Cleve- 
 land's term. 
 
 President McKinley, who was inaugurated March 4, 
 1897, appointed James Wilson of Iowa, who has served con- 
 tinuously since that time. Secretary Wilson has proved him- 
 self to be a most thorough and efficient public official. He 
 possesses in an eminent degree high executive ability, with a 
 thoroughly practical as well as scientific and technical 
 knowledge of every bureau in the Department of Agricul- 
 ture. 
 
 The appropriation for the support of the Agricultural 
 Department has averaged during the past three years over 
 $5,000,000 per annum, and that of the present fiscal year, 
 which commenced July ist, amounts to $6,692,690. This 
 sum seems large, but it has and will continue to return one 
 hundred fold in benefits to the people of our country. 
 
 The Secretary of Agriculture places the estimate of the 
 value of the farm for the year 1904 after excluding the 
 value of farm crops fed to live stock at $4,900,000,000; 
 three and one-half times the value of all minerals produced 
 in this country, including coal, iron ore, lead, copper, gold 
 and silver. From year to year the cultivators of the soil 
 have, aside from sustaining eighty millions of people in our 
 own country, contributed food and raw materials for manu- 
 facture to millions of people in foreign countries. The 
 farmer's balance of trade has increased from year to year 
 until in 1903 the excess of exports of farm products over the 
 imports amounted to the enormous sum of $422,000,000. 
 
 20 . . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 The Agricultural Department of the government in Wash- 
 ington, through the Bureau of Plant Industry, is co-operating 
 with forty-two State experiment stations along different lines 
 suited to the locality, especially testing new seeds and plants 
 from home and abroad, demonstrating those which are best 
 suited for the soil and climate of any particular locality. 
 
 Forty million packets of miscellaneous vegetable and 
 flower seeds are annually distributed on orders from members 
 of Congress. Most excellent results have been obtained in 
 the experiments with, and the distribution of, many of these 
 home-grown seeds in naming the class of soil and climate in 
 which they will thrive the best. 
 
 A special appropriation of $10,000 was secured last year 
 for the purpose of co-operation with the experiment stations 
 in California for determining the adaptability of various 
 grape stocks to the different soil and climatic conditions of 
 our State. Another appropriation was made for the purpose 
 of investigating diseases affecting plants on the Pacific Coast, 
 particularly with reference to the California vine diseases and 
 diseases of the sugar beet, asparagus, and other vegetables and 
 fruits. 
 
 The department sent to California last year 105 varieties 
 of French phyloxera resistant grape vines for trial in in- 
 fested vineyards. 
 
 I do not think it is generally known how large a number 
 of publications is annually issued by the Department of Ag- 
 riculture. Last year there were issued 972 different publica- 
 tions, and the total number of copies of all publications issued 
 aggregated about 12,421,386. Of these publications, about 
 seven million were farmer's bulletins, which treat upon al- 
 most every subject-matter in which the farmer is interested : 
 agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, forestry, dairy, and 
 
 . . 2* . . 
 
c 
 
 Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 a 
 
 stock-raising. These bulletins, together with the Agricultural 
 Year Book, comprise an encyclopedia of knowledge and in- 
 formation relating to the farm that is invaluable. 
 
 There are eight bureaus under the direction of the De- 
 partment of Agriculture, each having several divisions: 
 
 The Weather Bureau. 
 
 Bureau of Animal Industry. 
 
 Bureau of Plant Industry. 
 
 Bureau of Chemistry. 
 
 Bureau of Soils. 
 
 Bureau of Statistics. 
 
 Bureau of Entomology. 
 
 Bureau of Forestry. 
 
 There are also fifteen divisions of special investigation, 
 such as the botanical, pomological, biological survey, labora- 
 tory, etc., with a corps of educated and practical professors 
 in their special lines. A number of them are graduates of 
 the Leland Stanford Jr. University and the University of 
 California, which are respectively presided over by the two 
 distinguished presidents who honor us with their presence here 
 this evening. 
 
 These different bureaus in the Agricultural Department 
 are quietly doing their splendid work; and, like smokeless 
 powder, we do not see where the shells come from, but the 
 report is felt on every farm in the country. We feel these 
 benefits in our forest reserves, by the preservation of our 
 forests and the planting of trees on the San Gabriel and other 
 forest reserves in California ; we feel them when we learn the 
 adaptability of certain soils to the cultivation of cereals, the 
 improvement of live stock, and their prevention from disease. 
 We feel the beneficial effects in the forecasts of the weather ; 
 the warnings given to the farmer of the coming of rain, frost 
 
 . 22 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 and snow, and to the manner of the approaching gales of 
 wind. These warnings are given from twenty- four to forty- 
 eight hours in advance on our Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific 
 coasts, and have saved millions of dollars to those engaged in 
 maritime affairs. 
 
