286 LUTHER BURBANK 



times manifested a tendency to a crimson hue 

 that is regarded as reversional, and has to be 

 eliminated by the careful flower grower. 



PERFECTING THE SHIBLEY POPPY 



All these marks of a tendency to variation, to- 

 gether with a history of the development of the 

 flower, marked the Shirley as a plant suitable 

 for further experimentation. So about twenty- 

 five years ago, at a time when the Shirley was a 

 comparatively new flower, I commenced a series 

 of experiments with this variety, securing seed 

 from every available source. 



I was somewhat astonished and disappointed 

 to find that, in spite of the somewhat diversified 

 color scheme of this flower, there was a very 

 striking uniformity among the plants produced 

 from various lots of seed. Everywhere there 

 was a strong tendency to revert to the original 

 scarlet color, but otherwise the colors were fairly 

 well fixed. Attention was chiefly attracted to 

 the form of the petals, however, which seemed 

 rather lacking in gracefulness, being too flat 

 and without character. 



With the thought of modifying the petal and 

 thus beautifying the flower, I commenced the 

 most rigid selection, choosing the first year only 

 four or five plants out of many thousands, and 



