ON FOUR DOORYARD FLOWERS 



spending interest in this tribe, although I have had 

 twenty-five or thirty species of Dianthus growing 

 for the purpose of crossing, and have produced 

 some other variants of minor importance. 



In general, it may be said that the carnation, 

 having been worked on by plant experimenters for 

 two thousand years or more, presents a difficult 

 problem for anyone who strives to develop new 

 races of unusual value. It is like working against 

 the traditions of the ages to attempt to modify the 

 characteristics of such a plant in a new direction. 

 THE PETUNIA 



The experiment in which I hybridized the 

 petunia with the tobacco plant, producing the 

 amonaly that was described facetiously as "the 

 petunia with the tobacco habit," will be recalled 

 as having been described in an earlier chapter. 



Doubtless this experiment constituted my most 

 interesting work with the petunia, although I have 

 cultivated it largely and have attempted to cross 

 it with other species, notably with the allied plant 

 known as Salpiglosis. This plant is regarded by 

 botanists as very close to the petunia, but I have 

 been unable to effect a cross hybridization. 



It will be recalled, however, that I hybridized 

 the petunia and the tobacco with difficulty, and 

 it is possible that a more extended series of experi- 

 ments might result in hybridizing more satisfac- 



[125] 



