ORIGINATING NEW VARIETIES. 113 



hath been already of old time, which was before us." 

 Ecclesiastes. 



' ' And he slept and dreamed the second time; and 

 behold seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank 

 and good." Pharaoh's Dream, Genesis. 



"We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt 

 freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, 

 and the onions and the garlic. ' ' Numbers. 



* ' Six years shalt thou sow thy field and six years 

 shalt thou prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit 

 thereof, but in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of 

 rest unto the land." Leviticus. 



' ' And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof 

 and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in 

 the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein; 

 and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it 

 brought forth wild grapes. ' ' Isaiah. 



* ' The husbandmen who do not keep their fields well 

 weeded are not equal to their business. ' ' Chinese Sage, 

 about 500 B. C. 



The work of the modern plant-breeder, while it is 

 mainly creditable, does not rank with the performances 

 of the prehistoric plant wizards. 



The latter, considered with reason, produced from 

 wild nature through breeding practices of a high order, 

 the many useful types of food and other plants now in 

 cultivation, such as wheat, barley, rye, etc., in grains; 

 cabbage, onion, radish, etc., in vegetables; our flax and 

 cotton, and our many fruits. These as bred by them 

 directly from the wild species (the most difficult part of 

 plant breeding), have been so modified and improved 

 in their form and character, that we of to-day are not 

 able to trace the nativity of some of them. Our modern 

 breeders, excepting in a comparatively few cases, have 

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