Scientific Aspects of l^uther Burbank' s Work 



be perpetuated and increased at will. Simple, is it 

 not ? No, it is anything but that in the reality of 

 doing it; but in the scientific aspects of it, easily 

 understandable. 



Perhaps it may not be amiss to call attention to 

 what must be the familiar knowledge of most of 

 us, and that is the fact that many (probably most) 

 cultivated plants must be reproduced by division, 

 that is by cuttings, buds or grafts, and not by seeds, 

 in order to grow 'true.' For a piece of a cultiva- 

 ted plant will grow out to be very much like the 

 individual it was cut from, but the seeds will not, 

 in most cases, reproduce faithfully the parents, but 

 will produce a very variable lot of individuals, 

 most of them strongly reversionary in character. 

 Grow peach trees from the stones of your favorite 

 peach and see what manner of peaches you get; 

 but if you want to be sure of more peaches like 

 the ones you enjoy, graft scions from your tree on 

 to other trees. Indeed one of the plant-breeder's 

 favorite methods of making a start for new things, 

 of getting the requisite beginning wealth and 



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