 Through the encouragement and assistance of this de- 
 partment we now produce nearly all of our sugar beet seed, 
 which formerly was imported from Europe. California 
 produced last year fifty thousand pounds of sugar beet seed. 
 American seed has proven better than the imported; beets 
 testing as high as twenty-four per cent of sugar have been 
 obtained from American beet seed, while the average was fif- 
 teen and eight-tenths, and that of foreign-grown seed did not 
 exceed twelve per cent. 
 
 Irrigation and instructions in relation to the distribution 
 of water and the amount needed to obtain the best results 
 from different soils, has been derived from actual experience 
 from irrigated districts. There is now in the United States 
 an area of ten million acres of land under irrigation, and over 
 five million more acres tributary to canals in process of con- 
 struction. 
 
 The work of our distinguished guest in his field of agri- 
 cultural development is an additional incentive to our Gov- 
 ernment to profit by his experience and discoveries in the evo- 
 lution of plant lifes He is doing more to instruct, interest, 
 and make popular the work in the garden than any man of his 
 generation. California is proud of his achievements and de- 
 lights to class him as one of her most honored citizens. 
 
 The State Board of Trade esteems it a great privilege to 
 extend to him this complimentary banquet, although, know- 
 ing his modesty and retiring disposition, we realize that he 
 would rather have remained at his home in the City of Roses, 
 
 . 23 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbanfc 
 
 which has become so dear to him by association with its trees 
 
 and flowers, for 
 
 "He wanders away and away 
 With Nature, dear old nurse, 
 Who sings to him night and day 
 The rhymes of the universe." 
 
 Mr. Mills: 
 
 GENTLEMEN : It was the intention to introduce the next 
 speaker without encomium and without suggestion of sub- 
 ject, but with that profound respect which the absence of 
 these things implies. He has, however, chosen for himself 
 the toast: "The Methods of Luther Burbank and Their 
 Relation to Evolution/' 
 
 I appreciate keenly the anticipation of pleasure which has 
 filled the minds of this company in listening to the instruction 
 they are now to receive at the hands of Dr. David Starr 
 Jordan, President of the Leland Stanford Junior University, 
 To him, more than to any other citizen of California, except 
 Judge W. W. Morrow, we are indebted for the endowment 
 of the work of Mr. Burbank by "The Carnegie Institution." 
 
 Response by President Jordan: 
 
 Dr. Jordan spoke, in substance, as follows: 
 I am asked by Dr. Wheeler, my colleague in the greater 
 University of California, to express to Mr. Burbank, jointly 
 
 . 24 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbanfc 
 
 with my own, the congratulations of both universities. We 
 honor him as a man of our kind, the kind the university de- 
 lights to make ; the kind of men who know things and can do 
 things; the kind of men to whom Nature is an open book, 
 and whose reading of this book is clear and truthful. 
 
 I have come farther than any one else to this dinner. 
 When, on the 22d of August, in South Kensington, I re- 
 ceived Mr. Briggs' invitation to come here to do honor to 
 Burbank, I packed my trunk at once and sailed for San 
 Francisco. I came the very shortest way, by Londonderry 
 in Ireland to Belle Isle in Labrador. And on the way I 
 heard of this incident: 
 
 On the 3Oth day of August, on the bleak coast of Labra- 
 dor, early in the morning, a few strangers came out of 
 their houses, houses they had brought with them on a ship 
 only a few days before, and climbing to the top of a hill, 
 pointed sticks and iron tubes at the sun. The natives said 
 these men were fools. Little by little the sun grew dark, 
 the brown shades stole over the hills, the light shrank to a 
 narrower rim, and then these natives said they were wizards. 
 Other people who knew of the eclipse of the sun and of the 
 expedition sent to Labrador to observe it, said "these are 
 men of science." 
 
