ON THE AMARYLLIS 



agent in that process of selective breeding through 

 which the evolution of new forms of plant life is 

 brought about. 



In the present instance, the tendency to varia- 

 tion that was manifested from the outset, was 

 accentuated generation after generation until, 

 after about twelve years of work, I had a colony 

 of mixed hybrids showing wide departures from 

 any of the ancestral forms. 



Some of the new forms had very large bulbs, 

 and grew plants of exceptional strength, bearing 

 blossoms of unusual size. 



I had, of course, selected for strong stalks, 

 broad leaves, and abundant bearing and for rapid 

 production of bulbs and ready growth, as well as 

 for large flowers with wide petals of brilliant 

 colors. 



The original species had usually borne small 

 bulbs, and put out only two or three offset bulbs 

 in a season. 



The bulbs of the new hybrids sometimes weigh 

 more than six pounds. 



The stalks that grow from them are of corre- 

 spondingly increasing size and strength. And 

 instead of putting out three or four new bulbs in 

 a season, these hybrids sometimes multiply so 

 rapidly as to produce a bulb every month, and in 

 the case of some forms a new bulb every week. 



[89] 



