238 LUTHER BURBANK 



The lines of selection should look to the pro- 

 duction of a plant with large fine roots, or for a 

 reduction of bitterness, which is the most objec- 

 tionable quality of this plant. 



To anyone who has given little thought to the 

 subject it may seem more or less absurd to talk 

 of the development of useful qualities in such 

 weeds as these. But whoever has a clear concep- 

 tion of the extent to which the vegetables now in 

 our gardens have improved under cultivation will 

 see possibilities in the thistle and the burdock 

 that are not revealed to casual inspection. 



Poisonous plants like the tomato and the potato 

 have been made wholesome within comparatively 

 recent times. 



The thistle and burdock have no poisonous 

 principle. Some species are wholesome and not 

 unpalatable even in their wild state, and all that 

 is required is to accentuate the good qualities the 

 plants already possess to make them worthy of 

 membership in the coterie of garden vegetables. 



It should not be forgotten that 

 all of our present garden plants 

 were at one time wild, and that to 

 the wild we must look for countless 

 new garden plants in the future. 



