LUTHER BURBANK 



esting character of the petunia tobacco hybrid will 

 be recalled. Doubtless by sufficient persistency 

 other hybrids having equal or even greater interest 

 could be produced. 



GERANIUM AND PELARGONIUM 



Several years ago I brought all the geraniums 

 that I could obtain from European and American 

 florists and collected also some fine specimens of 

 a variety from British America. The last named 

 variety is exceedingly hardy, growing as far north 

 as Alberta, where the thermometer sometimes falls 

 60 degrees below zero in winter. I thought it would 

 be of interest to hybridize such wild species as this 

 with the cultivated varieties. 



The pressure of other work, however, prevented 

 me from carrying out the experiments on an ex- 

 pansive scale. I feel, however, that the experiment 

 of crossing the wild and cultivated geraniums is 

 well worth undertaking. The wild geranium is a 

 much more promising plant to work upon, in my 

 opinion, than was the original violet from which 

 all our beautiful pansies have been developed. 

 Indeed, there are few other plants among our wild- 

 lings that offer better opportunities for develop- 

 ment 



My more recent work with the geraniums has 

 had to do more especially with the form known as 

 the Pelargonium, a plant that is horticulturally dis- 



[128] 



