NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 
any one. No one was to know what he was 
engaged in until such time as he had some- 
thing to show for it. 
As he had opportunity, he read such few 
practical books on botany and the breeding of 
plants as he could find, but these, save in some 
matters of nomenclature and detail, were of 
little aid to him. He soon found out that he 
stood face to face with Nature, and only 
from her lips could he learn her secrets. 
He read Darwin among other scientists, 
and was greatly interested in the Origin of 
Species. In his own mind were developing, at 
the same time, important theories, which must 
be noted in a later chapter. Even as he 
worked the hardest, and all unknown to him- 
self in large measure, his own mind was being 
broadened and deepened. He saw before him 
now something of the possibilities of plant 
creation—his vision was strong and true, 
his perspective never distorted. 
There came another red-letter day in his 
calendar. It was the day when he came to the 
formal decision that he would give up his 
nursery business and devote his entire time 
and energies to plant-breeding. As soon as his 
18 
