LUTHER BURBANK 



on a single fruit; and the draft on the energies of 

 the plant required to produce this large quantity 

 of concentrated germinal matter must be very 

 marked. 



So when the strawberry has been induced to 

 give up the seed-producing habit altogether, de- 

 voting its fruiting energy to the production of the 

 juicy pulp of its unique product, the plant itself 

 will advantage by the change, while at the same 

 time gaining added favor with the fruit lover. 



Not a great deal has hitherto been done toward 

 relieving the strawberry of its seeds, because hith- 

 erto the plant developer has been concerned to 

 increase the fruit itself and has given small 

 thought to the seeds or has ignored them alto- 

 gether. 



But the briefest inspection of different straw- 

 berries will show that they differ a good deal as 

 to relative abundance of seed; and there is no 

 reason to doubt that the plant developer who 

 undertakes this selective breeding with an eye to 

 the preservation of plants that show a tendency to 

 minimize the seed product, will gradually develop 

 a race of seedless strawberries. 



It appears to be quite the rule that plants 

 habitually propagated by root division or by root- 

 ing stalks or runners tend to lose their power of 

 seed production when long cultivated. The pine- 



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