LUTHER BURBANK 



bulb from which the individual stalks grow. This 

 should always be understood by persons who grow 

 the amaryllis. A bulb that has been ill-treated in 

 its first year, and has not attained large size, will 

 not produce a large flower, even though it have 

 the hereditary factors for large blooming. 



To produce the largest flowers, we must give 

 the plant a full supply of nourishment, and thus 

 develop a large bulb. The gigantic flowers appear 

 only on stalks that grow from gigantic bulbs. 



But of course no conditions of nourishment 

 and no amount of forcing can produce bulbs or 

 flowers of gigantic size unless the hereditary 

 strains have been properly blended. And this 

 blending, as I have just pointed out, involved years 

 of experiment, and the bringing together of the 

 traits of many different species. 



I had experimented with the amaryllis for 

 about fourteen years before I obtained varieties 

 that seemed worthy of introduction. And the new 

 giant varieties are the product of many additional 

 years of experimentation. 



The variety introduced under the name Pro- 

 fusion several years ago was at that time the most 

 abundant bloomer known. Its blossoms were 

 also relatively large, and it had many points to 

 commend it. 



But the races that have been developed more 



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