214 LUTHER BURBANK 



apple that no one hitherto has ever seen or 

 heard of. 



That simple but rather startling fact brings 

 into sharp relief the difference between the 

 meaning of the word "variety" as applied to such 

 a fruit as the apple and the meaning of the same 

 word as applied to races of plants in a state of 

 nature. 



The seed of a plant of a valid wild variety 

 (subspecies), or the seed of a hundred plants of 

 that variety intermixed, will produce a genera- 

 tion of offspring which, though they number 

 thousands or millions, all bear striking resem- 

 blance in their essential qualities of shape and 

 leaf and flower and fruit to the parents from 

 which they sprang and to one another. 



This is the fundamental difference. 



It is a difference that should be borne con- 

 stantly in mind when we use the convenient word 

 "variety" in connection with an orchard fruit. 

 Perhaps it is unfortunate that the word has been 

 applied with this double meaning; but it is ob- 

 viously convenient, and if properly interpreted 

 it may be used without danger of confusion of 



ideas. 



FROM GERM CELLS TO APPLES 



That the potentialities of numberless new va- 

 rieties lie hidden in the pollen grains and ovules 



