NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



so by years of selection and breeding, the basis 

 of all this work, he changed the thickness 

 and the ^substance of the bur at will, finally 

 demonstrating that, if necessary, the outer 

 portion of the bur might be wholly done 

 away with, leaving a smooth surface. To breed 

 it too thin, however, would be undesirable, the 

 bur being the nut's protection against birds. 



The life character of the chestnut was also 

 changed in marked degree. He set about 

 producing a chestnut that would bear nuts 

 early in life. Ordinarily it would be all the 

 way from ten to twenty-five years before a 

 chestnut tree raised from seed would begin to 

 bear. Mr. Burbank decided that was alto- 

 gether too slow for modern days, so he has 

 made the chestnut bear nuts at the age of a 

 year and a half; indeed, nuts have come upon 

 trees not over seven months old. 



In this way the commercial possibilities are 

 suggested where Nature does not move fast 

 enough, she must be helped to more rapid 

 progress. 



From the standpoint of the adornment of 

 the world, including with this that splendid 

 sentiment which is becoming more and more 



68 



