138 LUTHER BURBANK 



shaped pea, circular, and indented on the flat- 

 tened sides. 



Both are practically fixed, coming true to type 

 from seed. 



In fact, by having different ideals and bear- 

 ing them in mind all along, I developed four 

 strains of new varieties that the canners were 

 glad to purchase, in addition to the one that they 

 had specifically ordered. And all this was done, 

 as just noted, by selection, without the aid of 

 hybridizing experiments. 



It should be explained that the pea is nor- 

 mally self-fertilized, so that there is the closest 

 inbreeding, and it is therefore relatively easy to 

 fix a type. Moreover the pea is a very pliable 

 plant, producing new varieties with little care 

 and labor as compared with many other plants. 

 Although I have devoted much less time to it 

 than to many other plants, I have developed 

 numerous varieties that are specially modified 

 for color, for productiveness, for size, for quality, 

 or for resistance to mildew and other affections. 

 And other experiments are under way that will 

 probably lead to still further developments. 



MENDEL'S FAMOUS EXPERIMENTS 



Although much may thus be accomplished 

 with the pea by mere selection, it should be re- 



