THE SHASTA DAISY 
or liquor in any form, or any manner of stimu- 
lant that will befog a brain or benumb a 
nerve. 
When the hundred thousand daisies were 
well started in their new home, selection 
began,—as important an act in its way as the 
act of breeding by which they were brought 
into being. During the six months that they 
were in bloom, they were subjected to con- 
stant supervision and scrutiny. Twice a week 
the entire field was scanned by an eye that 
has perhaps never been equaled for percep- 
tiveness. The variations from the parent stock 
in leaf, stalk, petal, size—all were noted, and 
the instant a plant was found which in any 
one of these particulars threw light upon the 
general problem, it was set apart. Now and 
then there would be one with grace and 
strength but no beauty, again one with a 
wonderful blossom on a stumpy little stem, 
now one on a lovely long stem but cloudy 
as to color. 
In all such work Mr. Burbank carries with 
him a small ivory rule, with which he takes 
constant measurements of stalk and blossom. 
The length and width of the petals, as 
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