THE LARKSPUR 215 



have utilized them all more or less in experi- 

 ments, and in addition have grown nearly all the 

 larkspurs that are ever offered by seedsmen or 

 florists. As already stated, my chief experi- 

 ments began with the use of the hybrid larkspur 

 as a seed parent, but of course the hybridizing 

 experiments soon blended the strains of many of 

 the other species, until the larkspur colony, like 

 so many other flower groups, is of such conglom- 

 erate ancestry that the precise proportions of 

 the different strains in any given race are not 

 traceable. 



Needless to say, selection has been carried for- 

 ward along with the hybridizing experiments, 

 these two methods always being complementary. 

 Particular attention has been given to size of 

 flower, vigor of plants, and resistance to insects 

 and disease, as well as that of multiplication by 

 division, at the same time that compactness of 

 growth and brilliancy of color of flower have 

 been carefully regarded. 



One of the worst faults of the hybrid larkspur 

 is that it tends to grow too tall, with a stalk that 

 does not well support it, so that it requires to be 

 staked. But my hybrid larkspurs have been so 

 selected that they are compact in growth, and 

 usually able to support themselves even in a 

 moderate gale. 



