LUTHER BURBANK 



timity for sorting out individual colors and their 

 fixing through selection; and, on the other hand, 

 for the combination of colors to produce new 

 shades. 



The plants are handsome, and they furnish 

 admirable material with which to work, not 

 merely by way of gaining experience, but also with 

 the possibility of producing worthy new varieties. 



The Salvia are members of the mint family. 

 There are many species, showing a wide range of 

 variation. The commonest one is known in every 

 garden for its brilliant red flowers borne in such 

 profusion as to make splendid masses to group 

 along walls or as borders. There are other sal- 

 vias, however, that have charming light blue flow- 

 ers. The plant in the ordinary gardens is grown, 

 of course, only for its flowers, yet there is a species, 

 known as Salvia sonomensis, or Salvia ramona, 

 that is abundant on some of the hillsides in Cali- 

 fornia, and that is to all intents and purposes iden- 

 tical with the cultivated sage. Its foliage has the 

 exact flavor of that of the cultivated plant. I have 

 at times thought of growing it to see if there could 

 not be developed from it a sage that would be 

 more valuable for seasoning than the one under 

 cultivation. The common sage runs into numer- 

 ous varieties, some woolly leafed, some golden 

 leafed, and some with tri-colored leaves. 



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