Michurin's work is a new plant variety. Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin: the best varieties of fruit and berry crops created by the great breeder

I.V.Michurin is an outstanding scientist-breeder, one of the founders of the science of breeding fruit crops. Working in the garden from a young age was his favorite thing. He left the goal of his life to enrich the gardens of Russia with new varieties and achieved this dream, despite incredible difficulties and hardships.

Having set ourselves the task of promoting southern varieties fruit trees in central Russia, Michurin first tried to solve it by acclimatizing these varieties in new conditions. But grown by him southern varieties froze out in winter. A mere change in the conditions of existence of an organism cannot change a phylogenetically developed stable genotype, moreover, in a certain direction.

Hybridization, i.e., obtaining a variety with new, improved characteristics, was most often carried out by crossing a local variety with a southern one, which had higher palatability. At the same time, a negative phenomenon was observed - the dominance of the features of the local variety in the hybrid. The reason for this was the historical adaptation of the local variety to certain conditions of existence.

By this method, the Bere winter Michurina pear variety was bred. As a mother, the Ussuri wild pear was taken, which is distinguished by small fruits, but winter-hardy, as a father, the southern variety Bere Royale with large juicy fruits. For both parents, the conditions of central Russia were unusual. The hybrid showed the qualities of the parents that the breeder needed: the fruits were large, long-lived, had high palatability, and the hybrid plant itself endured cold up to 36 °.

IN vivo alien pollen of another species is not perceived by the mother plant and crossing does not occur. To overcome non-crossing in distant hybridization. Michurin used several methods: 1. The method of preliminary vegetative approach. 2. The mediator method. 3. Method of pollination with a mixture of pollen. 4. The mentor method.

Pollination method with a mixture of pollen. I. V. Michurin used various options pollen mixtures. Didn't mix a large number of pollen from the mother plant with pollen from the father. In this case, its own pollen irritated the stigma of the pistil, which became capable of accepting foreign pollen. When pollinating apple flowers with pear pollen, a little apple pollen was added to the latter. Part of the ovules was fertilized by its own pollen, the other part by someone else's (pear). The results of IV Michurin's work are striking. He created hundreds of new varieties of plants. A number of varieties of apple trees and berry crops are advanced far to the north. They have high palatability and at the same time are perfectly adapted to local conditions. The new variety Antonovka 600 grams yields up to 350 kg per tree. Michurin grapes withstood the winter without powdering the vines, which is done even in the Crimea, and at the same time did not reduce their commodity indicators. Michurin showed in his work that creative possibilities human are limitless.

I. V. Michurin began his first experiments with fruit plants as a twenty-year-old youth (in 1875), renting a wasteland in Kozlov with small garden. The source of funds for life and scientific work was the watch workshop he opened. In 1888, he acquires a small plot of land outside the city and, not being able to hire a horse to transport his plants, he carries them to a new place (seven kilometers away) on his shoulders and the shoulders of his family members. And it was already a feat! In addition, I. V. Michurin created a garden not for commercial activities- growing and selling old, well-known varieties, and for breeding new, improved ones. And this is endless, exhausting work and an equally endless waste of money - for the purchase of plants, books, inventory ... And the result? You have to wait for the result for years and believe, believe, believe ... Believe in the necessity and rightness of your business, believe in the correctness of the chosen path. But the breeding of a variety often drags on for decades (for example, the Bere winter pear variety I. V. Michurin created for 36 years), sometimes human life is not enough.

In 1900, I. V. Michurin moved with all his green pets - for the third and last time - to the valley of the Voronezh River, to a site more suitable for experiments. Now here is the museum-reserve of I. V. Michurin, and next to it is the majestic building and gardens of the Central Genetic Laboratory (CGL), created during the life of the scientist, which is now transformed into the All-Russian Research Institute of Genetics and Breeding of Fruit Plants (VNIIGiSPR) and bears the name I. V. Michurina.

I. V. Michurin fulfilled his plan in his youth. Our country has received more than 300 high-quality varieties of fruit and berry crops. But the point is not even in the number and variety of varieties he received. After all, not so much is kept from them in the gardens now, and besides, in limited quantities. According to the apple tree, these are Bellefleur-Chinese, Slavyanka, Pepin saffron, Chinese gold early, in large numbers Bessemyanka Michurinskaya. Of the pear varieties in the gardens of the Chernozem zone, Bere winter Michurina is preserved. The greatness of I. V. Michurin lies in the fact that even in late XIX century, he presciently determined the main direction of breeding, armed scientists with the strategy and tactics of its implementation, became the founder of scientific breeding (and, by the way, not only fruit, but also other crops). And its varieties became the ancestors of new, even more improved varieties (for example, Bellefleur-Chinese gave birth to 35 varieties, Pepin saffron - 30), which, of course, largely replaced their predecessors.

Portrait of I.V. Michurin. Artist A.M. Gerasimov

But I. V. Michurin did not immediately find the right way to create varieties. He had no one to learn from, he had to develop everything himself. There were many mistakes, disappointments, severe failures, but he persevered in his work. And this is a feat of a lifetime!

At the end of the 19th century, it was widely believed in Russia that the improvement of the varietal composition of gardens in the middle zone could be carried out by mass transfer of high-quality southern varieties here and their gradual adaptation to the harsh local climate. Gardeners lost many years and a lot of money on this useless business. And this mistake, by the way, is still being repeated by many of our compatriots.

I. V. Michurin succumbed at first to the temptation of such acclimatization. And years of fruitless work will pass before the scientist, after analyzing the results of the experiments, concludes that the adaptability of old, already established varieties to new conditions is extremely limited, and it is impossible to acclimatize such varieties simply by transferring them by trees or grafting cuttings to a winter-hardy stock. It turns out quite differently when sowing seeds. In this case, not seedlings - mature varieties, but young seedlings, extremely plastic plants with a high degree of variability and adaptability, fall under the influence of new conditions. So the decisive conclusion was made: "acclimatization is achievable only when plants are propagated by sowing seeds." And by the way, many of you, dear gardeners, are doing just that now.

A truly high point for breeders (and, therefore, for all of us, gardeners) was the discovery by I. V. Michurin that a really effective way to move plants northward is to sow not any seeds, but those obtained from the targeted selection of winter-hardy parents and, therefore, truly northernization is possible "only by breeding new varieties of plants from seeds."

And how many sufficiently winter-hardy varieties of southerners have already been created in our country in this way! Only, for example, in the Moscow region, varieties of sweet cherry, apricot and even quince bear fruit relatively safely. Well, grapes are now cultivated, one might say, everywhere, and some varieties are even practically without shelter.

