HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD 



into a certain measure of fame. Some of these 

 have been working along strictly scientific 

 lines, others have been enthusiastic horticul- 

 turists or seedsmen, preeminently practical 

 and using agencies to reach certain desired 

 ends without thought of the rationale of their 

 actual instruments and methods, or any esti- 

 mate of the forces at work. These latter men 

 are artisans in plant -breeding, building in 

 many a case beautiful and important works. 

 But Mr. Burbank has not only created 

 plants and improved them upon a colossal 

 scale, but he has, at the same time, studied 

 nature with infinite patience and skill, observ- 

 ing her manifestations, analyzing her laws, 

 and defining and interpreting her functions. 

 His life-work has been primarily two-fold in 

 its sweep : First, embracing the widest possible 

 service to the world ; and, second, accomplish- 

 ing this service under the most exacting and 

 persistent adherence to scientific truth. He is, 

 in his department of life, scientist and philoso- 

 pher and plant r breeder and horticulturist 

 bound into one. He has not confined his 

 study, as other men hav^e, to a narrow field. 

 All the great experiments he has carried on 



353 



