188 Kansas Academy of Science. 



A LITTLE EXPERIMENT IN FLOWER-MAKING. 



By Grace Meeker, Ottawa. 



npHE little experiment in new flower-making which it is my 

 -^ pleasure to present to you was undertaken by Mrs. Orpha 

 Kious Davis. In the spring of 1901, she sent to Winnipeg, Manitoba, 

 for a chrysanthemum that bloomed early enough to escape the 

 frosts of that northern climate. I cannot give the name of the 

 variety which has this merit, but it is certainly a yellow-flower- 

 ing one. 



Having obtained the chrysanthemum, she planted with it plants 

 of the common wild sunflower, in the hope of obtaining a cross be- 

 tween the two. Her method of eifecting the exchange of pollen 

 was simple — she brushed the faces of the flowers together in the 

 morning "while the dew was on." The sunflowers fruited well, as 

 is their wont, and the second season ( 1902) she planted seed from 

 those plants again with the chrysanthemums. The flowers of the 

 sunflower showed a few ligulate corollas in the disk and were 

 misshaped and ugly. During this season she again brushed the 

 faces together and saved the seed for planting. 



In 1903 the results were much better; the flowers were quite 

 double ; that is, many of the tubular flowers of the disk were replaced 

 by the ligulate corollas of the chrysanthemum, but the flowers 

 were small. 



During 1904 Doctor and Mrs. Davis were at the exposition in 

 St. Louis, and nothing was done with the new flower. However, 

 an incident occurred of sufficient value to record. A friend of Mrs. 

 Davis from Bucyrus, Ohio, received three seeds of the flower which 

 Doctor Davis happened to have in his pocket. After her return 

 home, that is, this season, she planted the seeds and got excellent 

 results. Unfortunately her letter telling of her success has been 

 destroyed. 



This season (1905) seeds were planted by Mrs. Davis in her 

 flower-garden in Ottawa, and the results were wonderful. 



The plant grows about five and one-half feet high — not nearly so 

 tall as the sunflower. It branches near the ground ; the branches 

 well filled with flowers. The stalks are thick at the base — two 

 inches a fair average. The leaves retain the sunflower shape, be- 

 ing only less coarse and stiff. The flowers this year were very per- 

 fect ; the first ones large, some of them four inches across. The 