Meeting of I. V. Michurin with students of the TSKhA, 1924

Developing the doctrine of the purposeful selection of parental pairs, I. V. Michurin made a fateful discovery: the prospects of breeding in distant hybridization - the crossing of plants of different species that are quite distant in terms of kinship and area of ​​​​growth. Only through the introduction into the selection of these scientific developments IV Michurin, for example, gardening in Siberia and the Urals became possible. After all, interspecific hybridization made it possible to obtain a fundamentally new type of apple tree suitable for these places - ranetki and semi-culturing (hybrids between a species of berry apple tree growing wild here, or simply Sibirka, and European varieties), an unprecedented type of pear - hybrids between a local wild-growing species of pear, simply called among the people - Ussuriyka and European varieties. All local varieties of stone fruits - cherries, plums, apricots - are also interspecific hybrids. Interspecific hybridization saved the gooseberry from being destroyed by the sphere library, returned the pear to the gardens of the middle lane, and even in an improved form. Most of the varieties of honeysuckle, mountain ash, and stone fruits that are common throughout our country are also interspecific hybrids. When I once congratulated the famous raspberry breeder Ivan Vasilyevich Kazakov on his wonderful varieties (and, above all, remontant varieties), he said: “You know, they started somehow unexpectedly and immediately when I introduced interspecific hybridization.” And I could only smile and say: "As I. V. Michurin recommended."

House-Museum of I.V. Michurin

And also remember, probably, growing in your gardens, the so-called man-made plants that never existed in nature: Russian plum or, in other words, hybrid cherry plum (hybrids between cherry plum and various types plums), yoshta (a hybrid between currants and gooseberries), earthworms (a hybrid of strawberries and strawberries), cerapadus - children of cherries and bird cherry. And this is not a complete list.

And, probably, few people know that I. V. Michurin determined the medicinal direction in breeding, urging breeders to be guided by the need to take into account their healing qualities when creating new varieties. He even once wrote that if he had a steady age, he would have brought out an apple of health. That is why our garden is now becoming a supplier not only, as they say, "products for dessert, but also a life-saving pharmacy."

I. V. Michurin was the first to discover for horticulture almost all crops that are now called non-traditional - new and rare. Most of them he first experienced in his garden. He created the first varieties and determined for each of the crops the future place in Russian garden. It's from him light hand chokeberry and felt cherry, lemongrass and actinidia are now growing in our gardens, shepherdia and barberry are persistently asking for a garden, varietal mountain ash, blackthorn, bird cherry, hazel have appeared.

Monument to I.V. Michurin,
Michurinsk

IV Michurin was a great connoisseur of plants. In his garden, he collected such a collection that the Americans tried to buy it twice (in 1911 and 1913) - along with the land and the scientists themselves, to transport it across the ocean on a steamboat. But IV Michurin was firm in his refusal. His plants can only live on Russian soil, his business is for Russia.

For most of his life, I. V. Michurin fought alone. The years passed, his strength was exhausted, it became more and more difficult for him to work in the garden. Joyless, lonely old age and poverty approached. And, most likely, the work on the transformation of Russian horticulture would have been interrupted if I. V. Michurin had not been supported by the Soviet government. On February 18, 1922, a telegram arrived in Tambov: “Experiments in obtaining new cultivated plants are of great national importance. Urgently send a report on the experiments and work of Michurin in the Kozlovsky district for a report to the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Comrade. Lenin. Confirm the execution of the telegram.

Grave of I. V. Michurin

There was an unprecedented case in history - the work of one person became the work of the whole country. Scientific centers for horticulture, selection, and variety research were established throughout the vast country - institutes, experimental stations, strong points. At the same time, training centers for personnel training were organized - from institutes and technical schools to courses for training garden workers. Already in the early 30s, the first students of I. V. Michurin dispersed throughout the country and in various climatic zones- in the mountains, in the desert, steppes and among the forests - they began to create new varieties. And they, together with I.V. Michurin, created the foundation thanks to which our country varietal diversity and the abundance of crops new to the garden is unparalleled. And then this work will be continued by the second and third generations of IV Michurin's followers. This is how the Great gene pool of fruit and berry crops of Russia will be created.

Unfortunately, this invaluable heritage has been largely lost in the last 20 years and, due to the commercialization of horticulture, it is criminally replaced by foreign, as I. V. Michurin wrote a hundred years ago, material unsuitable for our conditions. Rolled up and scientific work, many collections perished under the construction of cottage settlements. The remaining gardens are old, many are neglected. Unfortunately, dear gardeners, not much is better on your plots. And yet, according to my observations, you are now the main holders of our fruit and berry gene pool. Protect and multiply this great national treasure of ours! And further. Read Ivan Vladimirovich. His books can still be bought from second-hand booksellers, ordered on the Internet. They are written extremely clearly, without piling up scientific terms, and in terms of content they are a storehouse of ageless knowledge for both amateur gardeners and specialists.

I.S. Isaev at the desk of I. V. Michurin.
House-Museum of I. V. Michurin

L. Volokitina, Keeper of the House-Museum of I. V. Michurin in Michurinsk

Irina Sergeevna Isaeva,
doctor of agricultural sciences,
photographs by I.S. Isaeva and from the book by N. I. Savelyev
"All-RussianResearch Institute of Genetics
and selectionfruit plants them. I.V. Michurin"

Rare historical photographs created by a personal
photographerI.V. Michurina V.A. Ivanov.
Published in the book by N.I. Savelyeva
"All-Russian Research Institute
genetics and selection of fruit plants. I.V. Michurin".

The use of photographs is permitted by I.S. Isaeva
author of the book, director of the institute, academician N. I. Saveliev

I. V. Michurin with the famous Russian botanist, academician B. Keller

I. V. Michurin and an American professor
N. Hansen

I. V. Michurin with Academician N. I. Vavilov

I. V. Michurin conducting cytological studies

I. V. Michurin with a delegation from Mongolia (early 30s)

The twentieth century marked a significant increase in the production of plant products, the agricultural sector of the economy began to be given great importance. For the first time, it was understood that in order to receive high yields necessary the best varieties. Breeders got ample opportunities not just to work, but to create, creating more and more new forms and varieties of cultivated plants. One of such outstanding domestic figures was Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, a breeder who marked a new stage in the development of domestic science with his activities.

Life and work of I.V. Michurin

The future great breeder was born in the middle of the nineteenth century in a family of simple peasants. Probably, it was his childhood years and the environment that marked Michurin's love for plants and animals, which always reciprocated his care. Even in early childhood, parents noticed in little Ivan a love for the garden and wildlife. It was not possible to shame the young naturalist for pranks; once, after punishment, Michurin grabbed a salt shaker and began to sow the garden with it. It was so funny that the parents had no choice but to support their child in their endeavors.

