172 LUTHER BURBANK 



right for a comparatively small sum to a whole- 

 sale dealer. In the latter case he receives a sum 

 that is never large. In the former case his re- 

 turns are altogether problematical, and at best 

 there are only two or three years during which 

 he has a partial monopoly of the sale of the 

 product of his labors. 



In three or four years, according to the rapid- 

 ity with which the new variety can be multiplied, 

 orchardists who have purchased grafting stock 

 can compete in the market with the original 

 introducer. 



Suppose, for example, that I have a new plum 

 that I decide to introduce directly. I sell graft- 

 ing wood by the foot. The highest price I have 

 ever received for grafting wood, even of the 

 choicest new variety, is $10 a foot. 



This, to be sure, is at the rate of about $800,000 

 a cord, if you choose to reckon it that way; but 

 unfortunately you sell only a very small fraction 

 of a cord. There is not likely to be any very 

 active demand for a new variety of plants, or 

 until it has been tested out in several localities. 

 Meantime, the first purchaser, in making the 

 test, has grown a large quantity of twigs from 

 his grafted cions; and with this, obviously, he 

 can enter the market on an equal footing with 

 the original producer. 



