466 BURBANK'S PRODUCTION OF HORTICULTURAL NOVELTIES. 



divergent, and on some points quite opposite methods, the main 

 results ot practice and science are the same. 



In order to understand the kind of evidence which will be dis- 

 cussed here, it is necessary to have a clear idea of what a visitor 

 can see on the farms. As soon as Mr. Burbank has originated a 

 new kind of useful or ornamental tree, flower, fruit or vegetable, 

 he sells it to one of the great seedsmen, florists and nurserymen 

 with whom he is in constant relationship. They take the whole stock, 

 multiply it and offer it to the trade. They buy the exclusive right 

 of selling the new variety, and nothing of it is left on the farms 

 of Burbank. Hence it follows that a visitor cannot expect to have 

 a survey of the achievements that have already been made. There 

 is no collection of these in living condition. One may study the 

 commercial catalogues of Burbank or inspect his numerous photo- 

 graphs but the perfected varieties themselves are no longer there. 



On the other hand, the visitor to the experiment-farms will 

 become acquainted with the novelties destined for the immediate 

 future. Burbank will explain to him his aim and his hopes as well 

 as the methods by which he expects to fulfil them. The future, 

 however, is uncertain, and the real value of a novelty can be judged 

 only after some years have elapsed after its introduction into general 

 culture. The spineless cactus opens the brightest prospects for the 

 cultivation of the arid deserts, but the trial to determine whether it 

 will succeed under those unfavorable conditions and will reward the 

 expenses of its cultivation must still be made. So it is in many 

 other cases too. Burbank himself is the most exacting judge of his 

 productions and insists that they shall stand all tests of culture and 

 trade and shall survive exacting trials or perish. 



From this discussion it may easily be seen that my evidence 

 relies, for a large part, on experiments which are not yet finished 

 and the ultimate result of which cannot yet be estimated. For the 

 description of the methods used this is of no importance, and in 

 many cases the older experiments with their practical results will 

 have to be alluded to. 



Burbank's first catalogue was published in 1893. It is now 

 thirteen years old. The varieties described therein are, of course, 

 older, but they are only a small number in comparison with his 

 present stock. The larger part of his experiments are younger, 

 and only a few of his pedigrees cover more than ten years, as, for 

 instance, those of the plums. 



A special feature of Burbank's work is the large scale on which 



