FINAL SELECTION 



that will give full assurance of a capacity to select 

 with at least a large measure of success. 

 A Half Hour in the Orchard 



It is usually a surprise to any visitor who comes 

 to my orchard at a time when I am making selec- 

 tions among seedlings of many kinds to observe 

 my method. 



Many people have expressed astonishment 

 when they have seen me walk rapidly along a row 

 of plum trees saying: "Kill this one, and that one, 

 and that; save this one, and that one yonder"; 

 indicating the choice between plants to be saved 

 and those to be destroyed so rapidly that the men 

 following me can scarcely tie strings to the selected 

 ones as fast as they are chosen. 



In this way I may test from five to ten thousand 

 young trees as I walk along the row, scarcely 

 pausing for more than what seems the most casual 

 glance. But my eye takes in the important thing. 

 I know just what I am looking for. And if my 

 judgment in the matter had not proved in the main 

 good, the output from my orchard would have 

 been quite different from what it has been. 



I may recall by way of illustration an experi- 

 ence in which my selective judgment was put to a 

 practical test — no different a test, to be sure, from 

 thousands that I myself have made, but having 

 added interest because it was made by another. 



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