IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 



development of new species by this method go far 

 to substantiate his belief. He habitually hybrid- 

 izes species, and develops new races by artificial 

 selection. 



About the only difference between this method 

 and nature's method is that in the wild state the 

 characteristics that are likely to be preserved 

 through natural selection are those that are ad- 

 vantageous to the individual plant that manifests 

 them; whereas under conditions of artificial se- 

 lection the plant developer considers not the needs 

 of the individual plant, but the tastes and needs of 

 men. 



Perfume is developed in Mr. Burbank's calla, 

 for example, and in his fragrant petunias and 

 verbenas, not because this is of advantage to the 

 plants themselves, but because the perfume is 

 pleasing to human nostrils. Similarly the blue 

 color of the poppy is to please the human eye, the 

 crinkled leaf of the geranium to satisfy a human 

 taste for the bizarre, and the varied forms of the 

 Shasta daisy to gratify esthetic human sensi- 

 bilities. 



Natural selection would have eliminated rather 

 than preserved the variations in question ; but civ- 

 ilized man creates a new environment and molds 

 the forms of vegetable and animal life to fit that 

 environment. The results are different because 

 the conditions are different. But the principles 

 of development are the same, and it may fairly be 

 said that the plant developer in applying the 

 method of hybridization and artificial selection is 



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