PLANNING A NEW PLANT 195 



product achieved as the first rough drawing of 

 the architect ever bears to his finished plans. 



"But how do you begin? What is the very 

 first thing?" 



The "very first thing" I have already described 

 — it is the conception of an ideal, a mental picture 

 of the new plant form desired. 



Clues to Be Followed 



It has occurred to me, for instance, that the 

 cherry crop is not what it might be. I have 

 learned that there is a steady market for early 

 cherries and that a difference of a few days in 

 the time of marketing may make a difference of 

 more than one hundred per cent in the price. 



And so I ask myself, why not create a new 

 cherry that shall be ready for shipping at least 

 a week or two earlier than any cherry now in the 

 market. 



Of course, an early cherry must have a number 

 of other desirable qualities — large size, rich color, 

 lusciousness of flavor. Knowing this at the out- 

 set, I soon learned that it is desirable also, from 

 the standpoint of the shipper, that the cherries 

 shall grow on short stems. I know that the tree 

 producing them must be hardy, capable of with- 

 standing both cold and wet winters, and dry sum- 

 mers, and that it must have an inherent vitality 