Biography of an outstanding breeder

For 80 years of his life, I.V. Michurin created more than 300 new varieties of fruit, berry, ornamental and other valuable cultivated plants, which then received wide use both in our country and abroad. Unfortunately, now many of these forms have gone down in history for a number of reasons and are not massively grown in gardens, but some of its varieties continue to be known to gardeners of our time. One of the most remarkable facts in the biography of the scientist, perhaps, is the fact that he did not receive a special education. All his scientific research and activities are the result of a huge talent combined with natural intelligence.

I.V. Michurin has always been very devoted to his work and to his homeland. He was repeatedly offered both work abroad and the sale abroad of valuable hybrid forms of fruit and berry crops and a unique variety of violet lily. However, he was not seduced by all these tempting offers, remained in his native country and worked all his life for its benefit. Already in the twentieth century, after the Bolsheviks came to power, his nursery and garden, which he created with his own hand, were transferred to state ownership.

At that difficult time, the outstanding abilities of I.V. Michurin were appreciated, they helped him in every possible way, allowed him to develop and create more and more new varieties of fruit and berry crops, flowers.

photo: own source

About hobbies and other talents of I.V. Michurin

A faithful, modest and quiet wife, and later their two children, who left many memories of their unique father, always served as support, inspiration and support for Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin. Daughter Maria, describing the childhood years in the breeder's family, notes his dedication and love for his life's work. All the thoughts, dreams and aspirations of the scientist were directed to the world garden plants, often he could deny himself the simplest and most necessary things: clothing, food. The father of the family invested all the meager income in the development of his favorite business. He spent a lot to get the treasured seeds, which were very difficult to find at that time. It all started with small area, where the future world genius and creator of a considerable amount unique varieties spent his free time devoting it to the study of plants.

It is known after all that a talented person is talented in everything. K I.V. Michurin, this phrase is applicable as to no one else. Whom he just did not have to visit in his life! Even an electrical engineer: when, at the very dawn of the scientific and technological revolution, electricity was brought to his native village, he was one of the first who became interested in this tricky science. In addition, Ivan Vladimirovich was friends with mechanics and was a first-class watchmaker.

photo: Author: I.V. Michurin "Results of 60 years of work", Public domain,

Great-grandchildren I.V. Michurin was also recalled that he was well versed in medicinal plants, knew them beneficial features and how they can help with a particular disease. In addition, already being known to the whole world, Michurin mastered watercolor, his drawings in catalogs and scientific articles were accurate and artistically flawless. However, any of his activities in one way or another was connected with the main passion - plant breeding, to which he devoted his whole life without a trace.

photo: own source

Outstanding achievements of I.V. Michurin

Already at the very beginning of his journey, Ivan Vladimirovich noticed that many of our domestic varieties of fruit crops - apples, pears, cherries - of that time were either unstable to adverse natural and climatic conditions, or taste qualities their fruits leave much to be desired. On an intuitive level, he understood that these crops needed significant improvement through the creation of new forms of fruit and berry plants, which would combine increased resistance to negative environmental changes with good fruit taste and high yields. Genetics as a science did not yet exist, but he seemed to have a premonition of some of its patterns when studying the inheritance of traits in hybrids.

photo: own source

The main goal of scientific and practical activity of I.V. Michurin was to create highly resistant (especially to frost) and high-yielding domestic varieties of fruit and berry crops with tasty fruits, which would later form the basis of the industrial assortment. Developing the basics of garden plant breeding, he wrote that varieties imported from abroad need to be “grafted” with those valuable features that local highly resistant varieties and forms. Michurin on real examples I saw and understood in my garden that not a single plant, brought from the south and never knowing our latitudes, local climate and especially severe frosts, could successfully adapt to new conditions for it.

In this regard, it is necessary to improve its environmental sustainability with the help of breeding methods and techniques based on the use of the gene pool of local varieties, as well as valuable wild forms. It is this approach that makes it possible to big variety initial hybrids and choose from them the best and most resistant forms that will become varieties. He rightly noted that forms that arose in natural conditions and then grown by man lose some of their positive qualities over time.

That is why cultivated plants constantly need human help in order to increase their economically valuable characteristics and minimize the impact of negative traits. Therefore, the main methods of the great breeder, as well as many of his followers, were artificial hybridization in combination with the directed selection of valuable forms. The flowers of one of the varieties were artificially isolated from bees with special gauze and paper bags, and then manually pollinated with pollen from another valuable form.

photo: Author: Michurin, Ivan Vladimirovich, Public domain,

The resulting fruits were collected separately, seeds were isolated from them and then planted in a nursery in special areas. A large number of various hybrids grew out of them, most often without positive qualities, but among a thousand such plants there could be one or two especially valuable ones, with a complex of valuable traits - cultural-type shoots, tasty fruits, high winter hardiness, etc. Then these selected forms were transplanted into the garden was studied in detail there, and the rest of the hybrids that did not show positive properties were destroyed. The site in the nursery was vacated, and everything was repeated again - year after year.

Most of the Michurin varieties were obtained from the apple tree, the main domestic fruit crop. The best varieties of apple trees created by I.V. Michurin: Antonovka six hundred grams, Arkad winter, Bellefleur-Chinese, Bellefleur-record, Michurin's Bessemyanka, Bolshak, Wax, Cinnamon's Daughter, Esaul Yermak, Golden Autumn, Kandil-Chinese, Golden early Chinese, Cinnamon Chinese, Komsomolets, Pepin saffron, Pepin the fourth , Taiga, Northern bougebon, Slavyanka, Saffron-Chinese, etc.

photo: own source

The best pear varieties created by I.V. Michurin: Bere winter Michurina, Bere October, Bere green, Michurin's favorite, Sugar surrogate, Tolstobezhka. The great breeder managed to obtain pear varieties that combine the valuable qualities of both parental forms - the high quality and taste of the fruits of southern varieties and the increased resistance to natural stress inherent in local forms and especially wild species (which themselves have inedible small fruits).

Thanks to I.V. Michurin created valuable varieties of the main stone fruit crops - cherries and plums, which made it possible to promote their cultivation in more northern regions. Such achievements required decades of hard work. Thus, with the use of wild-growing species of sour cherries, distant hybridization methods and numerous inter-varietal crossings, I.V. Michurin created one of the first domestic resistant varieties of cherries - Griot pear-shaped, Ideal, Beauty of the North, Small-leaved semi-dwarf, Fertile Michurina, Polevka, Polzhir, Ultraplodnaya, Cerapadus. With the participation of blackthorn and its hybrids with plums - thornslivs, he obtained stable and productive plum varieties Konservnaya, Renklod kolkhozny, Renklod Reforma, Turnklod thorny, Dessert Turn, Kozlovsky Prunes.

