A FEW OLD FAVORITES 119 



in bloom. Others were short and compact. The 

 range of variation was from dwarfed forms of 

 eight inches to giants of four feet or more. 



And that the variation was due to heredity and 

 not to any environmental conditions was shown 

 by the fact that the dwarfs and giants might 

 stand side by side in the same soil and subject to 

 precisely the same conditions of moisture. 



There was not much demand at that time for 

 new varieties, so the entire lot of hybrid Japanese 

 iris was ultimately sold as a mixture, without 

 names or numbers, not taking the time to 

 sort out and fix different types by selective 

 breeding. 



In addition to the Japanese form, I have raised 

 a great number of other species, including one 

 interesting form in which the seed pods turned 

 out in a curious way and exposed the orange or 

 scarlet seeds. This is a species known as Iris 

 foetidissima. This anomalous form was grown 

 extensively to produce a race that would have 

 seed pods and seeds that would have better form 

 and open more fully. 



It is not necessary to go into details as to the 

 score or more of other species that I have grown, 

 as they all reveal more or less similar tendencies 

 to variation, and suggest over and over the same 

 possibilities of development. 



