56 LUTHER BURBANK 



acquire a degree of skill, based on careful obser- 

 vation of the minute details of plant structure, 

 that will give full assurance of a capacity to 

 select with at least a large measure of success. 



A HALF HOUR IN THE ORCHARD 



It is usually a surprise to anyone who comes 

 to my orchard at a time when I am making selec- 

 tions among seedlings of many kinds to observe 

 my method. 



Many people have expressed astonishment 

 when they have seen me walk rapidly along a 

 row of plum trees saying: "Kill this one, and that 

 one, and that; save this one, and that one 

 yonder" ; indicating the choice between plants to 

 be saved and those to be destroyed so rapidly 

 that the two or three men following me can 

 scarcely tie strings to the selected ones as fast 

 as they are chosen. 



In this way I may test from five to ten thou- 

 sand young trees as I walk along the row, 

 scarcely pausing for more than what seems the 

 most casual glance. But my eye takes in the 

 important thing. I know just what I am looking 

 for. And if my judgment in the matter had not 

 proved in the main good, the output from my 

 experiments would have been quite different 

 from what it has been. 



