7? FLOWERS AND THEIR SOUL 175 



and in his Vol. IX, p. 27, Burbank calls atten- 

 tion to another important point. One of the 

 Eastern seedsmen who raise their sweet-pea 

 seeds in California showed him with great pride 

 some lovely new varieties, and was not a little 

 surprised when Burbank called his attention to 

 the fact that they had no fragrance whatsoever. 

 In his eagerness for form and color the grower 

 had neglected the perfume. "Like perhaps 

 most others, he had taken it for granted that all 

 varieties of fragrant flowers are fragrant. Series 

 of experiments in cross-breeding would be neces- 

 sary to reintroduce the perfume to these vari- 

 eties that have lost this finishing quality." 



Before Burbank's own achievements became 

 known that last sentence would have seemed 

 absurd. How can anyone put a scent into a 

 flower which has none? He did it years ago, 

 and if you want to know how, see the references 

 under the word "Fragrance" in the index to the 

 twelfth volume of his works. Anyone is at 

 liberty to follow his methods, and there is 

 plenty of opportunity for the exercise of inge- 

 nuity and patience, for there are hosts of beauti- 

 ful flowers that clamor for fragrance because 

 they feel their inferiority. 



A French botanist says that in Europe alone 

 about forty-two hundred species of plants are 

 utilized for various purposes, and that only 

 about one-tenth of them have an agreeable per- 

 fume, the others being either inodorous or malo- 