 Something like this has been Mr. Burbank's experience. 
 Years ago in Massachusetts, he crept around in the mud 
 half a day looking for the lone potato-ball on a plant with 
 which he had been playing. It had been torn off by the foot 
 of a stray cow. People said that he was a fool, not knowing 
 that this one potato-ball was the fruition of years of labor. 
 It was big with the potency of the Burbank potato. Later, 
 when a prosperous nurseryman, he let go all his business to 
 play with scissors and pollen and microscope, planting seeds 
 
 . 25 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 and grafting bushes, then pulling them up and burning them 
 by the thousand, meanwhile growing poorer every year, for 
 the harder he worked the less his financial returns then 
 people said again he was a fool. Later, when wonderful 
 blooms, gorgeous roses, vigorous walnuts, and flowers and 
 fruits undreamed of, sprang up at Santa RoseV people the 
 world over came to see them and him and said, "Burbank 
 is a wizard." 
 
 But when men of science, men like De Vries and his 
 associates, came to see Burbank, they knew him 
 for a man of science. A man of science is one who takes 
 knowledge seriously; who, believing in the truth of human 
 experience, trusts his life to it, and has the courage to use it 
 in his business. All the world knows Burbank now, but there 
 are two who found him out earlier than any one else, and 
 who had faith in his work and his future before any one else 
 had realized what he was doing. These two men are Judge 
 Leib of San Jose and Professor Wickson of the University 
 of California. 
 
 I am asked to speak of Burbank's relation to the science 
 of organic evolution, and to the five factors of evolution 
 heredity, variation, environment, selection and isolation, on 
 the inter-relation of which the movements of life depend. 
 
 To understand his relation to these, we must first look at 
 Burbank's method. It is simplicity itself. You can all do 
 the same things in your own gardens. First choose the best 
 of the plants you wish to develop. This is selection, the 
 "magician's wand," as Youatt calls it, by which the breeder 
 can summon up any form of animal or plant he may need 
 for his use or his pleasure. Choose the best; destroy the 
 others ; Nature will do the rest. Like produces like ; that is 
 heredity. But heredity can be helped along by another ele- 
 
 . 26 . 
 
f* 
 
 Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 r\ 
 
 mcnt, crossing. Breed the best with the best. Some of the 
 progeny will have the good qualities of both parents, some 
 the bad. If your crosses are wide apart you may get new 
 combinations undreamed of. Select these again. Breed from 
 the best; ruthlessly burn up the rest. A flower is Nature's 
 advertising medium, calling the bees to fertilize her germ 
 cells. There were no showy flowers, flowers with petals, 
 until after there were insects, and to please the insects is the 
 flower's real purpose. You don't want the insects. You must 
 manage the crossing yourself. So snip off the flowers, keep 
 the bees away, and transfer the pollen to the right place with 
 your own dainty fingers. This needs care, skill, patience, 
 science every virtue demanded by the finest art. And in this 
 art no one has been more skillful than Luther Burbank. 
 Crossing and selection, selection and crossing, this is the 
 whole secret, as simple as any of all the secrets of Nature. 
 It is her method of evolution. Arrange the conditions and 
 Nature will do the rest. But it is one of the finest of all 
 fine arts to arrange these conditions, to bring out the results, 
 results all unseen before, but capable of the exactest fore- 
 cast. 
 
 The commercial value of Burbank's work is great. It 
 can be expressed only in figures far beyond its actual cost. 
 But above all commercial values we must place Burbank's 
 contributions to human knowledge. 
 
 Among other things, and I can enumerate but very few, 
 Burbank has shown the plasticity of Nature. Like produces 
 like, but not necessary that which actually is. Children re- 
 semble their parents in this way, that they tend to do like 
 things, to develop in like ways under like conditions. Change 
 these conditions and all results are changed. Make condi- 
 tions better, and new structures and new powers burst out. 
 
 27 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luthet Burbank 
 
 O Q 
 
 The mutations of De Vries, in Burbank's view, are the reflex 
 of new conditions. 
 
 Burbank has shown us that there is no limit to selection. 
 Once started, variation can be intensified ; heredity follows it, 
 and evolution of new forms can be led on and on as far as a 
 continuous purpose may choose to carry it. 
 
 Crossing of varieties of one species, and hybridization of 
 distinct species are one and the same thing. Most crosses are 
 fertile, and the results of a skillful cross save years of slow 
 progress by selection. Crossing is to horticulture what punt- 
 ing is to football. 
 
 Each group of plants behaves in its own way. Each is a 
 law unto itself. For this reason, as no simple, universal law, 
 like the Mendelian law, can be used to cover every hypothesis, 
 a thousand seedling walnuts, descended from hybrid parents, 
 differ from each other in a thousand ways in every way 
 conceivable in which walnuts can differ. 
 
