THE SHASTA DAISY 



or liquor in any form, or any manner of stimu- 

 lant that will befog a brain or benumb a 

 nerve. 



When the hundred thousand daisies were 

 well started in their new home, selection 

 began, — as important an act in its way as the 

 act of breeding by which they were brought 

 into being. During the six months that they 

 were in bloom, they were subjected to con- 

 stant supervision and scrutiny. Twice a week 

 the entire field was scanned by an eye that 

 has perhaps never been equaled for percep- 

 tiveness. The variations from the parent stock 

 in leaf, stalk, petal, size — all were noted, and 

 the instant a plant was found which in any 

 one of these particulars threw light upon the 

 general problem, it was set apart. Now and 

 then there would be one with grace and 

 strength but no beauty, again one with a 

 wonderful blossom on a stumpy little stem, 

 now one on a lovely long stem but cloudy 

 as to color. 



In all such work Mr. Burbank carries with 

 him a small ivory rule, with which he takes 

 constant measurements of stalk and blossom. 

 The length and width of the petals, as 



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