BURBANK'S HORTICULTURAL NOVELTIES 217 



which his creations arc said to have had in the United States, 

 and even in many countries of the old world, is the best 

 proof of the reliabihty of his judgment. 



This judgment is due partly to his genius and partly to 

 his broad experience in all cjuestions of practical plant breed- 

 ing. But its appHcation to a definite group of hybrids rests 

 chiefly on the study of that group itself. His experience 

 with plums will enable him to make faster progress in the 

 study of hybrids of any other genus, but it is of no direct 

 avail for the practical work with them. More than once in 

 our discussions, Burbank has laid stress on tliis point, assert- 

 ing that each new family has to be studied anew, and given 

 the same care and devotion, in order to learn all about its 

 cjuahties and possibilities. There are, of course, some general 

 rules, but the ultimate result is mainly dependent upon a 

 thorough knowledge of all the characters which may have or 

 may afterward gain some influence in directing selection. 



All these considerations are, however, related to the work 

 of crossing and selecting, which, as we have seen, is only 

 the second part of the whole study. The first part, insuring 

 half of the result, is the primary choice of the varieties to 

 start from. These have to include as many profitable 

 quaUties as are at the time available, but this part of the 

 work is manifestly to be continued along with the crossing. 

 He must be constantly on the lookout for new types, and 

 whenever attention is directed to newly- discovered species, 

 or when the study of the strains points to desirable quahties 

 which may be secured by the use of older native forms 

 which have not been tried until that time, new introductions 

 must be made. By increasing the number of the parent 

 species, and thereby that of the available characters, the 

 range of variability is considerably widened, and numerous 

 possibiUties of new combinations are opened. From this 

 point of view, I now mention the introduction of the cherries 