 The advance of flowers, fruits and grains beyond the 
 primitive types is as great as the advance of palaces as com- 
 pared with wigwams ^of steamships as compared with dug- 
 out canoes. In Pliny's time, the pear was a little rough fruit, 
 not larger than an olive. In future time, we may go as far 
 beyond the Bartlett pear as that has advanced over the crab- 
 pear of the age of Pliny. We are now in the infancy of the 
 work of producing domestic races of animals and plants. No 
 one can forecast the possibilities of the future. And no one 
 will do more than Burbank to make them actual. 
 
 28 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Bttrbanfc 
 
 Mr. Mills: 
 
 GENTLEMEN : . This banquet was given in part to signal- 
 ize the good fortune which has lately attended the career of 
 our distinguished guest. The Carneige Institution, founded 
 by an American philanthropist, has endowed the work of Mr. 
 Burbank with one hundred thousand dollars, payable in ten 
 equal annual installments. There is a high sense in which 
 this munificence will redound primarily to the benefit of 
 California. The species which Mr. Burbank will originate 
 will have their first acclimatization here. He will do for this 
 State, aided by the munificence of Mr. Carnegie, what the 
 State should long ago have done for itself. 
 
 When the snows of winter fall upon the high summits 
 of the mountains, they are precipitated into the corrugated 
 sides of the lofty summits, and are congealed into glaciers. 
 When the genial sunshine, reinforced by the rains of spring- 
 time, fall upon these glaciers, they make no answer back to 
 the sun, but quietly disappear. They are melted into flow- 
 ing streams, which, passing with torrential velocity down the 
 declivity of the mountains, eventually emerge from the foot- 
 hills and make their way through the summer-crowned val- 
 leys below. Here they summon into life the verdure, the 
 fruits, the flowers and the harvests, and this verdure, these 
 fruits, these flowers and these harvests never reproach the 
 water which calls them into life and being for having once 
 been held in the grip of winter at the frozen summits. 
 
 When the enterprise, the commercial instinct, the business 
 capacity and the selfishness, if you will, of man piles up for- 
 tunes mountain high, the genial warmth of a philanthropic 
 impulse sometimes thaws these glaciers and they flow through 
 the channels of nobler achievement, and bring into being 
 
 . 29 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q Q 
 
 hospitals for the alleviation of pain, universities for the pro- 
 motion of learning, institutions for the advancement of sci- 
 ence, asylums to shelter the homeless, and religious founda- 
 tions for the spread of enlightenment. The beneficiaries of 
 all this munificence may well imitate the verdure and the 
 fruits and the flowers and the harvests of the valley by not 
 upbraiding the gold which brings them into life with the 
 reproach that it was once a part of a glacier of wealth at the 
 high summit of financial achievement. 
 
 The next toast of the evening is: "The Carnegie Insti- 
 tution, and What It Has Done for California." This toast 
 has been assigned to a director of the Institution, Judge W. 
 W. Morrow of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. 
 Judge Morrow has been called by official duty to Portland 
 and Seattle, but he has left for your edification a written 
 response to the toast assigned to him. That response will 
 now be read by the Secretary and General Manager of the 
 State Board of Trade, Mr. Arthur R. Briggs. 
 
 Response, redding of paper of Judge W. W . Morrow. 
 
 Mr. Arthur R. Briggs, General Manager California State 
 Board of Trade, Ferry Building, San Francisco. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I regret exceedingly that I cannot be 
 present at the banquet to be given in honor of Mr. Luther 
 Burbank by the California State Board of Trade on the I4th 
 instant. It would afford me great pleasure to join with the 
 Board of Trade and its guests on that occasion in paying a 
 deserved tribute of respect to Mr. Burbank, who has accom- 
 plished so much for the benefit of California, and made the 
 
 . . 30 . . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 O 
 
 world better for his having lived in it. But I am compelled 
 
 to attend sessions of the United States Circuit Court of Ap- 
 peals during this month at Portland and Seattle, and will 
 not return until about the ist of October. 
 
 The suggestion that I would be called upon, if present, 
 to say something about the Carnegie Institution, offers an 
 agreeable subject for discussion; and while the pleasure of 
 the occasion for me would be to hear others, rather than to 
 speak myself, the suggestion enables me to say in this letter 
 about all that I would say, if present. 
 
