ON SOME FAMILIAR COMPOSITES 



very interesting flowers with which to work, and 

 the colors may very readily be fixed in the course 

 of four or five generations. So also may the quali- 

 ties of compact growing, size of flower, and the 

 like. The plants, therefore, are encouraging ones 

 for the amateur who is anxious to get results. 



The familiar milkweeds have been referred to 

 in another connection with reference to the pecu- 

 liar arrangement of their pollen masses, which are 

 so adjusted as to entangle the feet of bees. 



The amateur will find it peculiarly interesting 

 to cross-pollenize these flowers. It will be ad- 

 vantageous to work with a magnifying lens of con- 

 siderable power. The curious form of the flower 

 and the unique arrangement of the pollen masses 

 give the work of cross-fertilizing these plants a 

 unique character, and these flowers are in general 

 among the most puzzling of all flowers for the 

 amateur. 



There is possibility of developing, among the 

 milkweeds, plants of commercial value. I have 

 worked somewhat extensively with a number of 

 unclassified South American species. For two or 

 three years I carried on the work of selecting the 

 best seedlings among a large number, until several 

 races were pretty sharply defined. Now I am 

 crossing the best of these, the object being to get 

 varieties of more beautiful blossoms for garden 



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