LUTHER BURBANK 
the same bush, or as one grape resembles another 
on the same bunch, as one pea resembles another 
in the same pod. 
Yet among those million poppies—all looking 
alike to the unpracticed eye—there could be found 
by a close observer as many individual differences 
as could be found among any million human 
beings in the world. 
Among those million poppies, each with its 
distinct individuality, Mr. Burbank found three 
which had a decided tendency to break away from 
the California poppy family and start a separate 
race of their own. 
This same tendency could be observed among 
a million men, a million roses, a million peas, a 
million quartz crystals, or a million of any of 
Nature’s creations. 
Those one, or two, or three out of every million 
with tendencies to break away are sometimes 
called the freaks or “sports” of the species. 
It seems as though Nature, never quite satisfied 
with her creations, is always experimenting, with 
the hope of creating a better result—yet limiting 
those experiments to such a small percentage that 
the mass of the race remains unchanged—its 
characteristics preserved—its general tendencies 
unaffected. 
The California poppy, as it grows wild, is a rich 
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