LUTHER BURBANK 



be brought forth rapidly. In dealing with flowers, 

 you are not required to wait for a term of years, 

 as you sometimes would be in developing new 

 races of orchard fruits. For this reason, and also 

 because of the great variety of interests that at- 

 tach to flowers, the amateur may very well begin 

 his experiments in the flower garden. 



In undertaking the improvement of a flower, 

 one may have in mind the form of the blossom, 

 its size, profusion of bearing, color, or odor. Mr. 

 Burbank 's work furnishes almost countless illus- 

 trations of improvement in regard to all of these 

 qualities, sometimes singly, sometimes in com- 

 bination. 



Of course the simplest type of experiment is 

 that in which a single quality is under considera- 

 tion. Such a case as that of Mr. Burbank's 

 scented calla furnishes a typical illustration. 



The calla, as everyone knows, is ordinarily quite 

 without a pleasing fragrance; if it has any odor 

 at all it is a slightly disagreeable one. But the 

 variety of calla developed by Mr. Burbank and 

 introduced under the name of Fragrance has a 

 delicious perfume that adds very greatly to the 

 attractiveness of this beautiful flower, and Mr. 

 Burbank tells us that this quality of fragrance 

 was developed in the calla in the course of three 

 generations of selective breeding, without hy- 

 bridization. 



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