LUTHER BURBANK 



possibilities. By this method alone you may de- 

 velop any number of new varieties of flowers in 

 your garden with an insignificant expenditure of 

 time and effort. 



All that is necessary is clearly to grasp the 

 principle of selective breeding, and to search dili- 

 gently in each successive generation for the indi- 

 vidual that shows the strongest tendency to vary 

 in the desired direction. 



CONSTEUCTING A NEW SPECIES 



But while remarkable transformations may 

 thus be effected by mere selective breeding, it will 

 be understood, of course, that with the flowering 

 plants, as with fruits and vegetables, it may often 

 be desirable to give an added stimulus to varia- 

 tion through the hybridizing of different species, 

 or the crossing of marked varieties. Indeed, this 

 is the usual method through which striking new 

 varieties have all along been developed in Mr. 

 Burbank's garden. Even where selective breed- 

 ing, along the lines thus described, is used to ac- 

 centuate or fix a variation, there has very com- 

 monly been a preliminary series of experiments 

 in which variation has been stimulated through 

 hybridization. 



Mr. Burbank early discovered that new varie- 

 ties may be produced by this method, and the per- 

 sistent application of the method to countless 

 species of plants laid the foundation for his con- 

 spicuous successes. Beautiful ixias, for example, 



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