LUTHER BURBANK 



seed with a solution of blue stone (sulphate of 

 copper), and place them in coarse gravel, taking 

 pains to pour water through the gravel at frequent 

 intervals. Under these circumstances, the seed is 

 less likely to decay through attacks of fungous 

 pests than if planted in the soil. In the coarse, clean, 

 sterilized gravel, a high percentage of the seed will 

 come up in a few months. The porosity of the 

 gravel, giving free access to air, is also an element 

 that is advantageous to the seed of the canna. 



Seed treated in this way will germinate at a 

 relatively low temperature; but germination is 

 facilitated if the heat is kept between sixty and 

 seventy degrees. 



As soon as the seedlings appear, they are trans- 

 planted thinly into boxes where they are allowed 

 to stand until May, when they are planted in the 

 field, and cultivated like other crops. 



A large proportion of the seedlings will prove 

 worthless. The weeding out of the first year is 

 done readily, but selection in the second year re- 

 quires skill, to judge as to which plants are worthy 

 of preservation. Beyond that, of course the usual 

 process of selection through several generations 

 will be carried out along the lines of the desired 

 modification at which the experimenter is aiming. 



The objects that the experimenter may advan- 

 tageously bear in mind in developing new cannas, 



[242] 



