LUTHER BURBANK 



usually lance-shaped, about three-quarters of an 

 inch in width, and of length varying according to 

 the fertility of the soil, usually from eight to six- 

 teen inches. The flower stalk in ordinary soil 

 varies with the different species from eighteen 

 inches to nearly four feet in height. 



The flowers are usually purple, blue, or white. 

 In some of the new hybrid species the color has 

 changed to rose, and in others it inclines toward 

 crimson. 



All the camassias are bulbous, of course, like 

 other members of the lily family. But there is a 

 great difference in the size of the bulbs among the 

 different wild species, and, as will appear pres- 

 ently, there is enormous variation when the differ- 

 ent species are hybridized. 



HYBRIDIZING THE CAMASSIAS 



My experiments on a large scale with the 

 Camassia have been carried out for more than 

 twenty years, and have included work with five 

 species. 



So far as I am aware, no one had undertaken 

 to improve any of these until my experiments were 

 instituted, about 1890. 



My first work was done with a species known 

 as Camassia Leichtlinii, which grows abundantly 

 on Vancouver Island. Considered as a flowering 

 plant this is the finest of the native varieties. It 



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