ANIMAL LIFE IN RELATION 

 TO PLANT LIFE 



Originally plants and animals came from the same source, but 

 in later developments of early germ stages some species acquired 

 the habit of plant eating, and thereby losing their chlorophyll. 

 Animal life became Nature's maw which, whether carried by 

 an elephant or the smallest microbe, performs the function of 

 transforming plant matter into plant food upon which the new 

 plant forms thrive. 



If it were not for the existence of animal life the leaves, bark 

 and general residue of vegetation would, in a period of twenty- 

 five years or thereabouts, cover the ground to such a height that 

 no new vegetation could spring up and plant life would annihi- 

 late itself, there being no decay. 



CROSS-BREEDING— WHAT IT IS AND MEANS 



Cross-breeding can only be accomplished within family lines. 



Take for instance the lines of Solanum and Pirus, which are 

 widely distributed over the earth, and have acquired, through 

 many sportings, re-sporting and varied climatic conditions, very 

 many varied forms. 



One cannot cross a Solanum with a Pirus, or vice versa, but 

 must conduct the crossing between the two members of a single 

 family, a Solanum with a Solanum, a Pirus with a Pirus, in order 

 to develop new hybrids. The rule would hold the same with the 

 Gladiolus or Erica families. 



Ever since boyhood I have been interested in plant life in 

 general and anxious to delve into the secrets of plant growth. 

 Cross-breeding at that time was just being seriously entered 

 upon, and consequently I adopted it as my hobby. When seven- 

 teen years of age, happening to cross some tuberous Begonias, I 

 found, when the seedlings flowered, that a great many had 

 doubled the size of the parent flower. This set me to thinking 

 that there might be natural laws existing of which we have no 



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