NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 
work, and, while possibilities were admitted, 
it was shunned because of the obstacles in 
the way. Many had pronounced it incapable 
of any satisfactory hybridization. To one of 
Mr. Burbank’s temperament the very fact 
that possibilities were promised in the face 
of difficulties made the outlook all the more 
attractive; for he had found that in nature, 
as well as in all departments of endeavor, the 
things which are most easy of accomplishment 
quite often are the least desirable; those 
which are the most difficult, the ones which 
yield the most important results. 
But here, as in so many departments, he 
had a distinct and commanding advantage 
over all others in the magnitude of the work. 
He had also the advantage of a superb climate 
and soil where lilies from different zones could 
meet upon a common congenial plane and 
where each one would be at its best. The 
lilies showed an unusual tendency to depart 
from their former life habits. Sports or 
abnormalities were very common. Some of 
them were valueless, save as curious _testi- 
monials to the eccentricities of Nature when 
her life forces are disturbed and have not yet 
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