124 NEW VARIETIES 



nothing about gardening. Every plant breeder whose work I 

 have seen knows some facts that no one else knows, and he has also 

 refined certain methods. But so has every glue manufacturer and 

 shirt stitcher. A hundred years ago gardeners tried to keep the 

 art of grafting fruit trees a trade secret, but it is in every book 

 now. Nothing of the first importance in horticulture can be kept 

 secret nowadays. No professional possesses methods or skill 

 that any persistent amateur may not attain. 



Indeed, the amateur has certain advantages over the seeds- 

 men and nurserymen, who produce so many novelties. As a rule, 

 an amateur has more time and freedom, while the tradesman has 

 to let many opportunities pass, or even suffer his seedlings to die 

 of neglect. 



Again the amateur can usually attack the work with freshness, 

 whereas the tradesman's imagination is fatigued by mere thoughts 

 about selling plants. In the third place, the amateur has a keener 

 appetite for books. When a man who gets his living by growing 

 plants goes home he is generally too tired to study the scientific 

 side of gardening. But to a man who sells stocks all day, the plant 

 world offers a rest and change. Now, imagination and study are 

 at least three fourths of the battle. The rest is only technique or 

 routine. Plant breeding is a very poor business, but as a life- 

 long hobby it is perfect. 



Every beginner of to-day will naturally wish to copy Mr. 

 Burbank's methods, because our newspapers tell us he has " done 

 more for mankind than all the plant breeders who have ever 

 lived." But this is only American "hot air." If you wish to 

 measure a man's work by millions of dollars, consider the vast 

 beet-sugar industry of the world, which is chiefly due to Vilmorin's 

 work in increasing the sugar content of the beet. Or take our 