 Of course I would like to say something in appreciation 
 of the work of my friend Mr. Burbank, whose achievements, 
 I understand, will be the general theme of the occasion. If 
 he is the benefactor of mankind who "makes two ears of 
 corn or two blades of grass to grow upon a spot of ground 
 where only one grew before," what shall we say of Burbank, 
 who makes tons of new varieties of vegetation to grow where 
 none grew before? The satire of Dean Swift upon the in- 
 significance of political service as compared with the value of 
 such a dominion over Nature is a needless disparagement of 
 political services which the country needs and must have, but 
 it does not overestimate the importance of a knowledge of 
 Nature and Nature's laws. Mr. Burbank has done much, 
 and will do more, if he is permitted to carry his plans into 
 execution. But it will be necessary now to give him time, 
 and time to himself, to enable him to follow in plant life the 
 intricate paths of Nature, and interpret to the world her 
 processes of evolution. 
 
 Mr. Carnegie believes that man is destined to become an 
 absolute ruler in the kingdom of Nature, and so believing, 
 he founded the Carnegie Institution at Washington, to pro- 
 vide and develop the highest skill and most thorough appli- 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 O Q 
 
 cation in original research in Nature's laboratory. The In- 
 stitution was founded on January 28, 1902, with the liberal 
 endowment of ten millions of dollars. After a year of in- 
 vestigation by the savants of this country, and consultation 
 with the learned men of Europe, the principal features of the 
 Institution were declared to be, in the words of Mr. Carnegie, 
 "the promotion of original research as one of the most im- 
 portant of all subjects, and the discovery of the exceptional 
 man, to enable him to make his life work that work for which 
 he seems especially designed." It was in the carrying out of 
 this purpose that the Carnegie Institution came into touch 
 with Mr. Burbank, and proposed to assist him to the fullest 
 extent in his investigations, and to publish and distribute 
 the results of such investigation. 
 
 The Trustees of the Carnegie Institution are in a measure 
 under Carlylc's admonition, to let results speak for the In- 
 stitution, and "forbear to babble of what it is creating and 
 projecting" ; and although the Institution has only been in 
 practical working operation for a little over two years, it has 
 already issued over forty important scientific publications, in- 
 cluding contributions to nearly all branches of science. It 
 may be interesting to know that a very considerable part of 
 the work of the Institution is being carried on in California 
 at this time. It may be found at our two universities and at 
 the Lick Observatory, solving minor problems in astronomy, 
 bibliography, engineering, mathematics, physics, and zoology. 
 In addition to investigations of this character, some projects 
 of a broader scope are in progress. The bark "Galilee" was 
 recently dispatched from this port by the Carnegie Institu- 
 tion, on the preliminary work of a magnetic survey of the 
 Pacific ocean, which for the present will be directed to that 
 part of the ocean on the west coast and east of a direct line 
 
 . 32 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbanfc 
 
 O Q 
 
 from the Hawaiian Islands to the Aleutian Islands, and north 
 of a line from the Hawaiian Islands to the mainland. There 
 is also being erected by the Institution a solar observatory 
 on Mount Wilson in Southern California, where the most 
 complete and powerful instruments known will be placed 
 in charge of the most skilled astronomers. The atmospheric 
 conditions on Mount Wilson are exceptionally favorable for 
 solar observations, and it is expected that many interesting 
 discoveries regarding the sun's heat and composition will be 
 made, and the field of astronomical research generally will 
 be greatly extended. In a word, the Carnegie Institution 
 is responding to the urgent demand for deeper and more ex- 
 tensive scientific knowledge, a demand which was vigorously 
 set forth recently in a lecture by Professor Lankester, an 
 English scientist of distinction, at Oxford, England. His 
 contention was that the knowledge and control of Nature is 
 man's destiny and his greatest need, and to accomplish that 
 destiny is the immediate task set before him. He said : 
 
 "We desire to make the chief subject of education, both in 
 school and in college, a knowledge of Nature as set forth in 
 the sciences which are spoken of as physics, chemistry, geology 
 and biology. We think that all education should consist in 
 the first place of this kind of knowledge, on account of its 
 commanding importance both to the individual and to the 
 community. We think that every man of even a moderate 
 amount of education should have acquired a sufficient know- 
 ledge of these subjects to enable him at any rate to appreciate 
 their value and to take an interest in their progress and ap- 
 plication to human life. And we think, further, that the 
 ablest youth of the country should be encouraged to proceed 
 to the extreme limit of present knowledge in one or other 
 branch of this knowledge of Nature, so as to become makers 
 
 . 33 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 of new knowledge, and the possible discoverers of enduring 
 
 improvements in man's control of Nature." 
 
