NEW VARIETIES 127 



instance, there is an amateur mechanic in Detroit who got one 

 thousand dollars for making a capsule machine during hours of 

 leisure. But he could never have known that there was a market 

 for such a thing if a friend had not taken him into confidence 

 about his business. Now an amateur in gardening can find out 

 what the market needs simply by collecting all the varieties of his 

 favourite flower that he can afford to buy. 



A graphic way of proving this is to make a simple chart that 

 will show at a glance the best varieties and the greatest oppor- 

 tunities. You have only to consider the two most valuable char- 

 acteristics of your favourite flower. Sometimes these will be size of 

 flower and length of bloom. In lilies, the important things are 

 colour and form of flower. So you rule four lines for the four 

 shapes of lily and six columns for the six most important colours. 

 This makes twenty-four squares, but in the case of the spotted 

 lilies you can only fill in six squares with the names of satisfactory 

 varieties, while among the unspotted lilies there are seven gaps 

 that need to be filled.* Thus any collector can, after a single 

 season, get a clear idea of the most important improvements to be 

 made and the most promising material for producing the desired 

 varieties. Isn't that more effective than gambling? Isn't that 

 cheaper than raising thousands of ordinary seedlings? 



And isn't plant breeding the natural outcome and crowning 

 pleasure of collecting? 



Why not start now to improve your favourite fruit, vegetable 

 or flower? The best way to begin is to get the latest edition of 

 Bailey's "Plant Breeding" and collect all the varieties which it 

 seems reasonable to buy. 



*Any one who desires further suggestions about this method will find them in the Garden Magazine, Vol. Ill, page 28. 



