76 LUTHER BURBANK 



THe results already attained with the Wat- 

 sonia mark this plant as one that must take high 

 place among the favorites of the flower garden. 

 What chiefly remains to be done is to make the 

 bulbs more hardy, so that they are adapted to 

 different conditions of soil and climate. At 

 present the flowers are chiefly grown in Cali- 

 fornia and shipped to the eastern market. But 

 in due course races will be developed that can 

 be grown in the east, and the Watsonia will 

 come to rival the gladiolus and in some respects 

 to outrival it for all the uses to which that flower 

 is adapted. 



Moreover it will perhaps prove possible, 

 through hybridizing the Watsonia with the 

 gladiolus, to develop new races of plants com- 

 bining the qualities of each in a way that cannot 

 be definitely predicted. I have produced a great 

 number, say four or five hundred, hybrids be- 

 tween Gladiolus gandavensis and the Watsonia, 

 in most cases using the pollen of gladiolus 

 (chiefly because it is more abundant and the 

 Watsonia is more certain of seed), but some- 

 times making the reciprocal cross. Only three 

 or four of these blossomed, largely, perhaps, 

 because a great number of them were as 

 tender as the gladiolus, and persisting to 

 grow all winter were destroyed by the frost. 



