228 LUTHER BURBANK 



which had been brought to blooming in order to 

 find the twenty thousandth which was not burned 

 or perhaps twenty thousand rose bushes, the 

 one sought for not having been worth the saving; 

 there would be 1,500 gladiolus bulbs with market 

 value of half a dollar apiece, put in the fire after 

 the one, or the two, or the dozen best among 

 them had been selected; there would be twenty 

 thousand cactus seedlings, representing three to 

 five years of care and watchfulness, but useless 1 

 now, their duty done. A ten thousand dollar 

 bonfire, indeed, without exaggeration. 



The builder of bridges can sell the lumber used 

 in his false construction for seconds; and so I 

 could profitably dispose of the elements of false 

 construction in my work those millions of seeds 

 and bulbs and cuttings which represent second 

 bests or poorer; but every step in the process ex- 

 cepting those concerning the final result is ob- 

 literated with a ruthless hand. 



^t is better to run the risk of losing a perfected 

 product, through the destruction of the elements 

 which went into it, than to issue forth to the 

 world a lot of second bests which have within 

 them the power of self-perpetuation and multi- 

 plication, and which, if we do not destroy them 

 now, will clutter the earth with inferiority or 

 mediocrity. 



