LUTHER BURBANK 



If the fruit grower could gain such information 

 as this in advance, thus planting only the hardier 

 individuals and subsequently making selection of 

 the best among these, he might obviously hope to 

 advance with greater rapidity. And as the task 

 at best is a tedious one, the plant developer should 

 welcome any aid that may be offered, from 

 whatever source. 



As yet, however, we have no assurance that 

 definite assistance can be given us by the micro- 

 scopisls. It may be that the physical conditions 

 that determine hardiness or sensitiveness in the 

 flower are dependent on molecular arrangements 

 that lie far beyond the limits of microscopic 

 vision. 



In that case, we shall be obliged to depend 

 upon the old method of selection, picking out 

 plants that have proved somewhat hardier than 

 their fellows, and being on the alert at all stages 

 to discover the correlations as to color or form of 

 stem or leaf that are associated with hardiness of 

 blossom, that these may aid us in making early 

 selection among our seedlings. 



Seeking Aid From the Plum 



I have said that the plant experimenter who 

 attempts to give us a race of apricots with blos- 

 soms resistant to cold can perhaps expect little aid 

 from crossing the existing varieties of apricot. 



[254] 



