CHAPTER III 



HYBRIDS 



ANIMAL breeders have been reported recently as 

 occurring in the proportion of one tenth of one per 

 cent of the number of people devoted to the subject 

 of mechanical progress in this country. Plant breed- 

 ers at the present time, while smaller in numbers than 

 animal breeders, are so rapidly enlarging their field 

 that they may pass the animal breeders and in a way 

 approach the number of those engaged in mechanical 

 progress. This at any rate might fairly belong to the 

 history of civilization in connection with the develop- 

 ment of food supplies. Experiments in nut culture 

 have thus far been carried on largely by means of 

 private capital or small government appropriations. 

 Let us imagine that ten wealthy men in this country 

 have relatives patiently waiting for them to pass 

 away and leave money which will be spent to no 

 good purpose. Any one of these men may make 

 his name immortal by endowing nut culture at this 

 time of its rapid expansion and need. Robert de 

 Sorbonne was only one of many rich men in Europe 

 in 1650. How many of these wealthy men in that 

 period do we know about? He made his name im- 



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