THE POTATO AND THE POMATO 
” *” sible knowledge. He studies a thousand and 
one phases of the subject whenever he projects 
a new creation. He must know the conditions . 
under which old varieties have been produced 
and their life history; he must know the 
character of the soil, the length of season, the 
climatic conditions, the markets, and their de- 
mands. He never produces a new fruit or 
vegetable without taking clearly into account 
all these practical bearings. This adds enor- 
mously to the sum of all his labor, but it is 
precisely this which has made his creations so 
successful — he knows not only how to create 
but how to fit and adapt. This suggests some- 
thing of the tremendous demands made upon 
Mr. Burbank in the prosecution of a work of 
such great magnitude and of so diverse a 
character. 
So these new potatoes are being bred to suit 
all sorts of climate and soils. 
But there is another and vitally important 
phase of the work, the changing of the potato 
itself — making it over into a far richer vege- 
table than it has ever been before. Just as 
corn may be bred, and is being bred, to pro- 
duce a required per cent of a given element, so 
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