ON ADAPTATION 



dominating type of man not a repulsive man by 

 any means, but lacking, a little, in refinement and 

 the more delicate sensibilities. 



"The other banker was a highly sensitive, 

 nervous, shrinking man with a great eye for detail, 

 a true appreciation of values, a man who looked 

 beneath the surface of things and saw beauty in 

 hidden truths, a man who thought much and said 

 little. 



"These men were great rivals in their daffodil- 

 and narcissus-growing pastime, and each of them 

 succeeded in producing some wonderful variations 

 and adaptations in their plants. 



"When these bankers died, their daffodil and 

 narcissus bulbs were offered for sale and fell into 

 the hands of a friend of mine, Peter Barr, a great 

 bulb expert of England. 



"Peter Barr told me that though the bulbs 

 bought from those two estates were mixed and 

 planted indiscriminately on his proving grounds, 

 he could go through a field of those daffodils and 

 narcissuses and, simply by the blossoms, tell which 

 had come from one estate and which from the 

 other. 



"The flowers that came from the bulbs that 

 represented the work of the first banker were 

 large, coarse, brightly colored, virile, strong 

 flowers with a beauty that called to the passer-by 



[131] 



