Scientific Aspects of huther Bur bank's Work 



vegetables is checked, because in our carelessness 

 we have allowed these kinds to get into that condi- 

 tion of seedlessness which almost all cultivated races 

 tend toward when grown from cuttings. In our 

 oranges and grape-fruit and in a score of other 

 fruits, the elimination of seeds is exactly one of 

 the modifications we have bred and selected for, 

 in order to make the fruits less troublesome in their 

 eating. But when we lose the seeds entirely of a 

 whole group of related plant kinds we may find 

 ourselves, as we have found ourselves actually in 

 many cases, at the end of our powers of ameliora- 

 tion of these plant sorts. Burbank believes that 

 the very fact that plants when grown asexually 

 always sooner or later lose their power to produce 

 seeds is almost sufficient proof (if such proof is 

 needed) that acquired characters are transmitted. 



Another of Burbank' s open secrets of success 

 is the great range of his experimentation — nothing 

 is too bold for him to attempt, the chances of fail- 

 ure are never too great to frighten him. And 

 another secret is the great extent, as regards 



98 



