NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



difficult for an amateur, grafter to make 

 selection from a lot of seedlings as Mr. Bur- 

 bank does, choosing the very best from a 

 hundred thousand with unerring eye, in a 

 single day's time, but it will require but 

 comparatively little training for any one who 

 is deeply interested in the work to make 

 intelligent choice between the few young trees 

 of beginning experiments as they come, 

 selecting those which are in all ways thriftier 

 and "likelier" trees. When all is said and 

 done, selection in plant - breeding is very 

 largely a matter of individual judgment, 

 backed up by the largest possible knowledge 

 attainable as to the life history and past 

 environment of the plant itself. 



Mr. Burbank offers the following sug- 

 gestions as to orchard -grafting: 



" Commence in January, if much is to be 

 done. February is probably the best month 

 on most of the Pacific coast. March is as good 

 if the grafting - wood has been well kept. 

 April is not too late, and May sometimes and 

 for some things, is a good month. One and a 

 half to two and a half inches in diameter is 

 the best grafting size of branch for old trees. 



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