THE MAN AND HIS WORK 



tifying a forecast that was made so readily with 

 such seeming facility as to appear almost necro- 

 mantic. 



In point of fact, the plant experimenter was 

 exercising no occult powers but only trained 

 senses backed by an amazing fund of practical 

 knowledge. He was looking for stems of a par- 

 ticular size and ruggedness of contour ; for leaves 

 that were symmetrical, right-hued, and thrifty; 

 for buds that were plump and fat and of just the 

 right color. But his eye took in the details so 

 quickly and his conclusions were reached with 

 such seemingly automatic precision, that the en- 

 tire procedure took on a mystifying aspect of 

 wizardry. 



With such exhibitions of his skill constantly in 

 evidence, it is not strange that Mr. Burbank 

 should have become traditional among his own 

 contemporaries as the "wizard of Santa Rosa"; 

 although the worker himself has always ardently 

 deprecated any such characterization, calling him- 

 self a "plant experimenter," and being foremost 

 to affirm that what he accomplishes is done by 

 careful study of the laws of heredity, ceaseless 

 scrutiny of the physical qualities of plants in 

 their every aspect, and the definite application of 

 knowledge gained through thousands of ante- 

 cedent experiments. 



The range and scope of these experiments, it 

 may be added, are no less astounding than the 

 manner in which they are carried out. There is 

 scarcely a tribe of plants showing any promise 



[13] 



