Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries and Their Practical Applications [SOLD]

This 12-volume set of leather-bound books was prepared from Luther Burbank’s original field notes covering more than 100,000 experiments made during forty years devoted to plant improvement.  It was put together with the assistance of The Luther Burbank Society and its entire membership under the editorial direction of John Whitson and Robert John and Henry Smith Williams, MD, LLD.

 

This is the first edition published in 1914 and consists of 12 volumes, each volume bound in leather with American Arts and Crafts designs of trees on the front and back covers and gold lettering on the spine.   This set included a dedication page in Volume I as follows:

 

To Karl Jungbluth and his fellows of the

Luther Burbank Society whose helpful

suggestions cordial interest and generous

support are gratefully acknowledged

 

I dedicate the first published record of my

life work.

 

signed, Luther Burbank

 

The dedication page was designed by Tiffany & Co.   Each volume is filled with text and tipped-in photographs of plants.  Each species of plant is fully described and analyzed.  It is a remarkable collection of plant life in 12 beautiful leather-bound books.  The Publisher was The Luther Burbank Society (1914).

 

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The twelve volumes are:

 

Volume I (1914)

 

I. How the Cactus Got Its Spines – And How It Lost Them

 

II. Twenty-three Potato Seeds – And What They Taught

 

III. No Two Living Things Exactly Alike

 

IV. The Rivalry of Plants To Please Us

 

V. Let Us Now Produce a New Pink Daisy

 

VI. Short-Cuts into Centuries to Come

 

VII. How Far Can Plant Improvement Go?

 

VIII. Some Plants Which Are Begging for Immediate Improvement

 

IX. Piecing the Fragments of a Motion Picture Film

              

 

Volume II (1914)

 

I. The Shasta Daisy

 

II. The White Blackberry

 

III. The Scented Calla

 

IV. The Stoneless Plum

 

V. The Royal Walnut

 

VI. The Winter Rhubarb

 

VII. The Burbank Cherry

 

VIII. The Sugar Prune

 

IX. Some Interesting Failures

              

 

Volume III (1914)

 

I. Planning a New Plant

 

II. Plant Affinities

 

III. Practical Pollination

 

IV. Quantity Production

 

V. Grafting and Budding

 

VI. Letting the Bees Do Their Work

 

VII. Fixing Good Traits

 

VIII. Recording the Experiments

 

IX. Final Selection

 

Volume IV (1914)

 

I. Quick Possibilities in Fruit Improvement

 

II. Practical Orchard Plans and Methods

 

III. Doubling the Productiveness of the Cherry

 

IV. The Responsiveness of the Pear

 

V. Fuzzy Peaches and Smooth-Skinned Nectarines

 

VI. The Apple – A Fruit Worthy of Still Further Improvement

 

VII. The Transformation of the Quince

 

VIII. The Apricot and the Loquat

 

IX. Citrus Fruits – And Fruits From the Tropics

              

 

Volume V (1914)

 

I. How the Plum Followed the Potato

 

II. Four Burbank Plums, and How They Were Made

 

III. The Greatest Plum of All – The Prune

 

IV. Four Burbank Prunes, and The Work Behind Them

 

V. Plums and Prunes Without Stones and Seeds

 

VI. Planning and Ideal Plum or Prune

 

VII. New Plums and Prunes in The Process of Making

 

VIII. What the Burbank Plums and Prunes Have Earned

 

IX. Accomplishing the Impossible – The Plumcot

              

 

Volume VI (1914)

 

I. The Thornless Blackberry – And Others

 

II. The Raspberry and Some Odd Crosses

 

III. Designing a Strawberry to Bear the Year Around

 

IV. The Sunberry – A Production from the Wild

 

V. A Dozen Other Delightful Berries

 

VI. Great Opportunities In the Grape

 

VII. The Cactus Pear – A Profitable Fruit

 

VIII. Some Inedible Fruits Which May Be Transformed

 

IX. The Need for Improving Small Fruits

 

Volume VII (1914)

 

I. How to Get the Most Out of the Garden

 

II. Some Common Garden Plants and Their Improvement

 

III. Peas and Beans as Money Crops

 

IV. The Tomato – and an Interesting Experiment

 

V. Pink Chives – and Other Foods for Flavor

 

VI. Artichokes – and Some Garden Specialties

 

VII. Winter Rhubarb – and Other Interesting Exotics

 

VIII. The Camassia – Will it Supplant the Potato?

 

IX. The Potato Itself – Who Will Improve It Further?

              

 

Volume VIII (1914)

 

I. Corn – The King of America’s Crops

 

II. Getting the Most Out of the Small Grains

 

III. Manufacturing Food for the Live Stock

 

IV. A Rich Field for Work on the Textile Plants

 

V. Plants Which Yield Useful Chemical Substances

 

VI. Reclaiming the Deserts with Cactus

 

VII. Rival of Alfalfa

 

VIII. Many Useful Substances in Cactus

 

IX. Other Useful Plants Which Will Repay Experiment

              

 

Volume IX (1914)

 

I. What to Work for in Flowers

 

II. Working with a Universal Flower – The Rose

 

III. Accomplishing the Impossible With the Amaryllis

 

IV. Bringing Forth an Entirely New Color

 

V. A Daisy Which Rivals the Chrysanthemum

 

VI. Making the Gladiolus Surpass Itself

 

VII. Experimenting With the Responsive Dahlia

 

VIII. The Canna and the Calia

 

IX. The Purest White in Nature

 

Volume X (1915)

 

I. Getting the Utmost Variation Out of A Flower

 

II. Improvement in the Much Improved Iris

 

III. The Tigridia and Some Interesting Hybrids

 

IV. Four Common Dooryard Flowers – And Their Improvements

 

V. The Everlasting Flower, and Some Common Exotica

 

VI. The Hybrid Larkspur – and Other Transformations

 

VII. Ornamental Palms and Climbing Vines

 

VIII. Laws and Their Beautification

 

IX. Field and Flower Garden

              

 

Volume XI (1915)

 

I. Nuts as a Profitable Crop

 

II. The Paper Shell, and Other Walnuts

 

III. The Almond – and Its Improvement

 

IV. The Chestnut – Bearing Nuts at Six Months

 

V. The Hickory Nut, and Other Nuts

 

VI. The On Growing Trees for Lumber

 

VII. The Production of a Quick-growing Walnut

 

VIII. Trees Whose Products are Useful Substances

 

IX. Trees and Shrubs for Shade and Ornamentals

              

 

Volume XII (1915)

 

I. Luther Burbank – His Boyhood on a Massachusetts Farm

 

II. Luther Burbank – The Early Years in Santa Rosa

 

III. Luther Burbank – His Patience Rewarded

 

IV. Luther Burbank – The Sum of His Work with Plant Life

 

V. Luther Burbank – The Bearing of His Work on Human Life

 

VI. The Luther Burbank Society

 

(Includes Color Photography Explained)