[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. But the result was not a transformation of the prune trees into plum trees.  The fruit of the tree he evolved was just a perfected prune.  He simply developed all the capability the prune had originally to be like a plum in deliciousness.

[Sidenote:  Natural Growth Without Struggle]

Note just here one very important feature of the Burbank method of plant development and change.  It did not involve any struggle or hard work on the part of his trees.  He merely provided natural, but scientifically selected conditions and food; knowing that his prunes then would grow naturally in the particular ways he wanted them to develop, and in no other ways at variance with his plan.

Perhaps the primary fault in your ineffective effort to develop yourself into the man you want to be, is that it has been a struggle. Natural growth always is easy.  Growth involves a struggle only when one or more of the means of natural growth are lacking.  Luther Burbank wished his prune trees to develop certain selected qualities of the plum.  Therefore he provided his wild prunes with the same means he had used effectively with plums to increase their lusciousness.  He knew these means should have a similar effect on prunes.  When he had provided the natural means of discriminative development, he left the rest to the natural growth of his prune trees.  They began to develop the selected plum qualities easily, and generation after generation became more and more like plums.

[Sidenote:  Two Bases Of Growth Mind and Body]

Now let us consider briefly:  first, the bases of natural, easy growth of selected man qualities; second, the processes that take place in the development of desired man qualities, some of which may not have seemed to exist previous to the evolutionary training; third, the training methods that should be employed to make these processes most effective and to produce the particular results wanted and no others.