HORTICULTURE AND PLANT IMPROVEMENT 7 



also that the story is not yet complete, but that even today 

 the process of domestication and of plant improvement is 

 going on. 



There is a division of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture known as the 

 Division of Foreign Plant and Seed Introduction, whose work 

 it is to search for new and promising plants the world over. 

 The interior of China, the wilds of Africa, the continent of 

 South America have all yielded new forms to our list of culti- 

 vated plants. No corner of the globe is so inaccessible or so 

 remote as to escape the vigilance of the explorers for new 

 plant material. 



9. American wild plants. America has contributed many 

 plants to the horticulture of the world. The origin of the 

 Concord grape is narrated in a later chapter. The native 

 plums, apples, and berries have been drawn on largely for 

 new and better varieties and as yet the possibilities have not 

 been exhausted. The conditions in America are different 

 from those existing in the Old World; and plant forms are 

 being developed to meet the needs of the continent. 



THE PROCESS OF IMPROVEMENT 



The question arises: Is plant improvement a matter of 

 chance, or can it be controlled by man? Does nature work 

 blindly to produce better forms, or may the intelligence of the 

 skilled manipulator and student have an influence in it? 

 Fortunately for the horticulturist, the work of plant improve- 

 ment can be controlled and directed to a large degree by skill 

 and study; and chance and "luck" play a part the impor- 

 tance of which is constantly diminishing as time goes on. 



10. Darwin. The studies of Charles Darwin mark the 

 greatest contribution made in the nineteenth century to the 

 subject of origins, and of variation in plants and animals. 

 Darwin was born at Shrewsbury, England,, February 12th, 

 1809. This same year marked the birth of two other great 



