ON THE POSSIBILITIES 
Not all plants, of course, are worth working 
with—not all have within them heredities which 
could profitably be brought forth. But as a safe 
comparison, it might be stated that the propor- 
tion between present useful plants and those in 
the wild which can be made useful, is at least 
as great or greater than the proportion between 
the coal which has already been mined, and the 
coal which is stored up for us in the ground. 
Greater, by probably a hundred times, for while 
we have depleted our coal supply, our plants have 
been multiplying, not only in number, but in kind 
and in form. 
Moreover, from our wild plants, we may not 
only get new products, but new strength, new 
hardiness, new combative powers, and endless 
other desirable new qualities for our tame plants. 
All of these things are just as immediate as 
possibilities, as transcontinental railroads were 
fifty years ago. All of these things can be made to 
come about with such apparent ease that future 
generations will take them as a matter of course. 
Yet we have not touched, so far, on the most 
interesting field in plant improvement — the 
production, through crossing, hybridizing and 
selection, of entirely new plants to meet entirely 
new demands. 
Who shall produce some plant—and there are 
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