LUTHER BURBANK 



with narrow pointed petals, others have wide 

 rounded petals that give the flowers the appear- 

 ance nearly of single dahlia blossoms. Still others 

 are of a curious intermediate form three of the 

 petals being rounded, and three star-shaped. 



Flowers of the last named type are quite anom- 

 alous. Petals of some of the old Watsonias were 

 star-shaped, and others were rounded, but the 

 combination of the two qualities is unique. 



Among the hybrid seedlings there are some that 

 are only seven or eight inches high, appearing with 

 tufts of wide dark green leaves at a time when 

 others with slender leaves have shot up to a height 

 of eighteen inches or two feet. 



We have seen similar differences among other 

 hybrid plants. They show at once the diversity 

 of the racial strains within their germ plasm, and 

 the possibility of segregating and recombining 

 traits of different ancestors. 



There is a corresponding diversity as to the 

 bulbs, and in particular as to the degrees of rapid- 

 ity with which they multiply. There are varieties 

 that will produce a bushel of bulbs from a single 

 one in a comparatively short time, whereas others 

 multiply very tardily. It is rather curious to note 

 that the bulbs that are the most rapid multipliers 

 are usually the ones that produce the best flowers 

 and bloom most abundantly. 



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