LAWN AND DOCKYARD 



been brought to us from the tropics. There are 

 also the allied genera of Crinum and Sprekelia. 



Mr. Burbank has hybridized these plants in a 

 great number of combinations, and has produced 

 some very striking and remarkable results. 



His work with the plants of the genus Eip- 

 peastrum making up the body of the flowers usu- 

 ally termed amaryllis has had to do with a num- 

 ber of species that have been long under cultiva- 

 tion, including some that have been earlier hy- 

 bridized, as well as with less familiar species im- 

 ported from tropical regions. 



At first Mr. Burbank had difficulty in hybrid- 

 izing these plants, but he presently discovered that 

 the difficulty lay solely in the selection of just the 

 right time to apply the pollen. The pistil does not 

 become mature until after the pollen of the same 

 flower has been discharged. By bearing this in 

 mind, and gathering pollen on a watch crystal, if 

 necessary, to await the maturing of the pistil of 

 another flower, cross-fertilization presents no dif- 

 ficulties. By working for twelve or fifteen suc- 

 cessive seasons, Mr. Burbank produced complex 

 hybrids that are really very remarkable plants. 

 Some of them have enormous bulbs, with a pro- 

 pensity to produce bulblets at a really astonish- 

 ing rate. 



Many varieties of amaryllis produce only one 

 or two bulbs in a season, which accounts for the 

 fact that these bulbs are costly. But Mr. Burbank 

 so stimulated the bulb-producing capacity of his 

 hybrid varieties that his most prolific species will 



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