106 LUTHER BURBANK 



might be supposed, inasmuch as the dahlia is 

 propagated usually from the tuber, and it is only 

 now and again that an experimenter has taken 

 the plant in hand to raise it from the seed and 

 separate out new varieties. 



That a plant which in its wild form is an ordi- 

 nary sort of composite — not very different from 

 the Black-eyed Susans and allied sunflowerlike 

 plants that abound by every roadside — could be 

 developed in a comparatively short series of 

 generations into the extraordinary flower with 

 solid heads, and presenting the gorgeous and 

 variegated colors of the dahlia of to-day, is in 

 itself an object lesson in the possibilities of plant 

 development that is nothing less than inspiring. 



Unexpected Results 



Not only may plants be led along the line of 

 some desired variation, but there is an element 

 of chance in the enterprise that adds very greatly 

 to its interest. 



There is always a certain allurement about the 

 happening of the unexpected. It is highly grati- 

 fying to select a plant for some desired quality 

 and to have it respond to selection in such wise 

 that a variety presenting this quality is finally 

 produced. But it is doubly gratifying to see 

 here and there, quite unexpectedly, the putting 



