352 LUTHER BURBANK 



experiments closely comparable to those that 

 Mendel had performed with the pea. 



Both of these plants are normally self- 

 fertilized, their stamens and pistils being in- 

 closed in receptacles that are never opened and 

 made accessible to insects or subject to wind 

 pollination. 



This makes the hand pollenization of the 

 plants a rather tedious and delicate task. 



But once this is effected, further experiments 

 are greatly facilitated by the fact that there is 

 no special danger of unintended cross-pollenizing 

 — in other words, the plants of the second and 

 subsequent generations will normally inbreed 

 and thus reveal hereditary potentialities with- 

 out further attention from the experimenter; 

 whereas with most other plants of another habit 

 it is necessary to guard constantly against cross- 

 fertilization. 



