346 LUTHER BURBANK 



ous a proposition as that hybrids are relatively 

 uniform in the first generation, and highly diver- 

 sified in the second and a few succeeding genera- 

 tions. But it must be understood that this was 

 the essential discovery that made possible a large 

 part of my successes in producing new varieties 

 by hybridization. And it must farther be 

 recalled that the facts in question were ardently 

 contested by large numbers of the leading 

 botanists and the most authoritative students of 

 hereditary theory. 



It was the demonstration made a thousand 

 times over at the experiment gardens at Santa 

 Rosa and Sebastopol that first demonstrated in 

 a comprehensive and convincing way that such 

 is the operation of the principles of heredity 

 in determining the characteristics of hybrid 

 generations. 



And, as has elsewhere been suggested, there 

 is no doubt that it was these demonstrations that 

 prepared some of my most eminent critics, 

 including Professor de Vries, to accept the Men- 

 delian statement of this proposition when it 

 came finally to their attention. 



It may be added that the subsequent history 

 of such aspects of the problem as came to be 

 associated with the name of Mendel has shown 

 curious analogy with the history of the Weiss- 



