IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 



flower from which Mr. Burbank developed his 

 celebrated blue poppy. 



The flower that showed the original tendency to 

 variation was a Shirley poppy, the red color of 

 which lacked a little of its usual beauty. To Mr. 

 Burbank 's discerning eye there seemed a certain 

 smokiness of hue that suggested possibilities of 

 variation. So of course the seeds of this poppy 

 were carefully preserved. In the next generation 

 there were a few individuals that showed a more 

 conspicuous smokiness of color ; and in the course 

 of three or four more generations individuals 

 appeared that had flowers distinctly bluish in hue. 

 This bluish quality was further accentuated in 

 succeeding generations, until a poppy appeared 

 that was of a clear pale-blue color. 



There is no record that anyone ever saw a pure 

 blue poppy before, yet the materials for blue pig- 

 mentation were evidently hidden in the germ- 

 plasm of the poppy, and selective breeding re- 

 moved the obscuring elements and enabled the 

 blue color to make itself manifest. The principles 

 of selective breeding employed were simple to the 

 last degree ; yet through their application a flower 

 was produced that is marvelously transformed. 



Another curious and interesting color modifi- 

 cation was effected in Mr. Burbank 's ^silver- 

 lining" poppy. The original flower was crimson 

 with a black center. A specimen appeared that 

 showed a white line between the black center and 

 the crimson petal. By selective breeding this line 

 was widened generation after generation, until 



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