52 LUTHER BURBAXK 



furnishes a complete record of the various hybrid- 

 izings and selections resulting sometimes in 

 better and sometimes in worse fruits through 

 which success has finally been achieved. These 

 records are in themselves sufficient answer to any- 

 one who imagines that the plant experimenter 

 works haphazard, merely because he does not 

 always adopt a biometric method. 



After all, from the standpoint of the consumer 

 who makes up the main bulk of the population, 

 and whose tastes and needs are the criterion by 

 which the plant experimenter's results will be 

 judged, it is the final product rather than the 

 precise method by which it is attained that is 

 most important. But the ideal at which the plant 

 experimenter aims would probably never have 

 been realized had he not given himself the aid 

 of some such system of quick and accurate rec- 

 ords as my plan books present. 



Once the principles of hybridiza- 

 tion and selection have been clearly 

 mastered, they may be applied to 

 almost every variety of plant life. 

 There are differences in detail, but 

 the broad outline is the same for 

 each. 