 That some part, if not all, of the work of the Carnegie 
 Institution will produce far-reaching results, cannot be ques- 
 tioned. It is equipping an army of investigators for the 
 frontier of human knowledge. There will doubtless be some 
 failures, but the general result will be that man's dominion 
 will be extended ; and Burbank, who is an old soldier in this 
 army, will return with much spoil, and additional honors. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 W. W. MORROW. 
 
 Mr. Mills: 
 
 GENTLEMEN : The original basis of the Commonwealth 
 of California was mining for the precious metals. The ag- 
 ricultural and horticultural value of the State was not even 
 suspected, much less understood. The climatic environment 
 here was unusual. Portions of the State, now the most pop- 
 ulous, opulent and prosperous, were relegated to the category 
 of desert. 
 
 The "dry season," as we know it now, which is the only 
 winter we know, the occurrence of which covers summer 
 and the early fall months, was regarded as a destructive 
 drought. Its high value to horticulture was not even ap- 
 prehended. Mining was the paramount industry, a fact clear- 
 ly disclosed when we read the history of the industries of 
 the State in the light of legislation. To-day, horticulture is 
 the paramount industry, and the art as practiced here is dis- 
 tinctively the result of the experience and thorough investi- 
 
 . 34 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Ltithet Bwrbank 
 
 gation of our own people. The next toast of the evening 
 will be: "What We Know About Horticulture." 
 
 Colonel John P. Irish, to whom the response to this toast 
 has been assigned, has been a citizen of the State for more 
 than twenty years. From his earliest residence here he has 
 given the State the benefit of his broad experience, his com- 
 prehensive observation and his high intelligence. He has 
 devoted his very best energies to the development of the ma- 
 terial resources of California, and being gifted with the power 
 of statement, his expressions always illuminate any subject 
 which he treats. 
 
 In addition to the response which he makes to this toast, 
 as a Director of the California State Board of Trade he 
 will extend the congratulations of the Board to Mr. Bur- 
 bank. 
 
 I felicitate this company on the address he will deliver, 
 and take high pleasure in introducing Colonel John P. Irish. 
 
 Response by Colonel John P. Irish. 
 
 The State Board of Trade has for nearly twenty years 
 devoted itself to making known the apparent and latent re- 
 sources of California. In that time the State has achieved its 
 pre-eminence in horticulture. That industry here ranks with 
 the learned professions, requiring study and skill and a close 
 scrutiny of the working of Nature. Man is mighty, but he 
 does not know it all. A small insect, desiring a special fruit 
 for its sustenance, operates upon the limb of an oak tree, 
 and at the point of operation the fruit is produced. Another 
 insect, requiring a different fruit, operates upon the same oak 
 
 . 35 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 o 
 
 tree and the different fruit grows. These two fruits, and 
 the natural fruit of the tree, grow on the same wood, rooted 
 in the same soil and under the same sunshine. As these fruits, 
 produced by the insects, are not spontaneously produced by 
 Nature, perhaps there are other insects that call these 
 wizards, and declare their method to be secretive and un- 
 scientific. 
 
 The man who has gone farthest of any into the secrets 
 of Nature, and has controlled and guided her operations to 
 ends most at variance with her spontaneous results, and most 
 valuable to the world, is the guest of the State 
 Board of Trade to-night. Mr. Burbank has con- 
 ferred upon California the imperishable honor of 
 association with his name and his work. That 
 work has been prosecuted by him with a devotion that 
 admitted no thought of personal gain. The fame of it has 
 gone forth to the world. His life has been so quiet, his ab- 
 sorption so complete, that Californians know him only by his 
 creations whose benefits they enjoy. A gentleman who is 
 here tells me that when in London, entertained hospitably 
 by an English gentleman, his host talked only of Luther 
 Burbank, and the California!! was ashamed to admit that he 
 had never met Mr. Burbank and did not know the location 
 of his wonder-working efforts. When he left he asked his 
 host what he could do to repay his great hospitality, and the 
 Englishman said: "Send me a branch from one of Luther 
 Burbank's plums, from his own nursery, that I may graft 
 it on a stock in my garden, and you will more than repay it 
 all." Another who is a guest here tonight tells me that 
 when in Berlin last year, the intelligent Germans whom he 
 met talked only of two men in the United States President 
 Roosevelt and Luther Burbank. 
 