Despite the fact that the main area of ​​interest of I.V. Michurin were precisely fruit plants, he also created several varieties of berry crops. Varieties of raspberry selection I.V. Michurina Ladies, Commerce, Progress, Grocery, Chernoplodnaya at that time were distributed to garden plots.

However, the absence vocational education made him an amateur in the eyes of the scientific community. They did not recognize the hybrids he created, considering them unsuitable for use on an industrial scale. However, over time, the "survivability" of the Michurin varieties justified itself, and in North America and Europe they began to be interested much earlier than their compatriots appreciated them. Thanks to the crossing of the best domestic and foreign varieties, I.V. Michurin managed to obtain a number of new valuable varieties of fruit and berry crops different term ripening, which expanded the territory of their cultivation to the more northern regions of the country and made it possible to preserve the harvest in winter, when vitamins are so needed. The best of them are still loved by summer residents for their unpretentiousness and good taste.

The followers of the great breeder in his memory named the winter variety of the apple tree in memory of Michurin. The trees of this variety are medium in size, making them quite easy to care for even for non-professionals. The fruits are large, fragrant with red sides, well transported and can be stored until January. Ideal climatic conditions for this variety are in central Russia, where it is not very hot in summer and there is enough moisture and sun. When creating this variety, the breeders first of all wanted to create an apple tree, the fruits of which could be stored long time and be recyclable.

photo: Author: Michurin, Ivan Vladimirovich — I.V. Michurin "Results of sixty years of work", Moscow, Selkhozgiz, 1936, Public domain,

Creation of frost-resistant varieties of apricots

In addition to the excellent varieties of apple, pear, cherry and plum, humanity should be grateful to I.V. Michurin for the creation of the first domestic frost-resistant varieties of apricots. Every self-respecting summer resident wants to grow on his site big harvest delicious and beautiful apricots that would not require complex care. Unfortunately, such a luxury was previously available only to residents of the southern regions with mild winters and the absence of severe spring frosts.

I.V. Michurin received the first domestic varieties of apricot Mongol, Best Michurinsky, Satser, Comrade, which are distinguished by high winter hardiness and good fruit taste. Trees of these varieties easily endure the winters near Moscow, which are characteristic of the entire central strip of Russia. To do this, when developing highly resistant apricot varieties, Michurin sowed seeds of Far Eastern forms, and also crossed southern varieties with the most frost-resistant species. As a result, it turned out to realize the dream of more than one generation of domestic gardeners - to grow a typically southern culture in new natural and climatic regions.

photo: own source

Amazing forms of plants bred by I.V. Michurin

In addition to all of the above, I.V. Michurin managed to obtain unique and unusual forms of garden plants, some of which still have no analogues. Among them are the hybrids and thorns he bred - thorns. The taste of their fruits is quite specific, but this combination of parental forms helped to achieve further success in improving the winter hardiness of plum varieties.

Also in his work, the breeder devoted a lot of time to improving the qualities of the original Russian culture - mountain ash. Her hybrids with medlar acquired an unusual and very interesting taste of fruits, which was highly appreciated at many international exhibitions. I.V. Michurin was the first to create domestic varieties of mountain ash with a good taste of fruits - Burka, Pomegranate, Dessert Michurina, Beauty, Ruby, Titan.

Having created winter-hardy varieties grapes Buitur, Korinka Michurina, Russian concord, Northern white and Northern black, I.V. Michurin actually became the founder of viticulture in the northern regions, because at that time it was a southern culture. Then this initiative of his was continued by numerous followers and like-minded people, and now grapes in garden plots in Central and North-Western Russia, the Urals, Siberia and Altai are already more of a norm than a rare and unusual curiosity.

photo: Author: I.V. Michurin - I.V. Michurin "Results of 60 years of work", Public domain,

From non-traditional horticultural crops, the great breeder obtained Quince northern Michurina; the first domestic varieties of golden currant Krandal, Purple, Seyanets Krandal, Ondina, Shafranka; the first varieties of actinidia kolomikta Clara Zetkin and Pineapple Michurina; fruitful forms of Schisandra chinensis.

The methods of intervarietal and distant hybridization used by the scientist were subsequently recognized as the most effective. As it turned out, plants that are distant both geographically and in terms of their species characteristics, in hybrids, are able to produce not only unique fruits, but also show increased resistance to adverse natural and climatic conditions.

In addition to the selection of fruit and berry plants, I.V. Michurin succeeded in creating a variety of domestic tobacco, an oil-bearing rose, a unique violet lily with a delicate smell, which can successfully grow in our climate.

Ivan Vladimirovich for his successors always remained a man of great talent and a model of devotion to duty, he reached outstanding heights in his business, without being a certified specialist.

A quarter of a century ago, the name of Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin was known to everyone, his discoveries were proclaimed highest achievement science, and any gardener proudly called himself a "Michurinite". Today, if anyone remembers this name, then, on average, in the form of a myth about an eccentric who, for some unknown reason, crossed an apple tree with a pear.

"Michura" from the estate "Vershina »

To understand Michurin, you need to take a closer look at the era with which the formation of his personality is connected. The reforms of Alexander II in the 1860s gave rise to a generation that rejected the ideals of the fathers and naively believed in the omnipotence of science.

So was Michurin's father, whom he slyly called "a rural worker" in Soviet times. In fact, Vladimir Ivanovich belonged to an old, albeit impoverished, noble family. The Michurins, whose surname comes from the dialect word "michura - which means gloomy, taciturn, - have long owned the village of Dolgoe in the Ryazan region. There, in October 1855, the future genius of selection was born. His father, not listening to his parents, married the girl Masha "from the simple." For this, he was disinherited and forced to earn money by gardening in his small Vershina estate. Despite the title of nobility, they lived poorly and sadly - before Vanya, the spouses had six children, but none of them lived even a year. In 1859, Maria Petrovna herself died of a fever.

Under the blows of fate, Vladimir Ivanovich did not break down. He not only took care of his estate, but also introduced new methods of gardening in the district, published articles in the St. Petersburg magazine Sadovodstvo, and taught peasant children to read and write in his spare time. The son was left to himself and enthusiastically ran to the garden, to the apiary, to the forest, studying everything that lived and grew there.

Vanya loved gardening since childhood - even despite the fact that at the age of three, when his parents planted seedlings, he tried in every possible way to participate in the process, spun under his feet and was eventually beaten. Weeping bitterly, the boy wandered home, returned from there with a salt shaker and began to sow salt over the loosened bed. Seeing such diligence, the father gradually began to involve the offspring in gardening. By the age of twelve, he knew and knew more than many adult gardeners, he was fluent in complex methods of grafting plants. Not without harm to health: falling from an apple tree, he injured his knee and since then walked, leaning on a stick.

