The Florida agriculturist., 1906-07-04

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ones, until by continued repetition in
the same line the stock becomes fix
ed in its habits in the new departure.
This result can generally be obtain
ed by raising five or six generations,
often less, often more. What salts
faction it is to know that you have
produced a fruit which shall be so
valued that its culture shall encircle
the globe and furnish better food for
millions of fellow creatures for ages
to come, or to add a new quality OF
fragrance or beauty to flower which
shall gladden. the hearts of half doz-
EN- nations, and open the way for, still
other illimitable improvements
Volumes have been written on the
subject, many of them of priceless
value to the beginner in this most
novel and delightful work, this match
ing yourself with the forces of Nature.
who allows you to achieve victory
after victory in guiding these forces
when once the requisite acquaintance
with her ways in plant life has been
attained.
To the novice l would recommend
! first of all a careful reading of Charles
Darwin's animals and Plants Under
Domestication, and his Gross and
Self Fertilization in the Vegetable
! Kingdom both veritable magazines
of knowledge on the subjects treated.
| Of course some knowledge of botany
and the scientific classification of plants
is also important, and the more thor
oughly all botanical knowledge is
drawn upon the more successful will
one be in the production of new and
beautiful flowers and useful plants,
shrubs and trees.
To secure real knowledge, it is nee
essary to listen sincerely and patient
ly to Nature, not trying to bend her to
our crude notice of how she should
perform her miracles. Be patient,
try to get at the truth always on all
subjects, do not depend wholly on
books, for knowledge thus obtained,
although useful, can never take the
place of your own personal observa-
ton and effort.
We have in our power to change
the forms, sizes, colors, fragrance and
numerous other qualities of flowers,
the size and shape of the trees and
plants which produce them, to in
crease the quantity produced, to make
them appear early or late in the sea-
son, to make tender ones frost-proof.
1t is in our power, moreover, to
mold fruits, nuts and vegetables to
almost any size, form, color or flavor
desired; to make corn, grain and
: grasses tall or short, and richer IN
starch, sugar, oil or other products
to increase the amount of sugar in
cane, beets or other sugar-producing
plants; to improve the fiavors and aro-
mas of tea, coffee, cacao, camphor,
cinnamon, cloves, and thousands OF
t other plants; to improve in every re-
t spect cotton, fax, hemp, and all other
, fiber-producing plants; to increase the
growth of timber trees, and, IN tact
, to guide the plant forces with as much
i precision as we do now the mechani-
cal and chemical forces, and with even
l more striking results I'm the advance
ment of the race.
, The improvement of a fruit, grain
: grass or vegetable of any kind, sc
: that it will ever afterward do better
1 work for man, is a matter of no small
importance l have stated how this
= NAV be accomplished by selection and
, reselection of the best, instead of by
r stupidity planting the seeds of all
. plants, good, bad and Indifferent
e Keen powers of observation are re-
/ quired in this work and quick per
S ception of slight variations.
D | have been asked to write of some
e of my creations in plant life. Ih'
g Burbank potato, one of my youth