Desire, will, and persistence were but preliminary steps
toward the complete accomplishment of his purpose with the prune.
[Sidenote: Luther Burbank's Method]
Burbank worked out in his mind and by actual experiments _distinctive
methods_ of development--_development and changes along particular,
definite lines._ He selected for the prune he _wanted to produce,_ (an
imagined, ideal prune) certain desirable qualities of the plum--the best
plum characteristics. He studied _what produced these particular
qualities in plums_. Then with his exact, scientific knowledge of the
_similarity in nature_ of the plum and the prune, and his equally
definite knowledge of the _differences in their characteristics_,
supplemented by his knowledge of _exactly what produced_ the difference
in the two fruits, he started his experiments with natural prune trees.
He led specimens through a pre-determined scientific process of
training. He succeeded in getting his experimental prune trees to
develop discriminatively, almost as if they had the power of choice,
_particular plum qualities in preference to others.
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