LUTHER BURBANK 



this kind of grass. I have aimed to get a variety 

 with broad, rich, dark green leaves, and found it 

 comparatively easy to develop such a variety. 

 Notwithstanding the great variation shown by the 

 individual bromes, I found that varieties once spe^ 

 cialized tend to come somewhat true to type in the 

 next generation. 



Therefore it is a very easy matter to improve 

 the different species of bromes. 



By far my most interesting experiment with 

 plants of this genus was made about twenty years 

 ago with a plant, seemingly of the species known 

 as Bromus mollis, that was found on the edge of 

 the Santa Rosa Creek, about one mile east of Santa 

 Rosa. 



This wild grass bore a long head of rather 

 plump seeds that were without ^wns, and that sug- 

 gested to my mind the possibility of the develop- 

 ment of a commercial grain. The seeds were 

 planted and carefully cultivated, and the best seed- 

 lings were selected for propagation, with the result 

 that in the course of a few years a variety was 

 secured in which the size of the seed-head was 

 markedly increased, and in which the individual 

 grains are very much plumper than the original 

 one. 



The grain seemed so promising that I tested it 

 by grinding it in a coffee mill. It was found to 



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