-^ WHO PAINTS THE LILY 171 



and many others, is, in his words, "so utterly- 

 divergent from the parent form as to be almost 

 unrecognizable"; yet, as he adds, this flower 

 offers "an infinity of variation which has only 

 been tapped." He likes the single ones best. 

 At the dahlia show in New York in the summer 

 of 1921 more than five hundred varieties were 

 exhibited. 



There were Burbanks long before the Cali- 

 fomian. They achieved such marvels with 

 some flowers that no finishing touches were left 

 to be added by his master hand. The peony is 

 an instance. It was known to the ancient 

 nations, but they seem to have cultivated it 

 chiefly for medical and superstitional reasons. 

 In the 'sixties of the last century the peony was 

 made popular in England by James Kelway, who 

 introduced one hundred and four new single 

 and double varieties. Now there are over a 

 thousand, vying with one another in color and 

 fragrance. 



We must not forget that China and Japan 

 had their Burbanks hundreds of years ago. 

 Think of their unspeakably glorious irises and 

 morning-glories and their astonishing chrysan- 

 themums! The Japanese were probably the 

 first to show the world that gardening is a fine 

 art and that it is worth while to paint the lily 

 and perfume the rose. 



