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“But this educability of the higher mammals and birds is, after
all, quite limited.  Conservatism still continues in fashion. 
One generation is much like another.  It would be easy for foxes
to learn to climb trees, and many a fox might have saved his
life by so doing; yet quick-witted as he is, this obvious device
has never occurred to him.”  The vital problem with parents is
how to fill this period of plasticity, how to provide an
educative environment of the right kind.  Luther Burbank, in
“The Training of the Human Plant,” expresses complete confidence
in the power of the environment through appropriate training to
fashion the normal child, just as he could a plant, into a most
delightful and beautiful specimen of its kind.  He says:  “Pick
out any trait you want in your child, granted that he is a
normal child, be it honesty, fairness, purity, lovableness,
industry, thrift, what not.  By surrounding this child with
sunshine from the sky and yo