LUTHER BURBANK 



roboration of this interpretation of Mendelian 

 heredity. 



In the course of other experiments with the 

 columbines numerous other species were brought 

 into the combination through successive hybrid- 

 izations, until my columbine colony carried the 

 strains of more than a dozen recorded species. A 

 most beautiful lot of hybrids resulted. Their vari- 

 ous members revealed nearly all the colors of the 

 rainbow. I introduced them to the trade as mixed 

 varieties, as it did not seem to be worth while to 

 fix the different types. On the contrary, the vari- 

 ety of blossoms seemed to be considered an 

 advantage. 



But, in point of fact, even if it had been desired 

 to fix the new types, it would have proved exceed- 

 ingly difficult to do so. When you have two or 

 more species of columbine in combination, the 

 hereditary complications are comparable to those 

 in the gourd family, to which we have had occa- 

 sion to refer. It seems as if every member of a 

 fraternity differs from all other members, and you 

 cannot be at all sure as to what results you may 

 attain by sowing seed from any individual plant. 



But these complications result in part from the 

 fact that the different columbines are so easily 

 crossed by the bees. This is a case where there is 

 no difficulty in effecting hybridization; the diffi- 



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