A BACKWARD GLANCE 297 



energy — into the chemical reactions — into the 

 vibrations which manifest themselves to us as 

 sound, heat, light — into electricity and those 

 manifestations whose discovery is more recent, 

 and whose nature is less well understood. 



The more we observe the phenomena in our 

 own fields of activity, the more we realize the 

 futility of trying, in a single lifetime, to explore 

 infinity. 



The more content we feel, instead, to learn 

 as much as we can that is useful and prac- 

 tical of the single strand of life's thread which 

 has to do more immediately with the thing in 

 hand. 



"What do you put into the soil to make your 

 cannas so fine?" 



"How often do you take up the bulbs of your 

 gladioli?" ^ \ 



"How late do you keep your tender plants 

 under glass?" 



These, and a hundred others of their kind, are 

 the questions which visitors at the experiment 

 farm are continually asking. 



It is not that we do not appreciate the impor- 

 tance of cultivation. 



But the questioners fail to realize that our 

 work has been with the insides of plants and not 

 with the externals. 



