586 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ever, I should be remiss of my duty did I not use such powers and gifts 

 as have been given me to urge forward a project that sooner or later 

 will be recognized as one of the keystones of the conservation movement. 



The materials for the consummation of the ideals I have presented 

 are all around us. The brawn and brain for the service is awaiting the 

 opportunity. The service will be long and difficult, however, and the 

 servant must live while engaged in the task. Only by long, consecutive 

 years of service can the highest ideals be reached. Men must consecrate 

 their lives to this achievement. The service will be pleasant and the 

 scientific results gathered from year to year will repay the worker, but 

 means must be found to place the investigator beyond the temptation 

 of other employment, as permanency of tenure in such work will be of 

 the highest importance. It is a work for the state and the nation, but 

 I fear they will be too slow to recognize the long-time requirements of 

 the work. Political institutions demand too quick results. I feel that 

 the most hopeful method of accomplishing some of the ideals outlined 

 is through endowed institutions. To what more serviceable task could 

 benefactions be devoted than to the solution of such problems, and 

 what type of institution would return more credit to the donor ? Insti- 

 tutions to conduct such work could be tied up with some of our great 

 universities to establish the proper scientific relationship, and should 

 be in such close cooperation with these universities that graduate stu- 

 dents could be utilized in connection with the investigations and trained 

 in the service. 



In summarizing this discussion I may say that to one unfamiliar 

 with the possibilities of breeding the outcome of such experiments may 

 appear doubtful. We need no lamp to guide us except that of experi- 

 ence. When we realize the little promise exhibited by the native grapes, 

 tomatoes and potatoes from which our cultivated sorts have sprung, we 

 gain a conception of the tremendous increases that can be brought 

 about by a century of cultivation, even when the breeding is of desul- 

 tory nature. Couple with a century of time, aye fifty years, the skill 

 of trained breeders, and what might we not accomplish. The greatness 

 of the possibilities stretches before the enthusiastic breeder as his mind 

 spans the years filled with the battles of conquest and achievement in 

 the building up of new industries, like a panorama of the wars and 

 struggles in the building of a nation. Man's creative genius is touched. 

 It appeals to him in its vastness as a challenge. The trained man in 

 the field of breeding feels the certainty of his power. He longs for the 

 conquest. 