But in the Pronsk district school, Vanya was a solid C student. Writing and mathematics seemed boring to him, and he was looking forward to the weekend to run away to his homestead. More than once received remarks for disrespect to teachers.

Michurin was never the benevolent good-natured fellow portrayed by Soviet biographers. He showed infinite kindness only to plants and animals. He was unfriendly with people, and often rude - especially when he was prevented from doing what he loved. In this he resembled another self-taught inventor, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Their fates are surprisingly similar: both struggled with poverty and misunderstanding of others, both at the end of their lives tasted Soviet power state honors and acquired a lot of students. They even died in the same year, although Tsiolkovsky was born two years later. True, Michurin, unlike his "twin", never considered himself a genius. But he had a cherished dream - to achieve ripening in the cold Russian latitudes of southern peaches, lemons, grapes. Having seen enough of the meager life of fellow countrymen, he wanted to sweeten it with fruits - what could be nobler?

Father fully approved of Vanino's desire, but convinced him that he must first learn. He began to prepare his son for admission to the famous Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, but then thunder struck - the "progressive master" Vladimir Ivanovich went bankrupt. "Vershina" was sold for debts, I had to part with my dreams of a lyceum. His uncle placed him in a local gymnasium, but a year later Michurin was expelled from there - he refused to take off his hat to the director. To top it off, his father fell ill with a severe kidney disease, and Ivan became the breadwinner of a small family.

In 1872 he took a job as a clerk at railway station in the city of Kozlov, Tambov province. This small town became his home for the rest of his life. Here he met his life partner - the daughter of a worker, Alexander Petrushina. The young people got married in 1875, soon a son, Nikolai, was born, followed by a daughter, Maria. Twelve rubles a month, which Michurin received on the railroad, was barely enough to feed him. And soon he quit his job altogether, deciding to devote himself entirely to his favorite gardening.

Kozlovsky suffering in a damp hut

The street on which Michurin rented a house was called Piteynaya because of the abundance of taverns standing on it. However, the Kozlovites not only drank, but also ate - the city was buried in the greenery of trees, and vegetables and fruits ripened perfectly on the local black soil. Russified Frenchman Romain Dulno briskly traded in seedlings of southern apple and cherry trees brought from abroad. True, very soon the capricious guests froze and withered - the winters in Kozlov were not severe in the southern way.

Michurin decided to rectify the situation. For experiments, he rented an empty estate with a garden from the merchant Gorbunov and moved his family there. Very soon there was nowhere to step in the house from pots, boxes, boxes with seedlings. Three rooms, a kitchen, a pantry and, of course, a garden housed 600 species of plants - lemons, oranges, roses, magnolias, exotic araucaria and yucca, and even Virginia tobacco. The children were sick, the wife began to grumble. Had to move to more spacious house, but after a couple of years it was filled to capacity. It was also tight with money, although Michurin had golden hands - at one time he alone, without any help, installed electric lighting at the Kozlov station. The head of the depot, engineer Graund, then said: “Give up your garden, Mr. Michurin! You are a first-class electrician." Instead, Ivan Vladimirovich quit his job and opened a workshop for repairing watches, sewing machines and other small equipment. In addition, he monitored the serviceability of the clocks at the station - together they accumulated about 40 rubles a month.

In 1887, Michurin learned that the priest Yastrebov was selling a large plot of land not far from the city, on the banks of the Lesnoy Voronezh River. With difficulty saving money, the gardener moved there. For the sake of acquiring the coveted plot, he put the whole family on a starvation ration - white bread and sugar on weekends, meat on holidays. For a long time, tyurya made from bread with onions and liquid tea became the main food. To save money, the Michurins manually dragged sacks of earth and boxes of seedlings from the city.

Daughter Maria recalled: “Father forgot about clothes, about food, about the need and lack of money of the family, and invested all his meager income in extracting the seeds that interested him. The mother went to meet him, also denying herself everything necessary. Endless hauling of water, planting plants, digging and loosening the ridges during the day, writing and reading at night took away the strength of the father.

Efforts were not in vain - after five years, slender rows of young apple trees, pears, cherries appeared on the former wasteland. For the first time in Kozlov, peaches, apricots, and grapes grew here. In 1888 Michurin brought out his first frost-resistant hybrid- cherry "Princess of the North", after the revolution renamed the "Beauty of the North".

Things were difficult - not having the necessary education, the self-taught person trusted the "authoritative" opinion of the Moscow gardener Grell. He argued that it was easy to develop new varieties - it was enough to graft southern fruit plants to local, more unpretentious ones. Michurin tried to do this for a long time, but the seedlings died.

Then he moved on to a more complex method - artificial crossing and a long change in the properties of the resulting hybrids. He saw that different varieties of apples or plums produced viable hybrids within a few years. And the further these varieties are by kinship and geographical location, the better their hybrids adapt to local conditions. This happened with the Chinese apple tree, to which he grafted delicate European varieties - kandil, bellefleur, pepin and others. The hybrid apples were large, juicy and hardy at the same time, like their Chinese ancestor.

Michurin tried to repeat the same operation with beret and duchesse pears, renklod plums, and other heat-loving fruits. It was difficult until the gardener understood the reason: the black soil on his site was too fat and "spoiled" his hybrids, reducing their resistance to frost. I had to again look for a new site, transport property there, cut out funds from the meager budget for seeds and seedlings.

In 1899, Michurin moved to the Donskoy settlement, which became his final refuge. By that time, the children, who were tired of messing with the garden to death, left him - the daughter got married, and the son got a job as a mechanic at the station. Ivan Vladimirovich and Alexandra Vasilievna could hardly cope with a large household. Hard work, malnutrition, spending the night in a damp hut undermined the health of both. There were other problems: the local priest Father Khristofor got into the habit of Michurin. He asked, and then demanded to leave the "ungodly" breeding of new breeds, which confuses the minds of the parishioners. The gardener, who was not distinguished by humility, showed the guest to the door. The boys dragging ruddy Michurin fruits also interfered. The owner of the garden either ran after them with a stick, or tried to exhort them, but it was of little use.

"Russians are not for sale"

And yet, by 1905, Michurin had already brought out quite a few hybrid varieties: apple trees "Kandil-Chinese", "Renet Bergamot", "Northern Saffron", pear "Bere Winter" and "Bergamot Novik", plum "Renklod Reform". Having crossed an ordinary mountain ash with black chokeberry, he received a new useful berry- chokeberry. Tried to grow frost-resistant grapes.

