The Old Way— and the New 



YEARS ago farming and gardening were *liit or miss" 

 performances. Farmers tried methods because some- 

 one else had used them, and but few knew the reasons for 

 any of the operations. 



The old way of planning an orchard, a vegetable garden, 

 or a flower garden was to look over a catalogue and order 

 half a dozen of this or a half a dozen of that, especially if 

 the name was attractive^ without asking any questions or 

 gaining information as to whether the varieties selected 

 were adapted to the region where they were to be grown. 

 And the old way was to accept the form of plants or trees 

 as they tended to grow, with little or no attempt to change 

 them. 



But the new way is to select varieties with the utmost 

 care., paying heed to questions of soil and climate, introduc- 

 ing only such varieties as are adapted to the conditions that 

 must be met. 



There is a new i^leasure and captivating purpose in 

 farming and gardening through growing plants for more 

 than beauty and usefulness — through growing them to 

 make them take on valuable new forms. The modern plant 

 grower is by no means content to leave everything to nature 

 — he takes a hand himself and helps nature produce the 

 forms or qualities he desires. 



One can hardly pick up the day's paper without seeing 

 new evidence of the present-day interest in plant experi- 

 mentation. In this modern progressive trend, Luther 

 Burbank is by far the foremost exponent. In the field of 

 plant culture and plant improvement he has no peer either 

 in popularity or accomplishment. But there are also grati- 

 fying indications that, more and more^ others working in the 

 manner of Burbank are producing results that rival even 

 the great plant wizard's accomplishments in particular 

 instances. 



Burbank's ways are nature's ways, in which suc- 

 cess comes to tliose who follow them most closely. 



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