548 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



than formerly the dependence of improvement upon the ability to detect 

 and to judge the value of departures from the common types of our 

 commercial plants. This means a greater attention to the study of 

 form and characteristics as a basis of and preparation for work along 

 breeding lines and suggests the need of qualifications of an artistic na- 

 ture. It was because of natural love for animals and unusual insight 

 into animal life and form that a comparatively few men have been able 

 to establish more than threescore breeds of animals of highest eflfi- 

 ciency in the performance of a variety of functions through which the 

 human race is served. 



The Principle Involved in New Plant and Animal Creations 



It is not necessary to enumerate the accomplishments of Mr, Bur- 

 bank. Through the magazines the public has already been given an 

 adequate if not an exaggerated account of the achievements of that 

 wonderful man. It is a matter of immediate concern to every one to 

 know the basis of Mr. Burbank's success. Has he secrets which are to 

 die with him? Or are we to have numerous workers to whom life 

 forces are as plastic clay? Do his accomplishments prove to us the 

 economic value of recent scientific work or do they refer us back to 

 principles and methods always known but lightly regarded in our 

 eagerness to grasp ideas announced as sure to supersede all that has 

 gone before? 



The answer to these questions interests the workers among plants, 

 and no less the student of animals, because the laws of inheritance are, 

 to a large extent, alike in both kingdoms. To most biologists and 

 breeders the greatest value of Mr. Burbank's work lies in the light it 

 throws upon inheritance and the encouragement it offers to persons 

 whose natural leanings prompt them to identify themselves with com- 

 mercial or scientific work with plants or animals. 



The best opinion seems to be that the effect of Mr. Burbank^s work 

 will not be to revolutionize breeding practise, but that it does mark an 

 important step in the complete adaptation of plants and animals to all 

 the needs of man. It does this by demonstrating what may be done in 

 the light of knowledge that has been always with us, but seldom ap- 

 preciated. 



Professor Kellogg, of Leland Stanford University, a biologist of 

 standing, and quite intimately acquainted with Mr. Burbank and his 

 work, writes of it in these words : 



No new revelations to science of an overturning character; but the revela- 

 tions of the possibilities of accomplishment, based on general principles already 

 known, by an unusual man. No new laws of evolution, but new facts, new data, 

 new canons for special cases. No new principle or process to substitute for 

 selection, but a new proof of the possibilities of the effectiveness of the old 



