LUTHER BURBANK 



species that have not been so largely experimented 

 with, and the opportunity to introduce new forms 

 from the tropics, together with the striking char- 

 acter of the plants themselves, gives them peculiar 

 attractiveness for the experimenter. The possibil- 

 ity of making still wider hybridizations, as in the 

 case of the cross with the amaryllis, and further 

 selections, should of course not be lost sight of. 



THE SPECTACULAR IXIA 



Another tribe of bulbous plants that have great 

 interest is that represented by the genus ixia. 

 These, like so many other of the interesting bul- 

 bous plants, are natives of the Gape of Good Hope, 

 and they are closely related to the gladiolus, and 

 resemble many other Cape bulbs, including the 

 Watsonias. There are various species, but they 

 have been so intercrossed and mixed that the ex- 

 perimenter need pay very little attention to specific 

 names and distinctions. The bulbs are inexpen- 

 sive, and are commonly grown several in a pot in 

 the house in winter in the eastern states, but in 

 California they grow outdoors, and there is no oc- 

 casion to transplant them, except for propagation. 

 A single bulb will spread by putting out new 

 bulbs, which in turn make offshoots in the same 

 way, until a large and beautiful clump of plants is 

 often developed. The ixia, indeed, can never be 

 seen at its best except when grown in this way. 



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