permaculture

["georg parlow" <georg@email-me.at>]

> for fun, when these bloom, I'm going to cross them with the Opuntia ficus
> indica (regular ol' mildly thorny "prickly pear") that I have and know to
> be very cold-tolerant. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to report a
> thornless, hardy variety. Who knows...? While I was at the Gardens, I
> picked up a fallen cactus fruit, the seeds from which will be a random
> cross of two Burbank varieties. We'll see what that yields.

reportedly burbank (and propably all successful breeders?) planted
tenthousands of seedlings of his chance crossings (surely intuition at
play), and part of his talent was to scan them quickly (spent only seconds
or less with each one) and cull 99.9% - or else you will need a looong time
and lots of space...  - but leaving the rest of the world with a new or an
improved economic plant is certainly one of the most valuable things a human
can achieve. go for it!

georg