 . 36 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 o 
 
 It is time that Californians knew Mr. Burbank, and the 
 State Board of Trade has made this banquet that they may 
 meet him. It is a pleasure to see here farmers, actual tillers 
 of the soil, who use the plow and pruning hook, from nine 
 counties in the State, come to meet this student and associate 
 of Nature, who has added wealth to our fields and orchards 
 and beauty to our gardens and bowers, by guiding to perfec- 
 tion and to new forms the fruit of vine and tree and plant, 
 and even the humble weeds of the commons. 
 
 Mr. Mills: 
 
 GENTLEMEN : We now reach the last toast of the even- 
 ing. The work of Luther Burbank was called to the atten- 
 tion of the Carnegie Institution by a horticultural society 
 of Philadelphia. It will be a matter of regret to this com- 
 pany that the initiative in this important matter was not 
 taken by California. California owes a debt of gratitude to 
 the Philadelphia society which manifested this thoughtful- 
 ness. 
 
 It must not be assumed from this fact, however, that 
 appreciation on the part of the people of the State for the 
 work and the personal worth of the distinguished guest of 
 the evening is wanting. The toast is one which appeals to 
 State pride and evokes sentiments of State patriotism. 
 
 The last toast of the evening is: "Our Neighbor," and is 
 assigned to Albert G. Burnett, Judge of the Superior Court 
 of California for the county of Sonoma, who, as a citizen of 
 Santa Rosa, is a friend and neighbor of our distinguished 
 guest. 
 
 I take pleasure in presenting Judge Burnett, who will 
 address you. 
 
 . 37 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 Response by Judge Burnett. 
 
 My appearance in this presence to respond to the senti- 
 ment proposed is rather suggestive of some unenlightened star 
 of the eighth magnitude feebly attempting to shine in the 
 midst of the most splendid galaxy of talent that this State 
 has ever known. 
 
 One at all familiar with our public men and orators must 
 commend the judgment of the committee in the selectfon 
 of the speakers best qualified to do some measure of justice 
 to this occasion in honor of the illustrious guest of the State 
 Board of Trade. 
 
 For the entertainment of a veritable king among men, 
 and of those fortunate enough to be permitted to participate 
 at such a feast, what better choice could be made than 
 of the able and affable presiding Justice of the District Court 
 of Appeals; of the learned Rabbi whose eloquence and piety 
 are always manifest, whether addressing an audience of his 
 fellow-men or whether petitioning the throne of Divine 
 Grace; of the versatile toastmaster who knows everything 
 worth knowing and can tell it even better than he knows; 
 of the honored Governor of the State, of whose administra- 
 tion we are all proud, and who has added to his many ac- 
 complishments the power of facile and persuasive speech; of 
 our senior United States Senator, who is universally ad- 
 mired and beloved; of the erudite and popular jurist, who 
 presides with such honor and dignity over the United States 
 Circuit Court; of the two eminent presidents of our great 
 universities, and of our gallant naval officer, who is pro- 
 nounced by competent critics to be one of the few really 
 great orators in the world today. 
 
 . 38 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 The significance of this reflection is such that were I 
 not a resident of Santa Rosa, the home of Luther Burbank, 
 I could not expect an invitation to address you, nor would 
 I venture the risk of introducing a discordant note into this 
 symphony of beautiful sentiment and apt expression for which 
 we must acknowledge ourselves indebted to these gentlemen, 
 voicing as they do the universal feeling of our people towards 
 the greatest benefactor of this State. 
 
 But, prompted by an instinct of courtesy, it is deemed 
 appropriate by the committee to have a representative of his 
 home town to indicate, however feebly, the esteem for the 
 honored guest entertained by his neighbors and fellow citi- 
 zens, among whom he has lived and toiled for so many years, 
 performing quietly and effectively that work for humanity 
 which shall endure till the end of time. 
 
 The inhabitants of our beautiful little city contemplate 
 with pardonable pride the many advantages with which we 
 have been favored by a beneficent Providence. 
 
 Our climate is unsurpassed, the soil is wonderfully pro- 
 ductive, the people are prosperous and happy. All the con- 
 ditions of life are favorable for the comfort and welfare of a 
 thrifty, intelligent and industrious citizenship. No more 
 ideal spot could be selected, probably, for the home of such 
 a man as Luther Burbank. 
 
