THE CREATION OF NEW TREES 



may be increased at will simply by breeding 

 for this one trait and by selecting with this 

 end constantly in view. Thus, a tree or a 

 whole forest, for the principle covers all, may 

 be bred to produce a vastly increased supply 

 of any one of these commodities, double and 

 treble its former amount, thereby becoming 

 immensely more valuable. So in trees whose 

 bark may be valuable for coloring matter, the 

 coloring matter may be increased at will, 

 making the tree that much more important 

 from a commercial point of view. Any de- 

 sirable attribute of a tree may be increased at 

 will. There is work enough to be done in this 

 line for the government to put at work a 

 thousand experts, and the possibilities ahead 

 of them are so great that the whole face of 

 nature might be changed by them by an in- 

 telligent, patient and systematic following of 

 breeding and selection. 



"Take the line of producing trees upon 

 which to graft others in order to hurry these 

 others onward to quicker fruitage. For exam- 

 ple, we will say a certain prune has very desir- 

 able qualities— it is high in sugar -content, 

 large in size, admirable for curing and packing. 



59 



