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 art. 



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