156 LUTHER BURBANK 



On the experiment farm at Sebastopol there 

 grow two ordinary-looking pear trees which am- 

 plify the thought. 



One of these trees produces abundantly aro- 

 matic, luscious, easily digested pears — a delight 

 to the eye and to the palate. 



The other produces hard but juicy pears which 

 never become mellow and uncooked are as indi- 

 gestible as the quince before I commenced its 

 improvement. 



Looking at these trees side by side, it would be 

 difficult for the common observer to realize that 

 their fruit could be so diflPerent. In their fruit 

 alone do they differ. 



Since these two pear trees illustrate an impor- 

 tant point, let us begin at the beginning: 



It was in Eurasia, some two thousand years 

 ago, that man first perhaps realized that the pear 

 fruit was good to eat. 



Coming to us, then, out of the obscurity, the 

 pear, during these twenty centuries, has spread 

 to the east and to the west, until it has com- 

 pletely encircled the globe — a slow process, but 

 one which takes place in every desirable fruit 

 which is discovered or produced. 



As Europe became more and more settled, the 

 pear kept pace with the invaders. It followed 

 them to the British Isles, it followed them across 



