LUTHER BURBANK 



legs of beetles and grasshoppers and the bones of 

 toads and frogs. 



"Is this not a more wonderful manifestation of 

 old environment, recorded within a plant in the 

 form of heredity, than even that of a bear which 

 seemed to have inherited the intelligence and skill 



to fish?" 



***** 



"To my mind," said one of the scientists, "the 

 by-product of your work is fully as interesting as 

 the work itself the viewpoint which you get on 

 the forces which control life is of even greater 

 attraction to me than the wonderful productions 

 which you have coaxed from the soil." 



"A by-product, no," said Mr. Burbank; "these 

 things are a vital part of the day's work. Heredity 

 is more a factor in plant improvement than 

 hoes or rakes; a knowledge of the battle of the 

 tendencies within a plant is the very basis of all 

 plant improvement. It is not, as you seem to think, 

 that the work of plant improvement brings with 

 it, incidentally, a knowledge of those forces. It 

 is the knowledge of those forces, rather, which 

 makes plant improvement possible." 

 ***** 



"There are really, after all, only two main 

 influences which enter into the make-up of life- 

 only two influences which we need to direct, in 



[52] 