And the flowers in his garden were blooming so that the Frenchman Dulno was thrilled with admiration: “You, Monsieur Michurin, need to sell roses. Listen to me and you will get rich!” But Ivan Vladimirovich, as a true fanatic of science, was indifferent to money. Of course, he traded his seedlings and flowers, but clumsily, almost at a loss. Having suffered with the merchants, who chose bouquets for an hour - “Ah, sir, these flowers are not at all in my taste!” - stopped trading and ran away to his favorite garden.

At the turn of the century, this science experienced a real revolution - the experiments of the Czech monk Gregor Mendel gave rise to the doctrine of genes. Michurin did not understand and did not accept this theory. For many years, fiddling with plants, he did not see any genes. He knew how to get new varieties by crossing and long selection, and in the spirit of Charles Darwin considered this selection - natural or artificial - the main engine of evolution. The doctrine of invisible particles transmitting the hereditary properties of species seemed to him absurd.

However, on the eve of the revolution, Michurin had more important concerns than the fight against genetics. In 1915, a powerful flood flooded his nursery, destroying many valuable hybrids. That same summer, a cholera epidemic hit Kozlov. Helping to treat the sick, Ivan Vladimirovich's wife, the last person close to him, became infected and died. And soon he received another refusal from the authorities in subsidies for the development of horticultural farming. There were many such refusals, and each deeply wounded Michurin - did his country really need him?

Unexpected recognition came from across the ocean. Michurin was visited three times by a representative of the US government, Frank Meyer, who bought seedlings of the varieties he bred. Later, the gardener said that the American persuaded him to leave, promising him big money and even a steamer for the export of plants. But in response he received a proud: “Russians are not for sale!”

Caressed by October

Having learned about the October Revolution, Michurin wrote in his diary: "I will work, as before, for the people." Soon the commissars came to the nursery and declared it a state one. True, the owner was left in charge and allocated a solid salary - they say, under the patronage of a local Bolshevik, whom the gardener once hid from the police.

The nursery expanded - he was given the land of the liquidated monastery. Michurin could no longer cope with the farm, and an experienced agronomist Iosif Gorshkov was sent to help him, and then numerous student interns. In 1921, Michurin apples and pears came to an exhibition in Tambov, and soon they were known in Moscow. The secretary of the Council of People's Commissars, Nikolai Gorbunov, who was no stranger to horticulture, heard from someone about the self-taught Kozlov and told Lenin about him. He was delighted and sent to Michurin to visit the "all-Union headman" Mikhail Kalinin. The old intellectual, feeding the people with miracle fruits, became a godsend for Soviet propaganda. In addition, he willingly played the role allotted to him, praising the party and its leaders.

For this, Ivan Vladimirovich received not only fame, but also tangible wealth. His nursery grew from 8 to 20, and then to 100 hectares. More than a hundred people worked there, who day and night monitored the condition of freshly grafted hybrids. Expeditions delivered to Michurin new plant species from the Caucasus, Central Asia, Far East. He conducted experiments with ginseng, lemongrass, actinidia. In 1928, the nursery was renamed the breeding station named after Michurin. Soon the first horticultural college was opened in Kozlov - also named after Michurin. And in 1932, this name was given to the city itself, it has not been renamed to this day.

To the honor of the breeder, he did not become proud, did not turn into a noisy gentleman. The man who gave the name to his own city was still modest, walking around in the same shabby canvas jacket and felt hat. As before, every day he went out onto the porch to feed the sparrows - he knew them “by sight”, and gave each one his name. He picked up wounded birds in the forest, nursed them and kept them at home for a long time. He even managed to tame frogs - having heard his steps, they crawled ashore and waited for a treat in the form of dry flies.

Hostage of intrigue

Meanwhile, passions boiled around the old scientist. In 1929, a young Ukrainian agronomist, Trofim Lysenko, sent him an article on vernalization, a new method for turning winter crops into spring crops. In the letter, Lysenko stressed that his method was developing Michurin's doctrine of the decisive importance of external influence for evolution. After reading the letter, the old man shrugged his shoulders: he repeatedly called for the promotion of new varieties only after rigorous testing. He explained that the methods of creating new varieties work only in experienced and caring hands - such as his hands.

But Lysenko was not interested in such "little things" - he correctly understood the general line of the party. After collectivization and famine in the first half of the 1930s, Stalin needed to increase crops as quickly as possible and feed the country. Lysenko with his vernalization came in handy, and the leader liked his method - not to look for some genes under a microscope, but to influence plants decisively and offensively! This is the only way to turn winter wheat into spring wheat, rye into barley, and potatoes into pineapples...

All this Lysenko presented under the name of "Michurin biology", although Ivan Vladimirovich never recognized him as his student. Hiding behind the portrait-icon of a well-known breeder, Lysenko managed to remove Academician Nikolai Vavilov from the post of president of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences and soon took his place, becoming an all-powerful dictator in biology for twenty years.

But Michurin no longer cared about that. In early 1935, doctors diagnosed him with stomach cancer, but, despite the pain, he worked in the garden until the last day of his life. On June 7, he died and was solemnly buried in the square near the technical school he founded. On the sides of the grave, like guards, stood four apple trees - "Kandil-Chinese", "Bellefleur-Chinese", "Pepin-Chinese" and "Pepin-Saffron".

Michurin died, and Lysenko continued to destroy genetics, throwing Russian science in this area far back. Putting forward his theories, he invariably covered himself with the name of "teacher". It is no wonder that the debunking of Lysenko during the years of the “thaw” affected Michurin as well. His books were published less and less, and criticism against him sounded more and more often. It was argued that all his achievements were a bluff of party propaganda. His nursery is now All-Russian Research Institute genetics and breeding of fruit plants - more than once threatened to close. But it works and, what is most interesting, continues to develop new varieties.

Indeed, in addition to confusing theories, Michurin left his students and all of us the main lesson - the garden will bear fruit under any sane authority, only if it is looked after with patience and love. In this case, the garden can also become a pillar of the state.

Michurin Ivan Vladimirovich - Russian breeder, gardener - geneticist, author of many varieties of fruit and berry crops, honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1935), academician of the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1935), awarded the Order of Lenin (1931) and the Red Banner of Labor, three lifetime editions of collected works.

Michurin was born on October 27 (15), 1855 on the estate of a retired military official in the Ryazan province. He continued the family tradition, since not only his father, Vladimir Ivanovich, but also his grandfather, Ivan Ivanovich, and great-grandfather, Ivan Naumovich, were interested in gardening and collected a rich collection of fruit trees and a library of agricultural literature.

