Plants as Modified by Man

Ever since science overthrew the idea of spontaneous generation and established beyond doubt that no organism could have existence without a parent cell, the scientific world received a thunderbolt which was to be means of its' first great awakening. And as the message was heralded from one to another it arroused more careful investigation, stimulated advanced thought and opened up a new line of possibilities respecting the whole plant kingdom.

Man did not grope as hitherto in the dark trusting to uncertainness but from a more scientific basis. This was the dawn of a new era from now henceforth man was not simply to assist nature in producing endless varities, but be the actual progenitor of new creations.

I need only refer you to the excellent work of L. Burbank of Santa Rosa, California, to substantiate this statement. It is a well known fact that plants kept on the same soil and subject to the same environment for a long time become lower in vitality and less valuable for economic uses ; again,nature did not perfect her fruits and flowers to suit the fastidious taste of man but left this for him to do, and now he is exercising that right to a degree that was never dreamed of a few years ago.

[...]

With these few mile-stones to guide us in our course, dare we not predict that the day is not far distant when man workshop need no longer be chaos, but will be able to use the tools nature has placed before him from a purely scientific basis, free from all conjecture.

Why should not the horticulturist know just how to build up size, flavor, vigor and hardiness in his fruits and shrubs, and the florist know just how to proceed to unite, blende and perfect the color of his flowers, producing not only harmony, but a glorious symphony of nature's daintiest tints and shades, with just as much certainty as the artist mixes his pigments upon the palette, and the novice go on with his new creations until nature refuses to indulge him longer?