LUTHER BURBANK 



similar appearance, the one that seems to him the 

 choice of the entire lot; and then in succession the 

 second and third and fourth best, until he has 

 chosen possibly six or eight individuals out of a 

 group of hundreds or thousands. 



These six or eight individuals will be preserved 

 for use in further experiments. They are the ones 

 with which the attempt to improve the variety to 

 which they belong will be carried out. 



And the ultimate success of the entire experi- 

 ment in plant breeding will very largely be deter- 

 mined by the perspicacity with which the selection 

 of these few individuals was made. Nor can we 

 doubt that it must often happen, in the case of the 

 seedlings as in that of the cattle, that after the final 

 selection has been made there remain, unknown 

 to the experimenter and in contravention of his 

 judgment, better plants among those rejected than 

 any one that he has chosen. 



It could not be otherwise when we consider 

 the large numbers involved, the variety of plant 

 characteristics, and the great diversity of traits 

 represented in a single generation of hybridized 

 seedlings. Yet, on the other hand, experience 

 should enable the experimenter to choose with a 

 relative degree of certainty, and it is possible to 

 acquire a degree of skill, based on careful obser- 

 vation of the minute details of plant structure, 



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