68 LUTHER BURBANK 



comfortable and so beautiful a cradle for the poppy's seed 

 babies. 



For many years the offsprings of Opium and Oriental 

 were patiently trained, until at last their education was 

 completed. Each joyous graduate wore a glowing gown 

 of fiery red with a purplish spot at the base of each petal, 

 so it was christened by the master "Fire" poppy. 



CHAPTER XV 

 THE LILY PUPILS 



What a time they must have had getting acquainted 

 those fifty pupils ! Some of them had come from the 

 tropics, and some from the frigid zone. There were the 

 tigers, the Alpines, the auratums, and I could not tell you 

 all, for some were great strangers. But there were tall 

 lilies and tiny lilies of every shade and color. 



It had been thought such a difficult task to train a lily, 

 that no one before Burbank had given the subject much 

 attention. Indeed, some had said, "It is no use the lily 

 cannot be taught." But he had faith in the intelligence 

 of this favorite flower, and believed it would respond to 

 his love and care and reward his efforts, even if it should 

 require a great deal of his valuable time to teach it. The 

 idea of the lily, of all flowers, not desiring a higher educa- 

 tion! 



