NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



them the instant they meet his eye, determin- 

 ing instantly whether or not they are fit to 

 live. This is selection in one of its most im- 

 portant forms and carried on as it never has 

 been carried on before. 



Instantly he detects faults and as quickly 

 determines excellencies. How does he do it? 

 How does a child know enough to shun an 

 evil man? How does a maiden know whether 

 the man setting siege to her heart is to be 

 trusted with her life? How does a man of 

 sensitive fiber know instantly, without word 

 or sign, that his traveling companion is a cut- 

 throat by nature, whether or not he wear a 

 bandit's garb? 



Mr. Burbank decides upon his trees by in- 

 tuition. He puts a case this way: 



You may meet a hundred men, a thousand, 

 or even ten thousand men upon the street of 

 a great city, and instantly, without taking into 

 account any particular feature, you know that 

 they are different. No matter how similar in 

 general, the line of difference is absolute. A 

 hundred men pass before a merchant seeking 

 a man for a position of trust he can tell at a 

 glance and with seldom an error whether or 



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