LUTHER BURBANK 



case of the calla, this is of no special importance, 

 as the plant is propagated by division. 



But in plants that are propagated solely by 

 seed, the fixing of the quality of fragrance would 

 be essential. 



Fortunately it presents no special difficulties 

 once a fragrant variant has been found. 



In a later chapter we shall learn of other exper- 

 iments in producing fragrant flowers, and details 

 will be given of the story of my fragrant verbena 

 which was introduced under the name of May- 

 flower. The amateur who wishes to experiment 

 along these lines may begin with almost any odor- 

 less flower in the garden. It is only necessary to 

 search for delicate traces of fragrance, and to 

 learn to recognize nice shades of distinction among 

 odors. Anyone can readily detect the difference 

 in fragrance in several varieties of the violet, roses, 

 or carnations, for example; and a still more highly 

 cultivated odor-sense enables one to notice differ- 

 ences in the fragrance of apple, peach, or almost 

 any other blossoms from different trees or plants. 



So it is not necessary to confine one's experi- 

 ments to flowers that lack fragrance altogether. 

 Interesting results may be obtained by selecting 

 among fragrant flowers those that have the most 

 pleasing perfume, and developing those races that 

 are especially notable for their fragrance. 



[26] 



