182 LUTHER BURBANK 



curled or twisted, as well as variant in color, some 

 being much darker than others. 



Some specimens go to seed without producing 

 much foliage; others grow abundant foliage but 

 are tardy of seed production. 



The plants that show this propensity to pro- 

 duce foliage rather than seed are, other things 

 being equal, the ones to select, except from the 

 viewpoint of the seedsman, who does not appre- 

 ciate this kind of grass. I have aimed to get a 

 variety with broad, rich, dark green leaves, and 

 found it comparatively easy to develop such a 

 variety. Notwithstanding the great variation 

 shown by the individual bromes, I found that 

 varieties once specialized tend to come somewhat 

 true to type in the succeeding generations. 



Therefore it is a very easy matter to improve 

 the different species of bromes. 



By far my most interesting experiment with 

 plants of this genus was made about twenty years 

 ago with a plant, seemingly of the species known 

 as Bromus mollis, that was found on the edge of 

 the Santa Rosa Creek, about one mile east of 

 Santa Rosa. 



This wild grass bore a long head of rather 

 plump seeds that were without awns, and that 

 suggested to my mind the possibility of the de- 

 velopment of a commercial grain. The seeds 



