270 LUTHER BURBANK 



But of course the most conspicuous contrast 

 of all is in the flowers themselves. In the original 

 species, the largest flowers seldom attain a diam- 

 eter of more than five or six inches. The new 

 giant species, as already stated, often produce 

 flowers that are ten inches or even more in 

 diameter. 



There is considerable variation even in the 

 same race, dependent in part on the size of the 

 bulb from which the individual stalks grow. This 

 should always be understood by persons who 

 grow the amaryllis. A bulb that has been ill- 

 treated in its first year, and has not attained 

 large size, will not produce a large flower, even 

 though it have the hereditary factors for large 

 blooming. 



To produce the largest flowers we must give 

 the plant a full supply of nourishment, and thus 

 develop a large bulb. The gigantic flowers 

 appear only on stalks that grow from gigantic 

 bulbs. 



But of course no conditions of nourishment 

 and no amount of forcing can produce bulbs or 

 flowers of gigantic size unless the hereditary 

 strains have been properly blended. And this 

 blending, as I have just pointed out, involved 

 years of experiment, and the bringing together 

 of the traits of many different species. 



