LUTHER BURBANK 



factors shall be combined in building the new 

 organism. 



Suppose, now, that the particular case that is 

 before us is that which arises when some colossal 

 plant-developer with his crude manipulations has 

 succeeded in transferring a pollen grain of a 

 thorny bramble that bears white berries to the 

 pistil of a thornless bramble that bears black 

 berries, and that the respective nuclei of pollen- 

 grain and ovule have come together. 



The elfin architects compare notes, inspect their 

 respective blue prints and charts and tables of 

 specifications, and set to work. For a time they 

 get on very well. There are factors for general 

 size and foliage and form of plant; for time of 

 flowering and appearance of flower cells; for root 

 system and shape of leaf and shape of future 

 fruit, and a multitude of other details in regard to 

 which there is perfect agreement. In all these 

 cases the factor that A represents fits perfectly 

 into the factor that B represents, and the work of 

 building the future plant goes on apace. 



But presently, as they have built upward from 

 the root and outward from the center, they come 

 to the specifications for texture of stem. 



And here at once there is disagreement. 



Elf A finds that his specifications call for a 

 thorny stem, but the factor that elf B represents 



[294] 



