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Luther Burbank Facts & Worksheets

Luther Burbank was a famous pioneer in agricultural science. He is known for his experiments and discoveries in the sciences of botany and horticulture.

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Luther Burbank was a famous pioneer in agricultural science. He is known for his experiments and discoveries in the sciences of botany and horticulture. He is credited for developing more than 800 different strains of plants.

See the fact file below for more information on the Luther Burbank or alternatively, you can download our 25-page Luther Burbank worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BACKGROUND

  • Luther was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts. From an early age, he was interested in plants and gardening.
  • Luther was known as a kind man who was heavily focused on his work. His inspiration for crossbreeding plants and genetic modification came from reading the early works of Charles Darwin.

EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION

  • Luther Burbank was born on March 7, 1849, in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He was the thirteenth of fifteen children.
  • Luther’s highest level of education was his high school diploma. As a child, he was interested in his mother’s large garden.
  • When Luther was 21, his father passed away, and he received a large inheritance. He used his inheritance to purchase a 17-acre plot of land in Massachusetts in 1870.
  • On this large plot of land, Luther developed what is now known as the “Russet Burbank” potato. Luther developed this potato using a scientific method called “plant breeding”.
  • Luther sold his rights to the Russet Burbank for approximately $150. He then used this money to travel to California.
  • When he arrived in California in 1884, Luther purchased a 4-acre plot of land in Santa Rosa.
  • Luther used his newly bought land in Santa Rosa to build a large greenhouse and garden, which he used to conduct various experiments by crossbreeding various types of plants and vegetables.

DISCOVERIES & PUBLICATIONS

  • In 1893, Luther published a plant catalog that he called New Creations in Fruits and Flowers. In this book, he recorded detailed descriptions about his newly bred fruits and flowers. The publishing of this work helped establish his work as a gifted plant breeder.
  • In order to pay for his various experiments, Luther ran a small seed and nursery business from his property in Santa Rosa, California.
  • Luther was criticized by other scientists because he did not keep a proper record of his scientific experiments. He was known to be more focused on obtaining results than he was with careful record keeping.
  • From 1904-1909, Luther received multiple grants from the Carnegie Institution. These grants were given to him by Andrew Carnegie himself. Andrew Carnegie was an avid supporter of Luther’s work.
  • Over his 55-year career, Luther created over 800 new strains of plants. Some of his findings included new fruits, flowers, and other plants.
  • Luther created 113 plums and prunes, 69 nuts, 35 cacti, 16 blackberries, 13 raspberries, 10 apples, 10 strawberries, and more.
  • Luther published a 12-volume book called Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries. This book was published in 1914 and 1915 and contains records of Luther’s work from 1875-1914.

PERSONAL LIFE & LEGACY

  • Luther was married twice in his life. He was married to his first wife, Helen Coleman, from 1890-1896, and to his second wife, Elizabeth Waters, in 1916.
  • Luther had no children with either of his wives.
  • Luther was described as being kind and modest with a generous nature. He had a keen interest in education and often donated money to local schools.
  • On April 11, 1926, at 77 years old, Luther suffered a heart attack and passed away. He left all of his possessions, including rare seeds, to his wife Elizabeth.
  • The work left behind by Luther is still admired by scientists today.
  • Many schools in the United States of America have been named after Luther.

DID YOU KNOW

  • The novel Luther published in 1914 and 1915, called Luther Burbank: His Methods and Discoveries, was one of the first set of books to be published using images printed in color ink.
  • This book includes 1,260 photographs, and in the last volume, there is an entire section that explains how color photography and color printing is done.
  • Luther was inspired by the works of Charles Darwin and his explanation of human evolution.

PLANT BREEDING

  • In his career, Luther utilized many plant breeding techniques. Some of these techniques included grafting, hybridization, and crossbreeding.
  • Hybridization is when one species of a plant is combined with another species of plant in order to create a new species. Using this technique, Luther successfully hybridized a plum and an apricot and created a “plumcot”.
  • Grafting is when one plant is physically combined with another plant so that they can grow together as one plant. This can be done either to help heal and grow plants of the same species or to create a new one.
  • An example of grafting is when a young, premature branch of a tree is grafted with a stronger branch to help the younger branch grow stronger.
  • Crossbreeding is when a plant is combined with a relative of the same species to produce a more successful trait or gene. For example, a bug-resistant tomato may be bred with a high-yield tomato to help create a tomato that is both high-yield and bug-resistant.

Luther Burbank Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Luther Burbank across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Luther Burbank worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Luther Burbank who was a famous pioneer in agricultural science. He is known for his experiments and discoveries in the sciences of botany and horticulture. He is credited for developing more than 800 different strains of plants.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Luther Burbank Facts
  • Fruit Hybridization
  • Burbank Crossword
  • Five Words
  • Burbank Timeline
  • Sequence of Events
  • Our Five Senses
  • Plant-Based Definitions
  • Grafted Wordsearch
  • Plant Debate
  • Word Scramble

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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