LUTHER BURBANK 



The common nasturtium of our gardens, T. 

 ma jus, is one of the most readily grown of our 

 annuals and has been so long cultivated and so 

 thoroughly crossed that the colors of the flowers 

 are exceedingly variable. In recent years very 

 good work has been done, particularly by Cali- 

 fornia cultivators, in the improvement of the 

 climbing nasturtiums, and in particular by cross- 

 ing the ordinary form with the one known as T. 

 minus. 



Both the parent forms and the hybrids have run 

 into numberless colors, clear lemon yellow, flesh 

 color, deep crimson, purple, scarlet, deep yellow 

 and white, the colors being variously blended, and 

 the foliage of the plant being sometimes most 

 beautifully variegated. Even the form of the leaf 

 has been changed, so that there now are ivy-leaved 

 strains of nasturtiums. 



The nasturtiums offer great interest for the 

 amateur experimenter, as they are very readily 

 hybridized, and as their range of variation, even 

 without crossing, is so great as to afford the widest 

 opportunity for selection. Indeed, crossing has 

 been so fully carried out that for ordinary purposes 

 selection will answer far better than further cross- 

 ing. Indeed it is exceedingly difficult to keep the 

 colors of the various nasturtiums separate. The 

 seed of a pure white variety quite commonly may 



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