A Story Outline of Evolution 



shrubs and plants and from plants and shrubs to trees. They 

 have yielded fruits, nuts, roots, grains and grasses as foods 

 for animal life, their fibers for nests and clothing and their 

 bodies for shelter and protection. During this period of 

 development many thousands of changes have taken place. 

 Many have fallen by the wayside and perished; many have 

 gone Into blind alleys and failed to progress, while others 

 have been content to remain in the same condition as they 

 were at the dawn of creation. 



The changes that have taken place in the forms and 

 varieties of plant life have been brought about through 

 adaptation to fit surrounding conditions but just what force 

 or condition or combination of forces and conditions are 

 required by unaided Nature to produce a new variety of 

 fruit, grain, grass or vegetable is not known. Unaided 

 Nature has been forming these throughout the ages. But 

 when Cultural Evolution came to the aid of Nature, all mat- 

 ter of useful plant life has been Improved by selecting the 

 strongest seeds from the strongest parents, by destroying 

 plant enemies, by cultivating and fertilizing the soil, by cross 

 breeding, by budding, grafting and pruning, and through 

 these processes new varieties have been created. Through 

 the cooperation of plant life with animal life and through 

 the aids of Cultural Evolution to plant life, the vegetable 

 kingdom and the animal kingdom have climbed upward to 

 higher plains of existence. If we shall judge the future by 

 the past, it would be a hazardous guess to predict what may 

 be possible In the way of future development. The statement 

 of the Grecian philosopher — "Most men are fools, Alcebia- 



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