LUTHER BURBANK 



And these contrasting characteristics of the 

 different daffodils, Mr. Barr assured me, typified 

 the personalities of the two breeders by whom 

 they were developed. One of these was a person 

 of little refinement, notwithstanding his love of 

 flowers; the other was a cultivated banker of 

 artistic temperament. The tastes and propensities 

 of the two men made themselves felt in all the 

 flowers they produced; which of course was inev- 

 itable, when we reflect that the plants were pro- 

 duced by selection, and that each man naturally 

 selected the type that appealed to him. 



I cite the incident not as something exceptional, 

 but as typical. Almost as a matter of course, one 

 could draw correct inferences as to the personality 

 of a plant developer from observation of the varie- 

 ties that he has developed provided always, of 

 course, that his selections have been made along 

 the line of his own tastes, and not to meet some 

 specific commercial demand. 



There should be for the amateur an added 

 stimulus in the reflection that he is thus putting 

 the stamp of his own personality upon the plants 

 with which he experiments. The flowers of your 

 own garden may thus come to have an individu- 

 ality that represents you as fully as you are repre- 

 sented by your costume or by the books you gather 

 on your shelves. And surely the possibility of 



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