'/■///•; >/''>/:) OF rill-: i:i:h >i wri.ow i:/: 



till' li\lii'i(ls wiili tilt' praiiif simllowrr. 

 wliirli soiiu' hotaiiisls h;i\c rciiardcd as 

 a (lisliiicl >|icci('>. Ncmt! licli'>-. cxm 

 where there is aliuiKhiiil nr ,-iilllrieiiI 

 fertility, eoinplex ei'osses hreak u|t inl" 

 a llUlllhel' of (litTerellt t\|ies when 



|)i'()|ta_i;'ate(l hy <{'rt\. and are ea|iahle id' 

 heini:' extraeled pure only after lalmr 

 exteiidini: (i\('i' M'vei'al years. This is 

 why apjiles eannot he iiroiiapitcd sue- 

 eosfully hy seed. althi)U_ii"h the vai-ieties 

 are readily |>reserved and >|iread 

 throniih graftin<:'. haldias. which can 

 he projiagated V('«ii'tatively hy means of 

 tiihers, ]M)sses8 many constant varieties. 

 althoii<ih tliese same \arieties would 

 rarely eoine ti'ue tViun ^cnl. Could we 

 inereaso the annual >unllower in the 

 same manner as the daidia. we should 

 now liave ahout fifty distinct and ree- 

 o^jnizahlo horticultural forms, any oi- 

 all of wliich could he ]ilaced on the mar- 

 ket. Three s])Ocics-liyhrids are illus- 

 trated, the (innuiis parent hoing in each 

 ca.-e a red variety. On ])a,<i(> 41 the 

 I'ight-hand figui'e shows an niniuux x 

 iirfjoplii/llus cross. //. (irf/oiilii/lliishcnng, 

 a rohust plant from Texas, remarkahlo 

 for its white silky pubescence. The 

 hyhrid shows the silky character dis- 

 tinctly, and is a vei-y pretty thing. The 

 //. finnuii.-t X ar(/(i/)li i/lhi>! hyhrid was in- 

 dependently produced liy Sazyjierow in 

 Russia, in this case witli the object of 

 obtaining a plant resistant to rust and 

 other diseases. 'J^he left-hand figure on 

 the same ])age rej)resents the cross //. 

 (in nuns X cucinnerifoUus, the latter 

 being also a species from Te.xas, but 

 small and branclied. The IT. nicuineri- 

 foliu.-t used were cultivated forms. A 



.-iniilar cross, except that the (iiiiiiiiis 

 u>ri\ was not I'cd. had heeii made |)i'evi- 

 "Misly in I'lurope. //.iiiniilils ■ iirlialn- 

 ris. new in lit 1 ;. j^ shown on page |(i. 

 It i> a heanl iful plant, nnidi hrandieil 

 and with niiuhTiui- licad>. Il remains 

 ill lull llowcr later than the common 

 >unllow I'r. 



The remaining figures show dill'ercin 

 variations of the //. (iinniiis t \ pe. -onic 

 peculiar for the foi-ni of the ra\>. oihci-s 

 foi- the color and markings. Marking 

 factors, which control the distribution 

 of the colors, are iii(le])endent of the 

 color factors, and may be inherited 

 thi'ough plants which have no i-ed in 

 the rays at all. Thus, although //. 

 petiolaris is without red, it has a \cv\ 

 distinct pattei'u or marking factor. 

 which appears in the hybrids with the 

 red annuiis as a red ring at the bases 

 of the rays. 



Sunflowers are eulti\atei| very easily, 

 aiul anyone may experiment with them. 

 When carrying on breeding experi- 

 ments, it is necessary to jjut bags on 

 the flower heads before tlic flowers 

 o})en. and carry tlie pollen to the flow- 

 ers by hand, repeating the operation 

 several times on each head. If this is 

 not done, bees bring ])ollen to the flow- 

 ers, and it is impossible to tell which 

 varieties the pollen parents belong to. 

 In Colorado, at least, we find it neces- 

 sary to bag the heads at the seeding 

 stage also, to protect them from the 

 birds. 



All the work in breeding suntlow'ers 

 ha> been done by my wife, who has de- 

 voted her summers to it for a numbei- 

 of years past. 



