THE AMARYLLIS 271 



I had experimented with the amaryllis for 

 about fourteen years before obtaining varieties 

 that seemed worthy of introduction. And the 

 new giant varieties are the product of many 

 additional years of experimentation. 



The variety introduced under the name Pro- 

 fusion several years ago was at that time the 

 most abundant bloomer known. Its blossoms 

 were also relatively large, and it had many points 

 to commend it. 



But the races that have been developed more 

 recently by selection, through the further blend- 

 ing of hereditary strains, excel this markedly 

 in every regard. Indeed, the newest acqui- 

 sitions to the ranks of the Giant amaryllis 

 have advanced surprisingly upon their recent 

 forbears. 



And when the gigantic ten-inch trumpet of 

 the new varieties are put beside even the largest 

 flowers of the remote ancestral type, the contrast 

 is so striking as to seem to suggest things of a 

 quite different order. 



STILL WIDER HYBRIDIZATIONS 



Having reached something like the limits of 

 variation attainable through hybridization and 

 selection of the different species of Hippeastrum, 

 I extended the experiments by crossing the new 



