Man a Creator 55 



Agriculture to be adding to the wealth of the 

 nation by its increased productivity some 

 seventeen millions of dollars annually. These 

 are but a few instances of his many successes. 



Burbank hybridizes by wholesale rather 

 than by wise forethought and takes his chances 

 on getting the hoped-for union of characters. 

 His skill seems to consist in judging what 

 seedling plants in thousands have the combina- 

 tion of desired characteristics in such form that 

 their progeny will perpetuate them. Such a 

 method frequently entails the destruction of 

 acres of hybrids that do not manifest a valuable 

 reunion of features. Burbank's remarkable 

 knack of achievement has been duplicated by 

 other experimenters who are more scientific in 

 their methods and strictly dependent on the 

 advance made in our knowledge of the law of 

 heredity. 



A few years ago the prairie lands of the 

 Canadian Northwest territories were thrown 

 open to settlers. It was soon discovered that 

 these' fertile lands were capable of producing 

 enormous wheat crops, quite equal to those 



