^ FLOWERS AND THEIR SOUL 175 



and in his Vol. IX, p. 27, Burbank calls atten- 

 tion to another important point. One of the 

 Eastern seedsmen who raise their sweet-pea 

 seeds in California showed him with great pride 

 some lovely new varieties, and was not a little 

 surprised when Burbank called his attention to 

 the fact that they had no fragrance whatsoever. 

 In his eagerness for form and color the grower 

 had neglected the perfume. **Like perhaps 

 most others, he had taken it for granted that all 

 varieties of fragrant flowers are fragrant. Series 

 of experiments in cross-breeding would be neces- 

 sary to reintroduce the perfume to these vari- 

 eties that have lost this finishing quality." 



Before Burbank's own achievements became 

 known that last sentence would have seemed 

 absurd. How can anyone put a scent into a 

 flower which has none? He did it years ago, 

 and if you want to know how, see the references 

 under the word *Tragrance" in the index to the 

 twelfth volume of his works. Anyone is at 

 liberty to follow his methods, and there is 

 plenty of opportunity for the exercise of inge- 

 nuity and patience, for there are hosts of beauti- 

 ful flowers that clamor for fragrance because 

 they feel their inferiority. 



A French botanist says that in Europe alone 

 about forty-two hundred species of plants are 

 utilized for various purposes, and that only 

 about one-tenth of them have an agreeable per- 

 fume, the others being either inodorous or malo- 



