278 LUTHER BURBANK 



many qualities of a commercial cherry or prune, 

 the case assumes new complexities. 



Hence it is that my records tell of tests applied 

 to about half a million seedlings of the daisy; 

 seven and one-half million seedlings of various 

 plums, and the like. 



Hence also the constant necessity of what my 

 neighbors speak of as ten-thousand-dollar bon- 

 fires in my orchard, when we burn seedlings that 

 have been inspected and found wanting. To burn 

 65,000 hybrid blackberries in one pile, as I once 

 did after saving perhaps half a dozen individual 

 plants for further testing, seems like willful ex- 

 travagance to the casual observer, but it is an 

 unavoidable incident in the search for perfect 

 fruits. 



Such prodigal use of material implies a large 

 measure of experience in the handling of seeds 

 and the growing of seedlings. In point of fact, 

 it might be said that this is the most important 

 part of a plant breeder's task, so far as the 

 practicalities of experiment are concerned. It 

 is part and parcel of his daily routine. 



It is highly desirable, then, that the would-be 

 experimenter should gain a clear understanding 

 of the essentials of method of caring for seeds 

 and cultivating seedlings. So it is the purpose in 

 the succeeding pages of this chapter to give a 



