LAWN AND DOCKYARD 



this group of flowers, and has produced some very 

 striking hybrids by combining the familiar garden 

 species with wild species brought from Mexico. 

 You may secure a sufficient variety of dahlias 

 from any florist to give ample opportunity for 

 further hybridizing experiments. No dooryafd 

 would be complete in its autumnal floral display 

 that did not have a bed or two of these very at- 

 tractive flowers. 



The wild progenitors of the modern races of 

 dahlias have flowers with a single row of florets, 

 like the wild sunflowers. The complex rounded 

 heads of many cultivated varieties are due to the 

 transformation of the minute and originally incon- 

 spicuous florets of the cluster under the stimula- 

 tive influences of changed environment and arti- 

 ficial cultivation. 



To observe the contrast between the wild dah- 

 lia and its cultivated descendant is to receive a 

 vivid object lesson in the possibilities of flower 

 development. 



Even without hybridizing, you may develop a 

 great variety of dahlias. All the varieties under 

 cultivation are complex in their heritage, and the 

 fact that the plants may be multiplied by division 

 has made it unnecessary to carry selective breed- 

 ing to the stage of fixing qualities so that plants 

 grown from the seed will reproduce in detail the 

 features of their parent plants. 



You may find endless amusement and interest 

 in selecting new varieties from among the plants 

 grown from a single packet of seeds, and you may 



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