GENERAL METHODS OF WORK 
2. The merging of wild, or degenerate, types 
of plant life with tame, or cultivated ones, in 
order that the union may be of service to both. 
3. The creation of absolutely new forms of 
life, unknown to the world before,—the highest 
act of the plant-breeder. 
The general character of his work is in- 
cluded under two heads: 
1. Breeding.—This, in its basic meaning, _ 
consists in uniting two plants to give birth to 
a third. A thousand and one things must be 
taken into account, all accumulating through 
hereditary influences and environment, and 
reaching out through all the future life of the 
plant; but, for present consideration, the chief 
act is parental. Breeding is accomplished by 
sifting the pollen of one plant upon the stigma 
of another, this act, pollenation, resulting in 
fertilization, Nature, in her own mysterious 
ways, bringing forth the new plant. 
2. Selection——This consists in eternally 
choosing the best and rejecting the worst. 
It is co-equal in importance with breeding, 
the one supplementary to the other at all 
points. 
The breeding of plants is not a new act. 
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