208 LUTHER BURBANK 



blossoms can always be gathered in quantity 

 from them. 



The hardiness of the hybrids has not been 

 fully tested. I should not be surprised to find 

 that they are largely as hardy as the oriental 

 poppy, but the California climate does not sub- 

 ject them to a severe test. 



THE THIRD-GENERATION HYBRIDS 



In the third generation a large number of the 

 hybrids reverted toward one or the other of the 

 original parents. But even those that resembled 

 one of the parents or the other strikingly, re- 

 tained also traits of the other parent. 



All these unique hybrids present such inter- 

 esting characteristics that it will be worth while 

 to record that the opium poppy that was used as 

 the original parent was of the Miss Sherwood 

 variety, but that later other opium poppies of 

 every shade and color that could be obtained 

 were also used. Perhaps in all twenty-five or 

 thirty selected varieties of opium poppies of 

 various colors and different forms were used as 

 seed parents. The progeny, however, as far as 

 I could observe, varied little more than these 

 from the Miss Sherwood crossing, and was not 

 greatly influenced by the different type of 

 opium poppy used. However, the variation was 



