254 LUTHER BURBANK 



And no one who has followed out a series of 

 experiments in selective breeding of plants, and 

 who realizes the essential identity of the prin- 

 ciples of heredity, applied to man and plants 

 alike, will doubt that the would-be developer of 

 a race of giants was on the right track. 



He was starting out in just the way that I 

 started when aiming to produce a race of amaryl- 

 lis plants that would grow gigantic flowers. 



But even had the royal experiment in man 

 breeding been carried forward by the successors 

 of the originator of the idea, it would have been 

 a long time before a giant appeared among the 

 royal guards that overtopped his fellows in such 

 proportion as the giant amaryllis outspreads its 

 companions. 



For there is a time element in these breed- 

 ing experiments that cannot be ignored; and 

 the units of measurement are not years but 

 generations. 



In the case of the amaryllis a generation varies 

 somewhat with different species and varieties, 

 but frequently is not more than two years. In 

 other words, some varieties of amaryllis will pro- 

 duce seed in their second year, when grown from 

 seed. And at most three or four years generally 

 suffice to bridge the gap between successive 

 generations. 



