300 LUTHER BURBANK 



"White is white," said one of my gardeners, 

 "and all these daisies are white. They all look 

 just the same color to me. No one of them is 

 pure white, but there is one that is nearer white 

 than the rest." 



All the other gardeners agreed with the first 

 one, and it was some time before a visitor came 

 who was not of the same opinion. Person after 

 person was questioned, and each one declared 

 that all the daisies in the row seemed to be pure 

 white in color. No one could discriminate be- 

 tween them. 



But one day a well known artist visited the 

 garden, and when she was shown the row of 

 daisies and asked about their color, she answered 

 instantly that there was one much whiter than all 

 the rest ; and to my own satisfaction she indicated 

 the one that all along had seemed to be whiter 

 than the others. There was no question, then, 

 that this plant bore flowers nearer to purity in 

 whiteness than any others of all the thousands 

 of daisies in the field. 



Needless to say that particular plant had been 

 selected for use in future experiments, for the 

 ideal in mind was a daisy that would be of the 

 purest imaginable white in color. How the ideal 

 was achieved — after years of effort — will appear 

 in due course. 



