The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants - Softcover

Smith, Jane S

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143116894 ISBN 13: 9780143116899

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2010

Synopsis

The wide-ranging and delightful history of celebrated plant breeder Luther Burbank and the business of farm and garden in early twentieth- century America

At no other time in history has there been more curiosity or concern about the food we eat-and genetically modified foods, in particular, have become both pervasive and suspect. A century ago, however, Luther Burbank's blight-resistant potatoes, white blackberries, and plumcots-a plum-apricot hybrid-were celebrated as triumphs in the best tradition of American ingenuity and perseverance. In his experimental grounds in Santa Rosa, California, Burbank bred and cross-bred edible and ornamental plants-for both home gardens and commercial farms-until they were bigger, hardier, more beautiful, and more productive than ever before. A fascinating portrait of an American original, The Garden of Invention is also a colorful and engrossing tale of the intersection of gardening, science and business in the years between the Civil War and the Great Depression.

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Paperback. Pub Date :2010-2-1 Pages: 354 Publisher: Penguin The wide-ranging and delightful history of celebratedplant breeder Luther Burbank and the business of farm and garden inearly twentieth-century America At no other time in history has there been morecuriosity or concern about the food we eat-and genetically modifiedfoods. in particular. have become both pervasive and suspect. Acentury ago. however. Luther Burbanks blight-resistant potatoes. white raspberries. and plumcots-a plum-apricot hybrid-werecelebrated as triumphs in the best tradition of American ingenuityand perseverance. In his experimental grounds in Santa Rosa. California. Burbank bred and cross-bred edible and ornamentalplants-for both home gardens and commercial farms-until they werebigger. hardier. more beautiful. and more productive than everbefore . A fascinating portrait of an American original. The...

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About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0143116894
• ISBN 13: 9780143116899
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368