At one time he did not graduate from the gymnasium, he served as a clerk at the railway station, as a mechanic - a handicraftsman. He also did not receive a special agronomic education, he reached everything himself. In 1875 he rented an orchard and took up breeding - the creation of new varieties of fruit and berry and ornamental crops. He brought out more than 300 new varieties of fruit and berry plants, experiments on distant hybridization (crossing of unrelated species) were especially successful. In 1918, the People's Commissariat for Agriculture of the RSFSR expropriated Michurin's nursery, appointing him head. In 1928, a breeding and genetic station was established here, in 1934 - the Central Genetic Laboratory. In 1932, the city of Kozlov was renamed Michurinsk. On June 7, 1935, at the age of 80, Ivan Vladimirovich died.

At the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow, a monument was erected to the great Russian gardener I. V. Michurin. On the pedestal stands a bronze man with a very strict, kind face. He is wearing an old-fashioned coat, leaning on a cane and holding an apple in his hand.

80 years old amazing life Ivan Vladimirovich, a tireless researcher, creator and transformer of nature. He left the following entry: “Only I, as I remember myself, was always and completely absorbed in only one desire for occupations to grow certain plants, and such a passion was so strong that I almost did not even notice many other details of life: they seemed to all passed me by and left almost no trace in my memory.

The great gardener and breeder managed to do so much in 80 years of his life that many more generations will enjoy the fruits of his labor. Plant varieties bred by Michurin have not lost their value. The fame of Michurin's hybrids went around the world. In 1913, the US Department of Agriculture tried to persuade Michurin to move to America or sell his collection of plants, but he refused. He explained it this way: "Mature plants do not take root well in another place, and people even more so."

The Dutch, who know a lot about flowers, offered Michurin a lot of money (20 thousand royal rubles in gold!) For violet lily bulbs (a flower looks like a lily, but smells like a violet!) With the condition that this flower will no longer be grown in Russia. Didn't sell... Michurin's motto: "We can't wait for favors from nature, it's our task to take them from her." This phrase has a continuation: "But nature must be treated with respect and care and, if possible, kept in its original form ..." Michurin was very fond of roses and brought out about thirty new varieties of roses - Prince Varyagov, Prince Rurik, Neptune, Ceres, Tsaritsa Light and others.

Even at the very beginning of gardening, on the basis of personal observations and after a tour of the gardens of the Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga provinces, Ivan Vladimirovich became convinced that the old Russian varieties, due to diseases and pests, gave negligible yields, and the southern ones had to be wrapped up for the winter. There was a threat of the degeneration of Russian varieties, in which case they would have to buy imported apples and pears.

Michurin's work involved over a thousand adult plants and several tens of thousands of young ones, a dozen and a half fruit and berry crops, and several dozen botanical species. In the nursery, he collected a unique collection of plants from different points the globe- from the Far East, the Caucasus, Tibet, from China, Canada and other countries.

Having crossed the wild Ussuri pear with the French variety Bere Dil, the scientist received a new variety - Bere winter Michurina. Its fruits are quite tasty, lie until February. In addition, the variety bears fruit annually, the bark is not afraid of burns, the flowers are resistant to morning frosts. It is not for nothing that this variety is still alive and well, as well as others (Michurin has 48 varieties of apple trees, 15 - pears, 33 - cherries and cherries. And some of them have become donors of winter hardiness when new varieties are bred by modern scientists.

Many people know the saffron apple variety Michurin Pepin, which has already celebrated its centenary. It escapes from spring frosts, because it blooms late, after damage by winter frosts it quickly recovers, and regularly bears fruit. The fruits themselves have a dessert taste, sweet, the jam from them is simply wonderful, fresh apples lie until February.

The fruits of another variety that has not yet left the arena, Bellefleur-Chinese, retain their qualities less. Although its winter hardiness is not entirely sufficient for cultivation in the Moscow region, it is possible to graft another variety of cuttings into the crown. Then the Chinese Bellefleur will not freeze. The main thing for any apple tree is fruits, and in this variety they have an unusually strong aroma and a wonderful refreshing taste.

If the site is located in a place where cold winds flow, where the apple tree is uncomfortable in summer and cold in winter, Bessemyanka Michurinskaya will help out. The fruits, ripening in mid-August, lie until January. Their taste is sweet and sour with aroma. IN adverse conditions another Michurin variety is able to bear fruit - Kitayka golden early. Small golden yellow apples ripen in early August, but are stored for no more than 10 days. Slavyanka, Renet bergamot, Pepin-Chinese, Pendant-Chinese, Komsomolets - these are a few more Michurin varieties whose time has not yet passed.

To increase the winter hardiness of plums, Michurin began to work with thorns and obtained three varieties of thorns, the taste of which was mediocre. Then the scientist crossed plum with thorny and brought out several varieties. In particular, Renklod is a collective farm, which has been kept afloat since 1899 (the name was given later).

Mountain ash, actinidia, blackthorn, bird cherry, chokeberry, felt cherry grow in many gardeners, but few of them know that Michurin introduced all these plants into the culture. It is interesting that he crossed not only different types of mountain ash among themselves, but also engaged in distant hybridization, that is, he crossed mountain ash with its distant relatives - medlar (Michurinskaya dessert variety), pear (Scarlet large, Ruby), hawthorn (Garnet), chokeberry ( Liquor), apple and pear (Titanium) And now all these varieties are the most famous. They start fruiting early, the trees are not tall, the fruits are quite edible, rich in vitamins. Actinidia varieties Clara Zetkin and Pineapple are still the most common in our gardens. And there is an explanation for that. "The Clara Zetkin variety has the valuable property that the shedding of berries during ripening is very small, since the peduncle is quite strongly attached both to the berry and to the shoots, "wrote I. V. Michurin.

During Michurin's youth, good tobacco was not grown in Russia. The best varieties of yellow Turkish tobacco did not ripen. And then the breeder set himself the task of introducing new varieties of tobacco into the culture - more early term maturation, with a lower percentage of nicotine. From the fertilization of the yellow Bulgarian early tobacco with the Sumatran small-leaved tobacco, he received a new early-ripening fragrant variety that can ripen not only in the center of Russia, but also in the Urals. Moreover, he developed the agricultural technology of tobacco, and also designed a machine for cutting it. All his life Ivan Vladimirovich kept working diaries. They have many specific recipes for all occasions in the garden. There is a recipe exactly suitable for the end of October - the beginning of November of our time.

