124 LUTHER BURBANK 



The first leaf that puts out just above the 

 cotyledons may be spiny or hairy, in recognition 

 of the racial period when spines were worn. But 

 the quality of these little spicules will enable the 

 experienced experimenter to determine whether 

 they represent future spines or only a racial 

 reminiscence. 



So it is possible to make first selection among 

 the seedlings at a very early period, and to weed 

 out from among the hundreds of thousands all 

 but a few. 



Unfortunately the cactus requires from three 

 to five years from the seed to come to fruiting 

 time. So the experimenter who is attempting to 

 develop an improved spineless race must wait 

 patiently throughout this long period before he 

 can effect a second hybridization and thus carry 

 his plant one stage farther along the road to the 

 coveted goal. 



But by carefully selecting the seedlings that 

 show the most likelihood of a propensity to pro- 

 duce smooth slabs, yet which at the same time 

 are strong of growth and resistant to unfavorable 

 conditions, it is possible to note marked progress 

 even in a single generation. And when the 

 selected plants have come to blossoming time and 

 have been hybridized with the best among their 

 fellows, the seedlings of this second generation 



