LUTHER BURBANK 



We may take it as a rule, almost, that a habit, 

 once fixed, hardens: that a trait, once established, 

 grows stronger and stronger. 



The easiest way, therefore, is to work with 

 heredit}^ and not against it — to spend a month 

 searching out a desirable trait or habit, rather 

 than to spend a year or a decade trying to 

 overcome an undesirable one. 



***** 



And, now, to a practical experiment. 



From almost any seed house we may procure 

 the seeds of two African wild flowers. One is the 

 African orange daisy, the other a white daisy of 

 the same fainilj'. 



The orange daisy is a sun-loving flower, as its 

 beautiful, rich tint clearly testifies. 



The white daisy, by its whiteness, shows equally 

 unmistakable evidence of an ancestry which has 

 preferred the shade. 



"Bright colored flowers," said Mr. Burbank, 

 "are almost invariably those which have grown 

 in the sun. White flowers are either those which 

 bloom at night, or which, if blooming in the day 

 time, have stayed in the shade." 



"Because the sun reacts with the soil to produce 

 bright colors, while the shade does not?" was 

 asked. 



"No," replied Mr. Burbank. "I prefer to believe 



[146] 



