COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF THE WORK 
existence, but time enough must elapse for it 
to become thoroughly fixed in its new ways 
so that it will not revert to some former 
condition of inefficiency. 
Then, too, when all this has been accom- 
plished, it still must stand the test of the 
orchard, the shipper, the dealer and the 
consumer. It must be grown, too, by the 
average fruit-grower under average conditions. 
As has elsewhere been noted, Mr. Burbank 
fits the new fruit, in so far as he possibly can, 
for just these average conditions, so that when 
it goes out from under his care he is willing to 
trust it to the world. But no human being 
can tell what the commercial outcome of a 
new fruit will be. It may have undoubted 
superiority over others of its class, but it may 
not at once catch the popular fancy. It may 
fall into the hands of some one who for one 
and another reason does not care to push it 
forward; possibly not until some other favorite 
has run its course. Then, again, a new fruit 
may require a special and particular handling 
in its shipment or in some other feature of its 
life, and unless the conditions are carefully 
complied with the best results will not come, 
269 
