8 LUTHER BURBANK 



It was naive because it quite overlooked the 

 true significance of the function of odors in 

 nature. 



A moment's further reflection would have 

 shown the young woman that it is not at 

 all a question of the bee liking the things 

 that man likes, but a question of man hav- 

 ing learned to like the things that the bee 

 likes. 



The fragrance of the flower was not put forth 

 to please or displease man, but to please and 

 attract the insect. 



And man learned to like the odors that were 

 constantly presented to him largely because they 

 were constantly presented; just as you may learn 

 to like a food say, for example, olives by 

 repeatedly tasting it, though at first you do not 

 care for it. 



The exception, of course, is the odor that 

 is associated with unhygienic things, such as 

 decaying vegetable and animal matter. These 

 are attractive to the insects that feed on them 

 because the substances that produce the odors 

 are to these insects wholesome. But they do not 

 attract the bee because they contain nothing on 

 which that insect can feed; and they do not 

 attract us because for us the substances that 

 produce them are pernicious. 



