NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



work, and, while possibilities were admitted, 

 it was shunned because of the obstacles in 

 the way. Many had pronounced it incapable 

 of any satisfactory hybridization. To one of 

 Mr. Burbank's temperament the very fact 

 that possibilities were promised in the face 

 of difficulties made the outlook all the more 

 attractive; for he had found that in nature, 

 as well as in all departments of endeavor, the 

 things which are most easy of accomplishment 

 quite often are the least desirable; those 

 which are the most difficult, the ones which 

 yield the most important results. 



But here, as in so many departments, he 

 had a distinct and commanding advantage 

 over all others in the magnitude of the work. 

 He had also the advantage of a superb climate 

 and soil where lilies from different zones could 

 meet upon a common congenial plane and 

 where each one would be at its best. The 

 lilies showed an unusual tendency to depart 

 from their former life habits. Sports or 

 abnormalities were very common. Some of 

 them were valueless, save as curious testi- 

 monials to the eccentricities of Nature when 

 her life forces are disturbed and have not yet 



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