LUTHER BURBANK 
in canyons where forest fires are frequent—show- 
ing that without the aid of the fires, the tree can 
not perpetuate itself. 
So firmly fixed has this partnership between 
the fires and this particular pine tree become that 
its seeds, if planted under other conditions, will 
not germinate. 
Taken from the tree, it is impossible to get 
them to grow even with the greatest care in good 
soil; but experiment has shown that, if placed for 
a few hours in boiling water, they will readily 
sprout even in poor soil. 
Thus, as if through a strange alliance, the 
forest fires clear the ground, scatter the cones and 
prepare the seed of this pine tree for germination; 
and the pine tree, in turn, rebuilds the forest 
which the fires destroyed. 
The devil’s claw, a tropical relative of our 
unicorn plant, has developed the power to bite 
and to hold on with almost bulldog grip, in its 
scheme of providing new environments for its 
young. 
This plant, growing low on the ground among 
other tropical vegetation where the distribution of 
seed becomes a problem, grows a seed pod of 
seven inches or more in length. 
Its seed pod, while maturing, is encased in a 
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