Mulch ado about nothing

strange man, seeing Jane struggle to get out the door of the van, rushed to help her.
    “How did you do that to yourself?“ he asked.
    “An elephant pushed me off a circus van,“ Jane said. “Thank you so much for helping me.”
    The man looked astonished and said, “Wow!“
    “A circus van?“ Shelley hissed as they went up the ramp.
    “I’ve got a list of interesting answers. I knew he’d like that one better than anybody’s liked the truth.”
    The class was assembled when they entered the room. All but Ursula. Dr. Eastman, with his prize pink marigolds on display again, had just begun to speak and waited while Jane thrashed the crutches among the chairs and seated herself. Maybe she had insulted Ursula and she wasn’t coming to the class any longer, Jane thought.
    But her hopes were dashed a minute later. Ursula bustled in, speaking before she was completely in the room because a backpack strap had caught in the door. “I’m sorry to be late, but I was doing last-minute tidying of my garden. “ She smiled around the room, waiting for admiration.
    “Let’s begin now,“ Dr. Eastman said.
    Today his talk was about the patent process, using words like “taxon“ and “genotype“ and “tissue culture“ and “approach grafting. “ Jane was at sea and didn’t want to be the dummy who asked what taxon meant. Besides, the outside of her calf was itching like crazy. She pulled a pencil out of her pocket and ran the pencil down inside the cast to try to reach the itch.
    Suddenly Ursula, who’d sat behind her, reached forward and snatched the pencil from her hand. “Lead poisoning,“ she whispered just loudly enough for everyone to hear her. “Wait a minute.”
    She rummaged in one of her bags and brought up a very long, fat crochet hook with a nicely rounded tip. “Use this.”
    Jane tried to pretend to be listening avidly, while scrabbling around inside the cast, chasing the itch.
    Finally the instructor came back to plain English, saying, “The plant must remain stable in its qualities through a great many means of asexual reproduction, such as cuttings, grafting, and budding.”
    He went on, “If you’re interested in trying to get a patent, there are a number of pieces of valuable advice. One: Get early and expert confidential advice from someone who really knows plant patent law, and be prepared to pay for it.“
    “He’s trying to convince us to try this so he can make money off us,“ Shelley whispered.
    “Fat chance,“ Jane whispered back.
    “Two: Remember that country boundaries are imaginary for plants. You should look into worldwide patents and make yourself familiar with foreign catalogs. Three: Keep your work as secret as possible. Do your climatic testing with trusted professionals. Don’t give out samples to friends. And four: If someone learns of your project and offers substantial money up front for exclusive rights, run away. Plant patents on attractive plants that catch the public’s interest can make enormous profits for you if you retain your rights.”
    He glanced down fondly at the desk where his pink marigolds were sitting. “These, by the way, have been registered with the patent office and will be grown over the next two years before release to the public. I have contracts already signed with hundreds of nurseries and mail-order plant firms.“
    “In other words, you’re going to get very, very rich?“ Ursula piped up. “I hope you’ll consider using some of the money for good causes. I could suggest some to you.“
    “Thank you, but I have good causes of my own,“ Dr. Eastman said stiffly. “As I was saying, five: A well-planned full-scale introduction of the plant to the public is the only way to go. Certain companies will act as agents for you on a sliding scale of royalties. The first year is the most expensive. As much as forty percent of your royalties on the plants shipped.“
    “Forty percent for an agent?“ Stefan Eckert exclaimed. “Golly! I’m writing a textbook on educational management and I’d heard that agents only charged ten to fifteen percent.“
    “I have no knowledge of literary agents,“ Dr. Eastman said as if he were proud of this fact. “As I was saying, six: You should know a lot about your triallers. They should have experience in the plant type, be known as efficient and prompt in reporting results, and have a solid reputation for keeping confidential testing quiet.”
    Only Stefan and old Arnold Waring were taking