166 PLANT-BREEDING 



of a biologist. As a rule, the answers covered my wishes 

 and led to the conclusion that notwithstanding the widely 

 divergent, and on some points quite opposite, methods the 

 main resuLs of practice and science are the same. 



In order to understand the land of evidence which will 

 be discussed here, it is necessary to have a clear idea of what 

 a visitor can see on the farms. As soon as Mr. Burbank has 

 originated a new kind of useful or ornamental tree, flower, 

 fruit, or vegetable, he sells it to one of the great seedsmen, 

 florists, and nurserymen with whom he is in constant relation- 

 ship. They take the whole stock, multiply it and offer it 

 to the trade. They buy the exclusive right of selling the 

 new variety, and nothing of it is left on the farms of Burbank. 

 Hence it follows that a visitor cannot expect to have a sur- 

 vey of the achievements that have already been made. There 

 is no collection of these in living condition. One may 

 study the- commercial catalogues of Burbank or inspect his 

 numerous photographs, but the perfected varieties themselves 

 are no longer there. 



On the other hand, the visitor to the experiment-farms 

 will become acquainted with the novelties destined for the 

 immediate future. Burbank will explain to him his aim and 

 his hopes as well as the methods by which he expects to 

 fulfil them. The future, however, is uncertain, and the 

 real value of a novelty can be judged only after some years 

 have elapsed after its introduction into general culture. 

 The spineless cactus opens the brightest prospects for the 

 cultivation of the arid deserts, but the trial to determine 

 whether it will succeed under those unfavorable conditions 

 and will reward the expenses of its cultivation must still be 

 made. So it is in many other cases too. Burbank himself 

 is the most exacting judge of his productions and insists 

 that they shall stand all tests of culture and trade and shall 

 survive such exacting trial or perish. 



