160 LUTHER BURBANK 



and then saves out a form that he thinks to be 

 worth introducing to the world. 



"Every part of the work is worth while of 

 itself; at every stage the satisfaction of it is rea- 

 son enough for making and continuing the effort. 

 Every form is interesting, whether it is new or 

 the reproduction of an old form. He shows 

 you the odd and intermediate and reversionary 

 forms as well as those that promise to be of 

 general use. 



"All this leads me to say that the value of Mr. 

 Burbank's work lies above all merely economic 

 considerations. He is a master worker in making 

 plants to vary. Plants are plastic material in 

 his hands. He is demonstrating what can be done. 

 He is setting new ideals and novel problems. 



"Heretofore, gardeners and other horticul- 

 turists have grown plants because they are useful 

 or beautiful; Mr. Burbank grows them because 

 he can make them take on valuable and beautiful 

 new forms. This is a new kind of pleasure to be 

 got from gardening, a new and captivating pur- 

 pose in plant growing. It is a new reason for 

 associating with plants. Usually I think of him 

 as a plant lover rather than plant breeder. It is 

 of little consequence to me whether he produces 

 good commercial varieties or not. He has a 

 sphere of his own, and one that should appeal 



