Burbank, Luther

(born March 7, 1849, Lancaster, Mass., U.S.—died April 11, 1926, Santa Rosa, Cal.) U.S. plant breeder. He was reared on a farm and never obtained a college education. Influenced by Charles Darwin's writings on domesticated plants, he began a plant-breeding career at age 21. On the proceeds of his rapid development of the hugely successful Burbank potato, he set up a nursery garden, greenhouse, and experimental farms in Santa Rosa, Cal. There he developed more than 800 new and useful strains and varieties of fruits, flowers, vegetables, grains, and grasses, many of which are still commercially important. His laboratory became world-famous, and he helped make plant breeding a modern science. He published two multivolume works and a series of descriptive catalogs.

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