LUTHER BURBANK 



individual does appear, as in the case of the May- 

 flower and the later form named the Elegance, 

 the anomaly is accounted for quite adequately by 

 a knowledge of the existence of fragrant species 

 among the ancestors of the hybrid. 



Even if we had no knowledge of the existence 

 of such an ancestor, we should still be justified in 

 assuming that a fragrant verbena is really a case 

 of atavism. It will be recalled that we invoked 

 the existence of remote unknown fragrant ances- 

 tors in explanation of the appearance of our fra- 

 grant calla. But there is an element of added in- 

 terest in the knowledge that in the case of the 

 verbena the ancestor responsible for the quality 

 of fragrance can be traced. 



It would constitute a very interesting experi- 

 ment in heredity, should someone care to under- 

 take to hybridize a fragrant verbena with an odor- 

 less one and to trace carefully the hereditary influ- 

 ence of this quality noting, for example, whether 

 it acts as a prepotent or as a recessive character, 

 and whether it tends to reappear in the second gen- 

 eration in any fixed proportion of the progeny. 



It will probably be found that the condition 

 that leads to the production of perfume of a par- 

 ticular type is so complex and itself dependent 

 upon so many factors that it is not inherited in 

 any simple and readily traceable relation. 



[116] 



