Life, 1908-05-07 · page 17 of 48
Life — May 7, 1908 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Luther Burbank, the famous plant breeder who developed new vegetable and fruit varieties through selective cultivation. The title mocks his work by proposing an exhibition of his "products." The top photograph shows a train car surrounded by crowds—likely depicting the actual exhibition of Burbank's giant vegetables that New York City attempted to display. The caption notes the corn reached 125 feet and apples 30-75 feet, so large that Madison Square Garden couldn't contain them, requiring outdoor display. The accompanying narrative about street boys capturing a stray dog for hospital reward appears unrelated to the Burbank theme—likely a separate story in the magazine. The dog appears malnourished ("gaunt and wolf-looking"), reflecting turn-of-the-century social conditions where poor urban children lived among refuse heaps. The satire's point: Burbank's "improved" vegetables became so monstrously oversized they couldn't fit indoors—a humorous exaggeration of scientific ambition producing impractical results.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE: 481 THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF Suddenly the line shot out—true to its mark. ‘There was a short yelp. The cap- BURBANKIZED PRODUCTS ture had been mad “He'll do, Bill,” said Jimmy, patting the OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM trembling animal on his head—for neither A Series of Photografake Illustrations of them had designs on him other than a strictly business. He was, indeed, too BY AR CHELAN much like them to excite any other senti- — - ment than sympathy. For the time being, he was their natural prey—a species of sal- vage. By delivering him at the back door of the hospital, they were pretty sure of getting a reward of a dollar, and sometimes they got more. So far as they were con- cerned, it was an casy way to make mone and it also served to satisfy those primitive hunting instincts more or less latent in all of us. Tying the cord carefully around the dog's neck, they hurried along Ina few moments they had reached the brick building. At a certain back’ door they rang the bell. man’s face appeared. Ah!” he exclaimed. “So you've brought another, ch? Well, he'll be wel- come, I'm sure. Wait, boys! ‘The doctor must pass on him. He shufiled off. There was a consider- able wait. After a while, however, once more the door opened. The doctor appeared. He was a pleasant-looking man of about thirty- five. “Ah, boys, here you are again.” ‘The first of the large apples shipped East attracted attention all along the route He patted the dog on the head, examin- The Spectators ] “TCH, JIMMY, pike de dog!” The smaller of the two boys, both of them almost as gaunt and wolf-looking as the desolate animal they were stalking, clutched his companion by a ragged sleeve It was on the outskirts of the town, in that bare-spotted, straggly part where out- casts, strange animal creatures, foraged shamelessly among ancient refuse heaps to keep their nomadic lives flickering. In the distance beyond loomed the corner of the big red hospital. “Sure!” whispered the other ragmuffin, as he held his partner back, while they crouched behind the building. “Wait, and we'll nab him!” He produced from his pocket a black coil of clothes line, knotted and raveled at the end—evidently it had seen service before. The dog came shuffling along, dragging his feet behind him. Only the fore part of him, indeed, seemed alive. He paused at regular intervals to look around, holding one paw up in an attitude of attention, his cars all agog. ‘Then, satisfied with the si- lence, he proceeded. When New York City agreed to exhibit some of the samples of gigantic vegetation it was intended that the The boys, trained totheirworklikeancient show would be held indoors. As the corn arrived, some 125 feet in length, and apples from 3o to 75 feet in hunters, huddled breathlessly to the wall. diameter, it was found that Madison Square Garden would not hold them and they were displayed out of doors.