Luther Burbank the Wizard of Horticulture
World-Renowned Pioneer in Science of Agriculture
Jul 19, 2009
During his childhood in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Burbank often gathered wildflower seeds to plant in the garden. Upon completion of his elementary school education, he worked briefly in a factory, then bought a small piece of land where he developed a market garden. An avid reader, Burbank was inspired by Charles Darwin’s books and the concept of evolution
In 1872, he planted seeds from a seed ball found on one of his potatoes. A new variety of potato, later named the Burbank potato, was the result. He sold the rights to the potato to a seed dealer, sold his farm, and moved to California where he earned the nickname, the Wizard of Horticulture.
Burbank Potato Used World Wide in McDonald’s Restaurants
Burbank purchased some land and started a nursery business in Santa Rosa. He was more interested in improving plants than just growing them. He believed that through experimentation he could make them more productive.
From the Burbank potato, a natural genetic variant (sport) with russet-colored skin was later selected. Named the Russet-Burbank, it is likely better known today as the Idaho. Less susceptible to blight, the cultivar was exported to Ireland to assist in recovery from the terrible blight and ensuing famine of 1840-1860. One of the most cultivated varieties in the world, it is the only one McDonald’s restaurants use for their french fries.
At his eighteen-acre Gold Ridge Farm in nearby Sebastopol, Burbank expanded his work. He cross pollinated different varieties with each other, and with different species. He grew large numbers of new hybrids and selected the best of each to start a new variety. Each new plant variety had to meet his criteria for perfection before it was shown in Santa Rosa.
Flower Named for Mount Shasta in California
Of the eight hundred varieties of fruits, flowers, vegetables, trees, and grasses developed by Luther Burbank, his Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) is perhaps the most beloved. During his youth in Massachusetts he was fascinated by the wild Oxeye Daisy. Over about fifteen years, he used the Oxeye and varieties of daisies from England, Portugal, and Japan to hybridize the Shasta Daisy.
He wanted a sturdy plant that had flowers with large, dazzling white petals and continuous blooming. Burbank named the flower for the white snows atop Mt. Shasta in Northern California. His first varieties, introduced in 1904, were Alaska, California, and Westrailia. He continued development of new varieties for many years. With ongoing development of more, the Shasta Daisy is said to have the ‘longest history of continuous popularity of any hybrid’.
Some of Burbank's most successful plant varieties and strains were the Fire poppy, the July Elberta peach, the Santa Rosa plum, the Freestone peach, and the Burbank potato. In 1918, he produced the many-colored Rainbow Swiss chard. Burbank cultivated the Spineless Cactus to provide food for people and cattle. He believed it would revolutionize desert region agriculture. Somewhat successful, it is still grown in many areas.
Plant Patent Act 1930
There was no federal legislation in Burbank’s lifetime that allowed breeders to patent their creations. To earn an income, they had to sell outright all parts of newly-developed plants, including their seeds. Commercial nurseries frequently changed the varieties’ names, so few of Burbank’s plants are listed by his name today.
Though Luther Burbank was world renowned for his work in plant hybridization and set the precedent for innovation in plant breeding, he was criticized by scientists. Interested more in results than basic research, he did not keep careful scientific records.
Luther Burbank died April 11, 1926 at age 77. According to his wishes, his grave near the greenhouse at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens in Santa Rosa is unmarked.
Due in part to Burbank’s great success, and his 1921 book, “How Plants are Treated to Work for Man”, a Plant Patent Act was established in 1930. Luther Burbank received sixteen plant patents posthumously.
Sources:
Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants by Jane S. Smith, Published by The Penguin Press 2009
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