54 LUTHER BURBANK 



not to create or overturn, but only to have a 

 slight selective and directive influence in the 

 great Scheme of Plant Evolution. 



Foundations of Heredity 



We have viewed in detail the story of the 

 development of the different fruits, and have 

 observed many anomalous products. 



We have witnessed the creation of new 

 species, and have seen that rules applying to 

 the hybridizing of certain forms appear to be 

 quite abandoned in the hybridizing of others. 



But of course we know that the underlying 

 principles are everywhere the same, and that 

 seeming divergences in their application to dif- 

 ferent species are but modifications of the same 

 laws to meet varying conditions. The wise plant 

 developer must be able to look beneath the sur- 

 face and discover the underlying harmonies. 

 Otherwise he will often make mistaken inter- 

 pretations, and will perhaps give up an experi- 

 ment when the goal was just within reach. 



Perhaps it may be helpful if now, by way of 

 summary, we review in their broader outlines 

 a few of the principles that have been illustrated 

 by specific cases in the preceding volumes, and 

 offer an added word of explanation that may be 

 of aid to the general reader in clarifying his 



