COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK 



existence, but time enough must elapse for it 

 to become thoroughly fixed in its new ways 

 so that it will not revert to some former 

 condition of inefficiency. 



Then, too, when all this has been accom- 

 plished, it still must stand the test of the 

 orchard, the shipper, the dealer and the 

 consumer. It must be grown, too, by the 

 average fruit-grower under average conditions. 

 As has elsewhere been noted, Mr. Burbank 

 fits the new fruit, in so far as he possibly can, 

 for just these average conditions, so that when 

 it goes out from under his care he is willing to 

 trust it to the world. But no human being 

 can tell what the commercial outcome of a 

 new fruit will be. It may have undoubted 

 superiority over others of its class, but it may 

 not at once catch the popular fancy. It may 

 fall into the hands of some one who for one 

 and another reason does not care to push it 

 forward ; possibly not until some other favorite 

 has run its course. Then, again, a new fruit 

 may require a special and particular handling 

 in its shipment or in some other feature of its 

 life, and unless the conditions are carefully 

 complied with the best results will not come, 



269 



