LUTHER BURBANK 



named to be each in its way without a rival. Each 

 of the four has certain points of excellence, to 

 meet the requirements of a different market. But, 

 as a group, the four stand in a class by themselves. 

 And in token that this is not a matter of 

 accident, let me recall that in the production of 

 these four plums selection has been made, in the 

 course of successive generations, from not fewer 

 than a million seedlings. Perhaps this bald state- 

 ment will serve, in connection with what is else- 

 where told of methods, to give a fairly vivid 

 impression of the work involved in the attempt 

 to develop a perfect plum. 



We must strive to produce 

 in a few decades, changes com- 

 parable to those that had been 

 wrought in the course of cen- 

 turies through unconscious 

 selection by many peoples 

 under widely diversified 

 climates and conditions. 



