162 LUTHER BURBANK 



Nevertheless, it is of course true that the suc- 

 cessful commercial varieties of plants and fruits 

 are comparatively few in number as contrasted 

 with the vast numbers of forms with which I have 

 experimented. It could not well be otherwise, 

 for it would be a strange and novel form of ex- 

 periment that led always to success. But of 

 course the public in general hears of, and in the 

 main cares for, successes only. There is seldom 

 any reason for exploiting a failure. And so a 

 long list of experiments that have led to no 

 practical result has scarcely been heard of by the 

 public in general. 



Some of these, however, are in themselves 

 highly interesting, and I have thought it worth 

 while to take the reader into my confidence to the 

 extent of telling about three or four series of 

 experiments which produced no permanent new 

 forms of flower or fruit, and which from the 

 commercial standpoint resulted only in loss of 

 time and money. 



There are certain lessons to be drawn from 

 these that I think will command the reader's at- 

 tention and interest. 



A MISGUIDED PETUNIA 



One of the most unusual hybridizing experi- 

 ments that I have performed consisted of cross- 



