ON FACT VS. THEORY 



species and different genera, treated elsewhere, 

 all of which were thought to be impossible. 



It was such combinations as these which en- 

 abled him to perfect the cactus, to produce the 

 plumcot, to make the Shasta daisy— in fact, it was 

 Luther Burbank's lack of respect for man-made 

 laws, when plants told him a different story, that 

 has given the M'orld eighty per cent, of his produc- 

 tions — that has led him to ninety per cent, of his 

 discoveries in practical method. 



"The only reason," said Mr. Burbank, "that we 

 do not combine between families, and between 

 orders, and classes, is that we haven't the time." 

 ***** 



So we see that the science of plant life is not 

 an exact science, like mathematics, in which two 

 and two always equal four. It is not a science in 

 which the definite answers to specific problems 

 can be found in the back of any book. 



It is a science which involves endless experir 

 menting — endless seeking after better and better 

 results. 



Theories are good, because, if we do not permit 

 them to mislead us, they may save us time; laws, 

 and maps, and charts, and diagrams — systems of 

 classification and of nomenclature — all these are 

 good, because, if they are faulty, they still reveal 

 to us the viewpoint of some one who, with dili- 



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