﻿Production 
  of 
  Double 
  Flowers 
  503 
  

  

  brightest 
  heads 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  beautiful 
  double 
  

   commercial 
  varieties 
  of 
  composites. 
  Even 
  the 
  

   best 
  white 
  camomiles 
  (Chrysanthemum 
  ino- 
  

   dorum) 
  and 
  the 
  gold-flowers 
  or 
  garden-mari- 
  

   golds 
  (Calendula 
  officinalis) 
  do 
  not 
  come 
  nearer 
  

   to 
  purity 
  since 
  they 
  always 
  have 
  scores 
  of 
  little 
  

   tubular 
  florets 
  between 
  the 
  rays 
  on 
  their 
  disks. 
  

  

  Real 
  atavists 
  or 
  real 
  reversionists 
  were 
  seen 
  

   no 
  more 
  after 
  the 
  first 
  purification 
  of 
  the 
  race. 
  

   I 
  have 
  continued 
  my 
  culture 
  and 
  secured 
  last 
  

   summer 
  (1903) 
  as 
  many 
  and 
  as 
  completely 
  

   doubled 
  heads 
  as 
  previously. 
  The 
  race 
  has 
  at 
  

   once 
  become 
  permanent 
  and 
  constant. 
  It 
  has 
  of 
  

   course 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  of 
  fluctuating 
  variability, 
  

   but 
  the 
  lower 
  limit 
  has 
  been 
  worked 
  up 
  to 
  about 
  

   34 
  rays, 
  a 
  figure 
  never 
  reached 
  by 
  the 
  grandi- 
  

   florum 
  parent, 
  from 
  which 
  my 
  new 
  variety 
  is 
  

   thus 
  sharply 
  separated. 
  

  

  Unfortunately 
  the 
  best 
  flowers 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  

   best 
  individuals 
  of 
  my 
  race 
  are 
  wholly 
  barren. 
  

   Selection 
  has 
  reached 
  its 
  practical 
  limit. 
  Seeds 
  

   must 
  be 
  saved 
  from 
  less 
  dense 
  heads, 
  and 
  no 
  

   way 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  of 
  avoiding 
  it. 
  The 
  ray- 
  

   florets 
  are 
  sterile, 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  wild 
  species, 
  and 
  

   when 
  growing 
  in 
  somewhat 
  large 
  numbers 
  on 
  

   the 
  disk, 
  they 
  conceal 
  the 
  fertile 
  flowers 
  from 
  

   the 
  visiting 
  insects, 
  and 
  cause 
  them 
  also 
  to 
  be 
  

   sterile. 
  The 
  same 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  best 
  cul- 
  

   tivated 
  forms. 
  Their 
  showiest 
  individuals 
  are 
  

  

  