 But the many attractions of the place, and of the sur- 
 rounding country, are for the time forgotten, as distinctive 
 features, when we consider the fact that this wholesome, 
 serious, earnest, kindly, loving, talented and enthusiastic re- 
 vealer of Nature's most valuable secrets is content to live 
 with us, and thereby associate in the minds of the intelligent 
 people of the world our beautiful little city with the imper- 
 ishable name of Luther Burbank. 
 
 . 39 . 
 
c 
 
 Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 Q 
 
 In common with you all, we admire Mr. Burbank, as a 
 genius to whom the great of the earth do willing and gracious 
 homage. The wise men, the great philanthropists, the suc- 
 cessful and far-seeing students of Nature, they to whom much 
 power has been given to learn of the really valuable things 
 of life, and who are willing to toil and to sacrifice for the 
 world's good, come from the east and from the west, from 
 the north and from the south, to sit at the feet of this great 
 apostle and prophet of beauty and happiness. 
 
 They come from the ends of the earth, and count no 
 sacrifice too great, no journey too burdensome, if they may be 
 permitted to see with their own eyes the priceless products 
 of his untiring labors, to learn something of his methods of 
 work, and to catch some measure of his matchless inspira- 
 tion. 
 
 The trackless wastes of the desert, the frozen peaks of 
 the mountains, the innumerable trials of wearisome journeys 
 do not abate the zeal of the pilgrims who gather at the shrine 
 of this High Priest of Nature's secrets. 
 
 They remind one of the indomitable resolution and heroic 
 courage of Henry IV of Germany, manifested in his nerve- 
 racking journey over the Alps in the dead of winter in that 
 memorable visit to the rocky fastness of Canossa to implore 
 the favor of the mighty Hildebrand. 
 
 They come to see this quiet, unassuming citizen, who, 
 if he were to consult his own feelings, would rather emulate 
 Democritus, who rejoiced in the fact that when he came to 
 Athens nobody there did so much as to take notice of him. 
 
 We see in Mr. Burbank the "noble ideality" of real, not 
 the "ignoble realty" of spurious greatness. This is re- 
 vealed to all who know him well. As we consider his work, 
 and as we know the splendid character of the citizen an^ 
 
 . 40 . 
 
Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 
 
 neighbor, we must feel something of the divine enthusiasm 
 and deep penetration of Emerson when he declared: "Ah, rich 
 and various man ! Thou palace of sight and sound, carrying 
 in thy senses the morning and the night and the unfathomable 
 galaxy; in thy brain the geometry of the City of God; in 
 thy heart the power of love and the realms of right and 
 wrong." 
 
 The world will always know and do suitable honor to 
 the great achievements of Mr. Burbank. Even now, no other 
 name in the chosen field of his activity stands higher upon the 
 roll of fame. 
 
 It is pleasing to reflect that the distinction which has come 
 to him unsought has not disturbed the splendid equipoise of 
 his nature. The current of his life flows on with the same 
 serenity, purity and sweetness that characterized his youth 
 and early manhood. 
 
 In the zenith of his power and celebrity, he is still the 
 same modest, earnest, self-sacrificing, toiling and enthusiastic 
 lover of his kind, content to do what he can to brighten and 
 beautify the pathway of life, and to bring more of the sun- 
 shine of comfort and happiness into the cottages of the poor 
 as well as the palaces of the rich. 
 
 He has done and is doing his work well. He believes 
 with Chapin that 4< man was sent into the world to be a 
 growing and exhaustless force. The world was spread out 
 around him to be seized and conquered." His is the spirit 
 of all the great army of real men that achieve the welfare 
 of the world. 
 
California State Board of Trade Bulletin No. 14 
 
 California State Board of Trade 
 
 OFFICES AND EXHIBIT HALL 
 FERRY BUILDING 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 OFFICERS 
 
 N. P* Chipman President 
 
 J* S* Emery Vice-President 
 
 Arthur R Briggs First Vice-President 
 
 Arthur R* Briggs Secretary and Manager 
 
 G* A* Dennison Assistant Secretary 
 
 Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank Treasurer 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 N, P* Chipman J S. Emery 
 
 W. H. Mills Geo. C Perkins 
 
 E. W. Maslin Arthur R. Briggs 
 
 J* P Irish C. M. Wooster 
 
 S* F. Booth William Haas 
 
 H. D* Loveland 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 
 (510)642-6753 
 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books 
 
 to NRLF 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days 
 
 prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 JAM 3 | 
 
Gaylord Bros, 
 
 Makers 
 Syracuse. N.Y. 
 
 PAT. JAN. 21 .1908 
 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
if