NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



well as the span of the whole flower, are im- 

 portant. The object of these measurements is 

 to find the plants which are coming nearest 

 to the ideal in his mind. 



Out of the hundred thousand plants, those 

 were chosen which came nearest this ideal and 

 their seeds were in turn planted. This process 

 v was repeated for eight years. In the process 

 of development that which often happens in 

 his tests was seen, certain plants produced 

 what might be called unnaturally large and 

 beautiful flowers. Sometimes the bloom of a 

 single daisy would measure very nearly two 

 feet in circumference, seven inches from tip to 

 tip of petals. At first thought, these plants 

 would be the ones naturally to be chosen from 

 all the others. But not so. They had grown 

 to their great size under peculiarly favorable 

 conditions, both of climate, soil and super- 

 vision. The aim in creating these plants was 

 to fit them for the general public, for the 

 flower lovers of the world; for Alaska and 

 Florida, for Norway and Italy; for all sorts of 

 soil, climates and people. It would be rare, 

 indeed, that they would receive more than the 

 average treatment of the average gardener; 



