ATTENTION TO ROLL CALL. 
Our field force answering to roll call. A thoroughly organized army. The foreman' standing in 
front of his men, each wearing his badge, with the general assistants and superintendent on the right. 
They come to me year after year. They are required to become experts in the work they do or quit 
the farm. We have no bickerings, no strikes. Every man is well paid and prizes his job. We always 
have more applicants than places. 
Our Staff of Foremen. 
their organism, but free from all taint of semi- 
nal exhaustion. 
These plants were set last April and the 
photograph was taken August nth. The first 
year we can only judge of the general appear- 
ance of the vegetative parts which cannot be 
seen the following spring and so after they 
have made advancement enough to show these 
qualities, those showing best are designated 
by a numbered stake and scaled by actual 
measurements. Peculiarities of foliage, 
crowns, with number of apparent fruit buds 
are noted on a decimal scale of hundredths. 
In the following spring we judge their fruit- 
ing abilities. Excessive pollenation is pre- 
vented by removing two-thirds of the blossom 
buds on each stem and the fruit' is allowed to 
set and then thinned to two or three berries 
to the stem. The gland system of the plant 
can only be judged by its performance — the 
fruit it produces. 
The size, color, texture, and form are all 
carefully noted. The question of superiority 
of the plant is not guessed at. It is a matter 
of mathematical calculation and the one show- 
ing the greatest number of points of excel- 
lence now becomes the parent of all of that 
variety. Its runner plants are transferred to 
a bed where it can be further developed and 
make runners froin which all our customers are 
furnished. They are just as truly thorough- 
bred as any animal in the land. They are ver- 
itable engines in fruit production. All their 
"valves" are perfectly adjusted by an expert of 
twenty-one years' experience. 
To make a brilliant success the purchaser 
need only to know how to put the fire (ma- 
nure) under the boiler (plant) and turn on the 
steam (tillage) and their machinery will turn 
out "Big, Red Berries" in a inanner that will 
astonish tliine eyes. 
SCIENTIFIC PLANT BREEDING. 
Ten years ago the division of Vegetable 
Physiology and Pathology of the Agricultural 
Department at Washington was a small, crude 
affair. The Bureau of Plant Breeding had not 
been established. To-day it is the leading fea- 
ture of the Agricultural Department and the 
Bureau of Plant Breeding is the most promi- 
nent feature of the division. It employs a re- 
spectable army of the world's best experts. ' 
Ten years ago there was not an Agricultural 
College in the country having special classes 
in plant breeding. To-day every college 
makes scientific development of plants a domi- 
nant feature. 
Ten years ago there was scarce a text book 
devoted to plant breeding. To-day there are a 
number of them, the best being "Plant Breed- 
ing," by Prof. L. H. Bailey, and published by 
MacMillan Co., 66 Fifth ,A.venue, New York 
city, and also other books by this eminent au- 
thor on kindred subjects. 
Ten years ago there was not a society of 
plant breeders led by scientific men in the 
world. To-day many of the states have organ- 
izations and are working astounding revolu- 
tions in corn, wheat, oats, potatoes and every 
other vegetable and fruit. 
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