LUTHER BURBANK 



produce various colors. And it is more difficult to 

 fix these colors than is the case with most other 

 flowers. But of course such difficulties only en- 

 hance the interest of a really earnest experimenter, 

 and develop his enthusiasm. 



STAMPING PERSONALITY ON A FLOWER 

 An illustration of the way in which the person- 

 ality of the experimenter finds expression in the 

 plants that he cultivates was furnished me a num- 

 ber of years ago by Mr. Peter Barr, a well-known 

 horticulturist who specialized with the narcissus 

 and daffodils. 



On visiting my place a number of years ago, he 

 related an experience that may be taken as typical, 

 yet which the amateur who has not experimented 

 extensively might regard as rather extraordinary. 

 The story has been told in an earlier volume, but 

 it may be briefly repeated here. 



Mr. Barr stated that among the thousands of 

 seedlings the whole stock of which he purchased of 

 two specialists in England, he could always tell at 

 once, on seeing the blooms, which of the two 

 specialists had developed any individual plant, 

 even though the varieties had been mixed. 



One of the breeders produced very large, coarse 

 flowers, gigantic and broad, and lacking in delicacy 

 of contour. The other produced seedlings of 

 graceful and exquisite form. 



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