Pestle, Used by Luther Burbank, circa 1910

Famous plant breeder Luther Burbank (1849-1926) likely used this wooden pestle with a mortar to grind a selection of saved seeds to determine their quality. This helped breeders anticipate the rate at which seeds saved from one year's crop would germinate during the next growing season. Today plant geneticists may use a mortar and pestle to grind plant tissue to extract DNA.