136 LUTHER BURBANK 



What a price to pay for variation ! What in- 

 genuity and effort each new combination of 

 heredities has cost ! How many must have been 

 the plants which advertised for insects that 

 did not come! How many, finding themselves 

 in an unequal struggle, have perished in the 

 attempt ! 



Truly, if the cost of things may be taken as 

 a measure of their value, how much must this 

 dearly bought variation be worth in the Scheme 

 of Things! 



The struggle of a plant to secure adaptability 

 for its offspring does not end with the seed — it 

 only begins there. 



In the tropics, a common tree near the sea- 

 shore is the coconut palm. The coconuts which 

 we find in our market are but the inside portion 

 of the nuts as they grew on these trees. 



When they were gathered there was a fibrous 

 substance surrounding the shell an inch or two 

 in thickness — this woody fiber is often removed 

 by the shippers to cut down the cost of freight 

 and cartage. Around this excelsiorlike cover- 

 ing, as the nut grew on the tree, there was a 

 skin-tight, waterproof cover, with a smooth shiny 

 surface. 



At one end of the nut are three well-defined 

 eyes — ^very thin places in the shell. 



