LUTHER BURBANK 
and yet would be as long-lived and vigorous as the 
almond, and hardier and more resistant than 
either. 
It is true that no very striking results have yet 
been produced by crossing almond and peach, 
though many unusually vigorous and rapid-grow- 
ing trees have been produced which will far out- 
grow the most vigorous individuals of either 
species. 
But hybridizing, followed by rigid and persist- 
ent selection, is a practical method that is still in 
its infancy. It is not so very long since orchardists 
in general, supported by technical botanists, de- 
nied the possibility of hybridizing different 
species. 
My long series of varied experiments were 
perhaps more directly instrumental than any other 
influence in showing the fallacy of this belief. The 
reader will recall that I have in many instances 
interbred species belonging to different genera; 
and that the interbreeding of different species in 
my orchards and gardens is a commonplace. Yet 
it is still true that there are many cases in which 
there are seeming barriers erected between plants 
that obviously are closely related, which prevent 
the advantageous hybridizing and grafting of one 
species with another. 
And the peach is a case in point. It accepts the 
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