The Child's Book of American BiographyStimpson, Mary Stoyell
History
The Child's Book of American Biography
Stimpson, Mary Stoyell
United States -- Biography
And during the six busiest months of the year, from April to October,
other signs tell that it will cost ten dollars to stay one hour. These
signs are not put up because Mr. Burbank is cross or rude, but because
these strange new plants have to be watched as carefully as tiny babies.
He can't leave them for visitors.
Luther Burbank was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts. When he was a baby
in his cradle, his mother and sisters found that nothing made him dimple
and crow with delight like a flower. They noticed, too, that he never
crushed a flower, and once, when a petal fell off a flower he was
holding, he tried for hours with his tiny fingers to put it back in
place. And when he was big enough to run about the house and yard,
instead of carrying a toy or a dog or cat in his arms, he was usually
hugging a potted plant of some kind, for as people saw his great love
for such things, they were on the lookout for cunning plants for the
dear little Burbank boy.
One day Luther was trudging across the yard, clasping a small
lobster-cactus in an earthen pot, when he stumbled and fell, breaking
the pot and plant. He cried for days over the accident.
At school, Luther was a delight to his teachers. There were few black
marks against his name. He liked all his lessons, but the books that
told him about birds, trees, and flowers pleased him most.
When Luther was old enough to go to Leicester Academy, he had for his
dearest chum a boy cousin who knew Agassiz, and who through him became
interested in science. This boy wanted to study about rocks and caves,
rivers and fish, while Luther watched the birds that perched on the
rocks and the trees that grew near the rivers. But the two spent many
weeks tramping over the country together.
Luther worked several summers in a factory near his home. He was quick
to understand machinery and invented a machine that saved the manager of
the factory a great deal of money, for it would do the work of six men.
Luther's family and friends were sure he would be an inventor. But he
himself wanted to raise flowers.
Luther saved a little money and started a vegetable garden. He tried
experiments with the potato plants until he raised an entirely
different kind than had ever grown before. Of course this made him want
to experiment with other plants, and he stayed in the hot sun so much
looking after them that he had a bad sunstroke. This led to his going to
a climate where he might live outdoors during more months of the year,
and where he would not be apt to have such attacks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account