180 LUTHER BURBANK 



will be recalled. Doubtless by sufficient persist- 

 ency other hybrids having equal or even greater 

 interest could be produced. 



GERANIUM AND PELARGONIUM 



Several years ago I brought all the geraniums 

 that I could obtain from European and Ameri- 

 can florists and collected also some fine specimens 

 of a variety from British America, G. macula- 

 turn. The last-named variety is exceedingly 

 hardy, growing as far north as Alberta, where 

 the thermometer sometimes falls 60 degrees be- 

 low zero in winter. I thought it would be of 

 interest to hybridize such wild species as this with 

 the cultivated varieties. 



The pressure of other work, however, pre- 

 vented me from carrying out the experiments on 

 an expansive scale. However, it is certain that 

 the experiment of crossing the wild, hardy, and 

 cultivated geraniums is well worth undertaking. 

 The wild geranium is a much more promising 

 plant to work upon than was the original violet 

 from which all our beautiful pansies have been 

 developed. Indeed, there are few other plants 

 among our wildlings that offer better opportuni- 

 ties for development. 



My more recent work with the geraniums has 

 had to do more especially with the form known 