Trees and shrubs bought in the fall, but not planted, need to be buried. To do this, they choose a slightly elevated place where water does not stagnate, then dig a ditch 70 centimeters deep from east to west, and the southern slope of the inner wall should be steep, and the northern one should be gentle. The earth is thrown onto the southern edge of the ditch. The seedlings are laid on a sloping side, turning their tops to the north, carefully, so as not to break, they fall asleep with moist earth (if the earth is dry, then it is watered and loosened). Trees and shrubs can be laid in two or three rows, one above the other, placing taller ones in the first row, and shorter and shorter ones in the last ones. small plants. After laying each row and backfilling the roots, they are lightly watered and only then the next row is formed. After completing the operation, all the earth remaining from digging the ditch is poured over the roots in order to better drain excess spring water. The layer of earth above the roots of the last row should not be thinner than thirty centimeters, otherwise the roots will freeze. So that the seedlings do not damage the mice, spruce branches are thrown under the crowns and on them. To scare away rodents, planted trees are coated with some odorous substances. You can not apply kerosene, lard, tar, oils directly to the bark. It is necessary to apply these compounds on thick paper, straw and tie them around.

The ability to see in wildlife what is hidden from an indifferent observer manifested itself in Michurin from early childhood. At the age of three, he seriously embarrassed his father and mother (avid gardeners, vegetable growers, flower growers), wishing to take part in the sowing of seeds. They refused him - he climbed into the basket with his hand. He was pushed back - he began to run around the beds - and as a result was beaten. After crying, the little boy fell silent, then cheered up and started off at full speed towards the house. A minute later he returned with ... a salt shaker in his hand and began to sow salt in the garden. The parents watched in amazement at the little figure barely visible in the deep furrow and, embarrassed in front of each other, rushed to their son with a belated caress.

Having started breeding fruit plants at the age of 20, he had neither the means, nor the name, nor education. What awaited him along the way? Need, mistakes, failures? Statements about the "uselessness" of his work, that these experiments are "nonsense" offended the young man, but he was not going to back down. Marriage in 1874 to a modest, serious girl played a decisive role in this. Sashenka was a selfless person and became her husband's faithful friend, constant helper and support in the coming labors and trials. The firstborn was born - Kolya, two years later - Masha. Michurin did not spare his strength and health, he took on any job, but he saw the only way out in saving. The father of the family strictly takes into account all expenses to the penny, keeping himself from rash spending. Here is a diary entry full of tragedy: "For five years, there is nothing to think about acquiring land or expanding the site. Cut costs to the extreme limits!" He is content with black bread (and not enough, but one and a half or two pounds a day) and tea, most often empty ...

The most accurate witness of Michurin's asceticism, daughter Maria Ivanovna, writes: “My father devoted his thoughts and feelings to the world of plants. ", also denying himself everything necessary. Endless hauling of water, planting plants, digging and loosening the ridges during the day, writing and reading at night took away the father's strength. He himself understood this: "Sanya, please prepare a prison for me." Mother crumbled brown bread, cut onions, poured a spoon sunflower oil and, diluted with water or kvass, served it to him. "This was not a feat for the sake of a feat. Michurin ate tyuryu not in the name of tragic glory, but in the name of the future abundance of the gardens of his native country.

For some reason, many believe that he was a reserved and stern person - with an eternal cigarette in his mouth and an invariable cane in his hand. He smoked from the age of twelve until his death, and walked with a cane (of necessity - in his youth he unsuccessfully fell from a tree and injured his kneecap), but he was not gloomy and unsociable. He did not avoid contact with people, welcome guests he had not only gardeners, but also an old friend, engineer Ground, and workers from the Kozlovsky depot.

In the winter of 1881, the head of the Kozlovsky railway depot, engineer Graund, suggested that Michurin equip electric lighting at the Kozlov station. The innovation had just appeared in the largest cities of Russia, but Michurin had a solid experience in the mechanical part and, advised by the Ground, he brilliantly completed the task. “You should quit, Mr. Michurin, messing with your garden,” the engineer told him. - You are a ready-made first-class electrical engineer. But the "electrician" did not even want to hear about betrayal of the garden business.

Michurin was an excellent watchmaker. Before he bought land and engaged in selection, he kept his own watch workshop and, by the sound of the clock, accurately determined what was wrong with the mechanism. He generally loved to craft. In his house, he admired the skillful work on the mechanical side: a grafting chisel, a hand pruner, a compact forcing machine essential oil rose petals, unique watch own work, a lighter, a cigarette case, a light portable machine for cutting tobacco, with a special machine he stuffed cigarettes with "Michurin" grade tobacco, and also fixed bicycles, sewing machines, hunting rifles, telephone and telegraph sets ... He had a unique workshop for making dummies of fruits and vegetables from wax. They were considered the best in the world and were so skillfully made that others tried to bite them.

Already at a mature age, Michurin mastered watercolor on his own, and his drawings were striking in their professionalism, and those related to gardening were very accurate. In the garden journal, the work was reflected in lovingly made entries. Unfortunately, the records from 1875 to 1886 have been lost, but the subsequent half century has been recorded with amazing observation. The self-criticism of Ivan Vladimirovich is striking, the frankness with which he described not only successes, but also failures.

Alexander Kursakov, great-grandson of I.V. Michurin. The glory of a healer, a sorcerer was entrenched behind him. He knew many herbs that have medicinal properties, prepared all kinds of ointments, decoctions from them, healed migraine, mumps, renal colic, furunculosis, heart failure, even cancer, removed stones from the kidneys. He had the ability to influence the growth of plants and the behavior of people. It used to be that he walked with a cane across the field and showed: “Leave this one, this one and this one, throw out the rest.” Out of 10 thousand seedlings, with some flair, he singled out two or three. His assistants, secretly from him, tried to replant the plants he had rejected, but none of them gave rise to a new variety. He could talk for hours with a dying plant and it would come back to life. He could easily enter any courtyard, and the huge watchdogs did not bark. The birds landed on his hat and shoulders without fear, pecking grain from his palms.

Michurin amazed his acquaintances with his exceptional talent for taming animals and birds. From childhood he loved to feed the sparrows - in the morning and in the evening, all year round regardless of the weather. Under the gates of the porch, plank gutters were arranged for nesting and wintering of lively birds. The wide board-feeder, on which Ivan Vladimirovich poured hemp and millet grains in a trickle, was always full of sparrows. In each bird generation, he noted the individuals of "crooks", "bully", "rude" and "modest", encouraged noble and heroic birds who boldly rushed at the enemy and sacrificed themselves to save others. In his pocket there was always a piece of white bread (black sparrows do not take), from which the scientist rolled balls, and the sparrows, chirping, sat on his shoulders, on his hat, on his hands. Michurin even tamed frogs, a tame jackdaw lived in his house, he bred pigeons, following the hereditary traits of offspring. Newly colored birds flew from the attic of his house for decades.