NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 
The seeds from the first united flower were 
not more than six or eight in number. These 
were sown, and from the plants which grew 
only the very best and those approaching the 
ideal were chosen, so that at the second stage 
of the test there were probably fifty seeds. 
This, of course, gave a greatly enlarged num- 
ber in the progression, and soon there were a 
hundred thousand seeds, all having come from 
plants which had been selected from their 
fellows. These hundred thousand seeds were 
sown in a box of earth about ten feet 
square, at the home grounds at Santa Rosa. 
Great precautions have to be taken to prevent 
the birds and other pests, as gophers, moles, 
and worms from doing damage, as well as to 
provide against various plant diseases. One 
gopher or one flock of thievish birds may 
undo in an hour the work of years. 
As soon as the plants were large enough to 
transplant, they were taken up and set out 
again at Sebastopol on a plot of ground an 
acre or more in extent. The ground had been 
the scene of many another wonderful experi- 
ment; for the earth at Sebastopol is no sooner 
relieved of one absorbingly interesting test 
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