European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Pogo 20 the stars and stripes Friday May 27, 1977 master Plant breeder Fred Anderson with granddaughter. F by Joe win for the associated Preis red Anderson loves Trees and things that grow indeed he has spent much of his 84 years tin Kering with nature evoking new varieties fro the slow working genetics that begin in the Spring. As a result his patented hybrids dominate the $30 Mil lion american nectarine Industry and produce fruit All Over the world. He also has developed genetically dwarfed peach Trees and is hard at work on new varieties of pecans and pauses by one of his Dwarf peach Trees and lays his a Garled fingers on a blossoming Bough. He smiles at Hispan tailed assistant a 23-year old granddaughter to emasculate a Blossom. he tells her. You Cut it with your Fingernail like this then strip away the petals and the pollen bearing stamens without damaging the he was demonstrating the first step in a hybridization process that might culminate six years later in still another tree variety to add to the 113 he Al ready has patented. Left naked the pistil will not be powdered by the tree s own pollen nor will it attract pollen bearing bees. Thus inthe Ordinary course of events the Blossom would be touching it with pollen from a selected tree however the Plant breeder can cause it to Bear fruit. Robin tried her hand and found the procedure not Al that easy. The next Day she started practising the Craft under the direction of one of the dozen skilled men an women whose work is vital to Anderson s 40-acre experimental farm near Merced. Calif. She catches on says Anderson. He is mos pleased by the aptitude she has shown for selecting prom Ising seedlings and scions. That is the very heart of Plant by one expert the Luther Burbank of Anderson a sturdy six feet tall spends hours daily in his Orchards puts in a full working Day under the blazing California Sun during Rush seasons and expects to Patent half dozen Trees annually during the foreseeable future. Full of projects and trying to step up production even now he has Given no thought to retirement. When Anderson made one Concession to age last Yea Rand quit driving Robin gave up a Job in Colorado and became his Driver and disciple. If things work out Well she might be the one to carry on his Art. Science or Busi Ness As Burbank himself describes anybody with the Lime Money and Basic skill can Crois Breed 10.000 tiny fruit Trees and produce per haps one or a handful having pro tee. The Art comes plotting the proper crosses and making the proper Sebec Anderson downgrades his own talents. I m wrong As often As i m right he says. The nurserymen ones who really make the selections. They a and say i can sell that one.1 even when i Tell them me tree s faults they Are Likely to want it anyway. So Patent it and sell them the rights. They do the grafting Only 25 per cent of my Trees have made Money for Means the nevertheless he collected a record $250,000 in royalties last year covering most 01 the nectarine Almond Apricot peach Cherry Plum an Pecan Trees on which his patents have not run out. A Large portion of the Gross is slowed Back into his Experiment third child among six born to rugged pioneers on a family farm near Eureka Calif., about 200 Miles North of Santa Rosa where Burbank achieved Fame Anderson knew hardship but had time to pore Over newspapers an magazines at Home. His idol was Burbank. Then bursting into Fame. In recent years on trips Back to his a come he has stopped frequently at Burbank s grave. Anderson received straight a s in High school. Then he attended a teacher s College taught for several years studied horticulture at the University of California Nberkeley served during world War i and became fore Man of a big Nursery at Fresno Calif. When the Nursery went broke in the depression he took his $300 Veteran s Bonus and started growing nectarines on some of the land he still owns. A late starter be did not grow fruit for himself until he was about 40 years old nor take out his first fruit Patent until he was 42, nor really get going on patents until he was 50. He had no children of his own. His first wife died in 1965after a Long illness. The next year he married Mabel Ges sell a widow and Robin s grandmother. Anderson took to fruit Breeding when he discovered Early on that none of the nectarines then available would stand up during shipment to East coast first objective was to develop one that would last the week Long journey without being picked too that would then hold up for a week on vegetable stands. How Well he has succeeded is shown by the fact that his patented Trees have produced As much As 90 percent of the american crop. What next self Fertile almonds for one thing. At present Orchard its must Plant More than one variety of Almond an depend on bees to fertilize the blossoms. Self Fertile Trees he believes would revolutionize the Industry. Another project is to produce a Sweet Kernel apri cot. Apricots grown in this country have bitter Ker Nels. Some grown in Kashmir and other areas have kernels that May be eaten like nuts. Anderson has done work on these and has patented on under the name of sweetheart. But to make it really successful he says he must make the flesh of the fruit More attractive and easier to ship. Naturally dwarfed peach Trees Are a third ordinarily sold Are dwarfed by being grafted to roots that inhibit their growth. Genetic dwarfs Are smaller and do not have the Hazard of growing on alien Slock. He has Good genetic dwarfs in hand new although he i developing them further but has yet to see anyone Plant them extensively. He is trying to come up with a Strain of Pecan thai will produce As Many pounds of edible kernels per acre As do almonds and walnuts in the Central Valley of present the Best varieties from the deep South where the Pecan tree originated do Only half As Well. And then there is always the Challenge of improving fruit and nut varieties now considered satisfactory and of developing strains that come into bearing at Given s no danger Anderson will run out of ways of improving on nature s largesse. By erg Bombeck at wife end every time there s a most admired pull 1 vacillate Between Sylvia Porter and Sara Lee usually 1 end up voting for Sylvia be cause balancing your Check Uuk an speaking financial fluently dues pm to be a bit More dazzling than getting a cake out of a pan. I besides i be never seen Sara pc and she could be a size 3 and under 30. Which automatically turns me off. I people s taste in heroes and hero Ines is very personal but i can t Hel being amazed at a poll of the top ten favourites of teenagers throughout the country. The no. 1 personal hero or heroine was Farrah fac Cal majors who replaced Richard Nixon last semester no. 2 was Jerry Lewis. No 3. Nadia Comanici. The olympic gymnast while no. 4 and this is important i was no s sort a sad that somewhere Between Nadia Comanici and Paul Michael Glaser to s Starsky to Hutch there is a Large hark of Young people who Don t think there s anybody great enough to really idol a thai s Why today because i like Young people i m Hing to give you an honest to goodness hero for your no. 4 spot. In fact i m going to give you 400,000 of them. You say you Admire bravery they be got it. You Admire athletic prowess they be got it. You want hero who won t let you Down no Way. You want a hero you can look up to someone your own age you got it. For the no. 4 spot. I offer you the 1977special olympics teams from the United Stales. 400.000 mentally retarded kids who ran races in their wheelchairs track and Field on crutches played floor hockey bowled played volleyball and swam. The teams this month competed and racked up 400,000 medals. Every one is a Winner in the special olym pics. Everyone who comes across the finish line gets a medal and a motto is let me win but if i cannot win let me be Brave in the these heroes Are on a first name basis with defeat. Some were born with it. Forbears. They blood outside of the world and looked in. Then in 1968. In cooperation with he Kennedy foundation the first special olympics Competition was held in stories that come out of this compe Lilion Are enough to bring tears. The volleyball game where the coach was screaming win and one of the player walked off the floor Over to her coach and said i could t hear you with All the noise. Whal do you want the runner who when the gun Well off Pul his handover his ears. The sprinter who was Lead ing bul who Well Back to pick up he fallen Friend. No heroes believe me no one feels Sowall As when he sloops to Pul a medal around a special olympian. Cd few . Lix
