278 LUTHER BURBANK 



yond any hope of conspicuous further develop- 

 ment. But in my own view what had been done 

 >vith these fruits might better be regarded as a 

 proof of their capacity for still further educa- 

 tion and development. 



In particular, I hoped, with the new material 

 then being gathered from foreign countries to be 

 able to undertake experiments in hybridizing and 

 selection that might reasonably be expected to 

 produce altogether novel results. 



How fully this expectation has been justified, 

 the reader is already partly aware. But it should 

 be recalled that the things which now seem axi- 

 omatic because they have been accomplished had 

 quite a different aspect from the standpoint of 

 the year 1885. Hybridizations that have now 

 been shown to be ready of accomplishment were 

 then regarded as quite impossible by all horticul- 

 turists who gave the matter a thought. 



As has been pointed out, the attitude among 

 botanists and horticulturists generally was one 

 of profound skepticism as to the possibility of 

 developing modified races by hybridizations, or, 

 indeed, by any means whatever within limited 

 periods of time. 



My own faith in the possibility of developing 

 new races through crossing and selection had 

 never faltered, however, since the earlier studies 



