304 LUTHER BURBANK 



first made with the English daisy, C. mammum, 

 by taking pollen from this flower to fertilize the 

 best specimens of the American daisy that I had 

 hitherto been able to produce. 



When the seeds thus produced were sown next 

 season and the plants came to blooming time, it 

 was at once evident that there was marked 

 improvement. Some of the flowers appeared 

 earlier even than those of the American daisy; 

 they were very numerous, and were larger in size 

 than the flowers of either parent. But all the 

 flowers had a yellowish tinge, unnoticed by the 

 average observer, but visible to a sharp eye on 

 close inspection. And this tendency to a green- 

 ish yellowness in color was not at all to my liking. 



Further improvement was attempted by cross- 

 ing the hybrid plant with the German daisy just 

 referred to. A slight improvement was noticed, 

 but the changes were not very marked. 



By selecting the best specimens of the hybrid, 

 which now had a triple parentage, I had secured, 

 in the course of five or six years, a daisy which 

 was very obviously superior to any one of the 

 original forms as to size and beauty of flower, 

 and fully the equal of any of them in ruggedness 

 and prolific blooming. 



But the flowers were still disappointing in that 

 they lacked that quality of crystal whiteness 



