A BACKWARD GLANCE 



doubts which are likely to take possession of us 



at the outset. 



***** 



It may be well, at this point, however, to 

 take space to refer to the single question most 

 frequently asked by thousands of intelligent men 

 and women who have visited Mr. Burbank's 

 experiment farms. 



This question, differing in form, as the indi- 

 vidualities of the questioners differ, usually runs 

 like this: 



"If we are descendants of monkeys, why are 

 not the monkeys turning into men today?" 

 ***** 



Let us learn Mr. Burbank's answer to this 

 question by turning to the golden-yellow California 

 poppy, so called, and the three entirely new 

 poppies (illustrated here in natural colors), which 

 he produced from it. 



In order to make clear the truth which the 

 poppies prove, it is necessary to explain the 

 successive steps of the operation. 



Mr. Burbank first grew a yardful of the wild, 

 golden-yellow poppies, such as cover California's 

 hills. 



The individual poppies of this yardful — a 

 million of them, at a guess — resembled each other 

 as closely as one rose resembles another rose on 



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