Burbank - Luther Burbank

American plant breeder. Born in Lancaster, Massachusetts. His father was a farmer and businessman. He inherited his love of plants from his mother, but he was self-taught and did not receive a university education. In 1868, he was decisively influenced by reading Darwin's Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, which had just been published. In the same year, upon his father's death, he bought a small farm and started a market gardening business. His first plant breeding variety, the Burbank potato, was created during this period. In 1875, he moved to California, settling in Santa Rosa, and over the next 50 years, he created many new varieties. The plants he worked on included plums, strawberries, lilies, and roses, and Burbank's principles and methods of breeding, which were based theoretically on Darwin's theory, are a valuable legacy for humanity. In 1926, he was involved in a dispute with an ultra-conservative Christian over the theory of evolution, which hastened his death. His major works include How Plants are Trained to Work for Man , eight volumes (1921).

[Hisao Shibuya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

アメリカの植物育種家。マサチューセッツ州ランカスターに生まれる。父は農民で事業家。母から植物に対する愛好心を受け継いだが、大学教育は受けず、独学であった。1868年、出版されたばかりのダーウィンの『飼育、栽培の下での動植物の変異』Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domesticationを読んで決定的な影響を受けた。同年、父の死去に伴い、彼は小さな農場を買って、市場向け園芸業を始めた。彼の最初の育成品種であるバーバンクポテトはこの時期の作品である。1875年カリフォルニア州へ移住、サンタ・ローザに定住して、その後の50年間、数多くの新品種を創出した。彼が手がけた植物は、スモモ、イチゴ、ユリ、バラなど多数に上り、ダーウィンの学説を理論的基礎とした、バーバンクの育種の原則と方法は人類にとっての貴重な遺産である。1926年、進化論をめぐって超保守的なキリスト教徒との論争に巻き込まれ、死期を早めた。主著には『植物の育成』How Plants are Trained to Work for Man全8巻（1921）がある。

［渋谷寿夫］

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