FINAL SELECTION 63 



made from any given lot of seedlings will depend 

 largely upon the particular qualities that one 

 desires to develop. 



But, as repeatedly pointed out, in practical 

 work one is usually looking for a combination of 

 qualities; and, by the same token, one usually 

 inspects his seedlings for the combination of 

 characteristics of stem and leaf and color. He 

 seldom has his choice determined by a single 

 characteristic, obvious or otherwise. 



SELECTING FOR A SINGLE CHARACTER 



Yet there are cases where an experimenter is 

 working with a single plant characteristic in 

 view, as, for example, when I successfully 

 attempted to develop fragrant callas and dahlias 

 and verbenas. 



Here, obviously, the task of selection is com- 

 paratively simple. We are dealing in each case 

 with a flower that has certain desired qualities of 

 color that are firmly fixed in its heredity. The 

 one conspicuous point of variation among thou- 

 sands of specimens is the presence or absence of 

 a pleasing aroma. 



It is necessary, then, merely to select the 

 individual plants that have the most pleasing 

 perfume and to use these only for carrying on 

 the experiment. By making such selection 



