Plants in Relation to Man 481 



229. Luther Burbank. Perhaps no better illustration is 

 now available of the way in which this has been done than the 

 work of Luther Burbank. He may be considered the repre- 

 sentative of the modern wonder-workers in the plant world. 

 A close student of plants, Burbank has learned their habits, 

 ways of mating, and the results of cross-fertilization, and has 

 put his knowledge into successful practice. As one result of 

 his efforts it is estimated that, through his products, he has 

 contributed to the wealth of the United States not less than 

 seventeen million dollars. 



Every one may have observed, as Burbank and others did, 

 that individual plants and animals of the same species or kind 

 vary greatly in their characters. In a melon patch, for instance, 

 one melon vine may produce more large sweet melons than the 

 other vines. While natural conditions, such as soil and climate, 

 contribute to the result, the character of the seed plants is known 

 to be much more important. Practical gardeners select the 

 seeds of a superior plant, knowing that such are more likely 

 to yield good melons, but they first select the plant itself 

 because of its qualities. Men like Burbank are expert in making 

 such selection of plants and seeds, and continue the selection 

 of the same kind of plant through many generations. They 

 find that artificial selection is an improvement upon and greatly 

 hastens the process of natural selection. 



Some years ago, when asked the color of a garden poppy, 

 the answer was certain to be " red." Now blue poppies and 

 silver-fined poppies are grown, all bred from the same original 

 stock. Burbank one day noticed a smoky cast on the red pop- 

 pies of one plant in a bed. He marked the plant, gathered the 

 seed, and in time planted them. Of the offspring those that 

 showed most variation toward the bluish tint were selected. 



Other plants of value and of beauty have been contributed 



by Burbank to the world. He experimented with the wild 



daisy common in the east, and with a variety procured from 



Europe. By cross-pollination of these two he produced many 



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