LUTHER BURBANK 



Obviously such an attempt requires the co- 

 operation of collectors living in widely separated 

 regions. I wish to pay especial tribute to the faith- 

 ful service that has been rendered both by pro- 

 fessional collectors and by amateurs who knew 

 me by reputation only and who had no thought 

 of reward beyond the satisfaction of aiding in a 

 work calculated to benefit humanity at large. 



Through these collectors I have frequently 

 obtained wild plants the economic value of which 

 had never been suspected, and which might other- 

 wise have remained unknown, which, when com- 

 bined with plants already in hand proved of ines- 

 timable value in the development of new varieties 

 of great scientific interest or of practical import- 

 ance. 



Often a certain line of experiment has been 

 carried to the point where further progress seemed 

 impossible unless the plant under cultivation could 

 be effectively crossed with some new closely re- 

 lated species. And, curiously enough, just when a 

 new plant was needed — ^be it plum or blackberry 

 or solanum or poppy or walnut — ^it seemed always 

 to come from some thoughtful, perhaps unknown 

 collector living in an out of the way part of the 

 world, who appeared to have known by intuition 

 just what were the needs of the moment. 



This occurred so often that it came to be a mat- 



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