LUTHER BURBANK 



Lacking the selecting hand of the plant devel- 

 oper, which could ruthlessly rout out these unde- 

 sirables, the net result of the hybridizing experi- 

 ment would have been to produce a vast colony 

 of brambles far less desirable on the average than 

 their parent forms. 



America, the Melting Pot of Nations 



Making the application, it becomes at least a 

 very serious question as to whether the recent 

 altogether unprecedented influx of immigrants of 

 many widely divergent races — ^notably those that 

 have come from the Mediterranean region and 

 Southeastern Europe, from various provinces of 

 Russia, and from the Far East — are not supplying 

 material that, blended with the existing American 

 stock, may produce results as startling and on the 

 whole of as doubtful value as those produced 

 among plants when widely hybridized. 



A certain admixture of new strains of these 

 varied races might not be without its advantages. 

 It has been urged that there are qualities of tem- 

 perament associated with a love of music and the 

 arts characterizing the Latin races, for example, 

 that might advantageously be mingled with the 

 somewhat cold and practical temperament of the 

 American race, to give it a new quality, just as 

 new flavors are bred into the racial strains of 

 plums or pears or peaches. 



[232] 



