292 LUTHER BURBANK 



years longer than would otherwise have been 

 necessary. 



Now, however, the blue poppy is an accom- 

 plished fact. Its production constitutes one of 

 the most striking color modifications made 

 through artificial selection. 



CREATION OR REVERSION? 



So far as is known, there was never an ances- 

 tor of the Shirley poppy that was blue. So here 

 we have an illustration of an experiment that is 

 radically different from any that we hitherto 

 have had occasion to describe. 



The bringing out of this color constitutes a 

 development of radically different character 

 from the mere modification of color of a flower 

 within the range of the color scheme of a species, 

 or of allied species, or even of allied genera. 



The development of a Shirley poppy that is 

 yellow, for example, which was a second task 

 that a German experimenter set himself, would 

 be comparatively easy, because yellow is a 

 more common color with members of the 

 poppy family, and a tinge of yellow is not 

 unusual. 



I have myself developed and introduced 

 strains of Shirley poppies of salmon or deep 

 yellowish pink color. These include various 



