I DO A LITTLE DEBUNKING 
Success is a heady wine; few can take it and still retain their equilibrium. 
The shoemaker does not stick to his shoes but expands into an art critic; the 
movie Oomph Girl insists in giving authoritative views on literature and 
metaphysics; the lucky aviator fancies himself a great statesman, and a suc¬ 
cessful cabbage grower sneers at Mendel. After basking in the admiration of 
their fellow men, many successful persons, be they artists, scientists, plumbers, 
or mousetrap makers, begin to develop visions of grandeur and are indignant 
if someone has never heard of them, or some other person does not agree with 
them. They fail to realize that when it comes down to brass tacks the majority 
of the people don’t give a continental whether the most important persons on 
earth live or die. Under the admiring glances of garden club visitors many 
flower growers and breeders become annoyingly swell-headed. They strut 
their stuff and mysteriously hint at their breeding secrets, conveying the 
notion fhat they have stolen a march on the world’s greatest geneticists and 
plant breeders by developing their own secret formula. Such fool claims have 
always rubbed me the wrong way, so I am taking time out to debunk this game 
of flower breeding. 
Actually what is the role of plant breeder in the scheme of plant improve¬ 
ments? This can be answered by one word, selection. The breeder merely 
selects the parent plants and the progenies resulting from their union; nature 
does the rest. Anyone can rub pollen on the stigma, and it does not require 
an intellectual giant to recognize quality. A few simple rules, available to all 
who wish to learn them, are all the secrets that any plant breeder needs. The 
parent plants are provided by nature as species, and by man as named 
varieties. With these rules and tools the beginner may proceed toward success. 
But if such is the case, why don’t we have more successful brick layers, boiler 
makers, hair dressers, or tea tasters? For the same reason that only a few 
persons manage to rise above the masses. Since few are intelligently guided 
into tasks for which they are best fitted, too many misfits who would be highly 
successful in some other field of endeavor, are now cluttering our economic 
system. For instance, I would never make a carpenter because, no matter how 
hard I try, I cannot saw a board straight or drive a nail without the darn thing 
bending any old way; I would not make a singer because I cannot carry a note, 
or an artist, because I cannot draw worth a hang. And maybe you think that I 
have not tried. All of us may have been born equal, but our abilities run In 
different directions. In flower breedni'g 90 percent is knack and 10 percent 
science. The latter is available to all, but one must be born with the former. 
However being born with knack for plant breeding, playwriting, advancing 
science, accumulating wealth, or making goo-goo eyes before a camera does 
not give one the right to look down upon those who have the knack for baking 
a better loaf of bread, for digging a better ditch, for dressing tools, or making 
a better salad dressing. So, my advice to the strutting breeders is “pipe down 
and be yourselves.” 
I TAKE YOU NOW BEHIND THE SCENE 
I HAVE done plant breeding for years, yet I cannot hold candle to the real 
plant breeders. My knowledge of genetics is modest and my methods un¬ 
orthodox. I don’t care for pioneering outside of my particular field of science; 
I lack the time and the necessary facilities for an exhaustive breeding program; 
I am not a genius or a plant wizard, nor do I claim speaking acquaintance with 
supernatural forces. Consequently, in order to keep the Lyondels among the 
leading strains I had to resort to short-cuts and began where the other fellow 
left off. I took his best, mixed it with the best of others and developed a strain 
after my own notions of delphinium perfection. Year after year I continued 
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