Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-12-10

plant breeding and If that knowledge
were only directed, trained and stimu-
lated, within very few years 1t
could be paying tremendous dividends
much larger than now.
Plant breeding is accomplished in
several ways; but mainly by intelli-
gent seed selection, and the encour-
agement of intelligent seed selection is
the principal aim of the association;
but not all. 1t is hoped that there will
be defined more general knowledge of
what science has learned as to graft
ing, crossing, etc. The members of the
organization believe that there are as
much good brains in South Carolina as
elsewhere and while they do not expect
to interest everybody in plant breeding,
they believe that they may succeed in
interesting many Of the people, who by
nature and education are best fitted
for the work and they have hopes of
the general results that would follow.
Luther Burbank is generally and
commonly referred to as the plant
wizard. 1t is because he has worked
so many seeming miracles on and with
plants and constituted SO immeasur-
ably to the wealth, pleasure and hap
piness of mankind. But Luther Bur-
bank despises the name Of wizard,
because he knows that there Is nothing
even mysterious about his achieve
ments. He is not inclined to admit
that he has done anything remarkable,
All that he is willing to concede Is,
that by close study and communion
with nature, he has discovered some
simple secrets that have enabled him
to improve some plants tremendously
and bringing about the creation of
others. The most that Burbank has
ever done has been through intelligent
seed selection. He has taken a given
plant, selected and planted the best
seed year after year until he has de-
yeloped more perfect specimens. or
course he has excelled In and along all
lines Of plant breeding, but In none OF
the things that he has done, will he
admit that there was more real diff
ficulty in them than in the simple pro-
cess of seed selection.
Every farmer in the county who can
read, knows of the improved varieties
of cotton that have been produced In
the last fifty years. and that the i'm
provement has been brought about
mainly by seed selection. 1t was In
this way that Mr.. David R. Coker has
improved the cotton in Darlington
county. mainly around Hartsville. un-
til Darlington county cotton now brings
more money by hundreds Of thousands
of dollars than the same number Of
pounds of the kind grown a few years
ago would bring.
OF course plant breeding is a slow,
tedious process; but since any intelli-
gent individual can do 1t by careful,
persistent effort look how much genu-
inc intellectual pleasure there is in
prospect, and how much profit. Where
is there greater happiness and what Is
more ennobling than this thing of actu-
ally getting down close to nature? The
pecuniary rewards are almost always
great; but those who are most success
ful in pursuits of this kind almost in
variably reach a point where they es-
TEEN the pleasure and happiness 1t
gives them more than they do the pc
cuniary rewards.
We are not calling on everybody to
join in this movement. We recognize
that there are people and people, and
almost as many tastes as there are
people. There are lots of farmers
pretty good farmers-who care moth
ing for plant breeding and who do not
believe they could become interested;
but there are others who feel an inter-
est and who would like to know a great
deal more than they know now. We
hope that as soon as there is call for
the organization of York county, all the
people who are interested and who are
in a position to do so, will join In the
movement.