186 LUTHER BURBANK 



varieties of future plants when he looks at old 

 existing varieties. 



But of course the painter, whatever his con- 

 structive imagination, does not always see at 

 first glance every detail of form and color that 

 will ultimately appeal to him. Nor can the plant 

 experimenter claim, by any manner of means, to 

 know always from the outset just what his new 

 plant creations, as a result of these new combina- 

 tions, will be like. There are numberless in- 

 stances, indeed, in which a plant experimenter 

 who operates on a large scale may make various 

 experiments in the combination of different 

 species and varieties of plants; but, on the other 

 hand, it is necessary in the pursuit of practical 

 plant developments to have a tolerably precise 

 idea in mind as to the particular direction in 

 which progress is desirable. 



Lacking such an ideal, the breeder of plants 

 would be about as likely to produce new creations 

 of value as an architect would be likely to con- 

 struct a fine building by putting materials to- 

 gether at random without a carefully precon- 

 ceived plan. 



The mind of man has sounded no limits to time 

 or space and is learning that all the varied forms 

 and conditions which we know are intimately 

 connected and interdependent upon past condi- 



