IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



of a Burbank to conceive that there is any im- 

 portance in this exceptional phenomenon. Most 

 gardeners would have paid no attention to the 

 seed ball, but Mr. Burbank watched it attentively, 

 and determined to find out what would happen 

 if the seeds were planted. His plan was nearly 

 frustrated by the loss of the seed ball, which was 

 broken off by some boy or animal or by the wind 

 just as it ripened. After patient search the treas- 

 ure was recovered, however, and carefully pre- 

 served over winter. 



There were twenty-three seeds in the cluster, 

 and these were planted next spring, each one by 

 itself, and the vines that grew from the seed 

 were carefully cultivated. 



In the fall, when the potatoes were dug, it was 

 obvious that they represented twenty-three differ- 

 ent varieties. No two hills were alike in size or 

 appearance or abundance of their crop. And two 

 of the hills bore potatoes of altogether exceptional 

 size and quality. These were preserved and 

 planted another season, and it was demonstrated 

 that the tubers would reproduce their qualities, 

 constituting a new variety, larger in size, whiter, 

 smoother, and more uniform in shape than any 

 existing variety. 



To illustrate the element of chance that enters 

 into the work of the plant developer, it may be 

 added that whereas the remarkable Burbank po- 

 tato was thus developed in a single season merely 

 by planting seeds that developed quite inde- 

 pendently of human effort, forty years of subse- 



[109] 



