228 LUTHER BURBANK 



which had been brought to blooming in order to 

 find the twenty thousandth which was not burned 

 — or perhaps twenty thousand rose bushes, the 

 one sought for not having been worth the saving; 

 there would be 1,500 gladiolus bulbs with market 

 value of half a dollar apiece, put in the fire after 

 the one, or the two, or the dozen best among 

 them had been selected; there would be twenty 

 thousand cactus seedlings, representing three to 

 five years of care and watchfulness, but useless' 

 now, their duty done. A ten thousand dollar 

 bonfire, indeed, without exaggeration. 



The builder of bridges can sell the lumber used 

 in his false construction for seconds; and so I 

 could profitably dispose of the elements of false 

 construction in my work — those millions of seeds 

 and bulbs and cuttings which represent second 

 bests or poorer; but every step in the process ex- 

 cepting those concerning the final result is ob- 

 literated with a ruthless hand. 



It is better to run the risk of losing a perfected 

 product, through the destruction of the elements 

 which went into it, than to issue forth to the 

 world a lot of second bests which have within 

 them the power of self-perpetuation and multi- 

 plication, and which, if we do not destroy them 

 now, will clutter the earth with inferiority or 

 mediocrity. 



