NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 
the market, time enough must be allowed 
thoroughly to test it so that it will not revert 
to some former inferior stage. In general, Mr. 
Burbank says that six or eight generations 
of persistence in a given trait usually are suf- 
ficient to fix that trait, and to warrant one in 
announcing a new flower and offering it for 
sale from one’s own gardens or to some of the 
great seedsmen or florists. 
Among the vegetables, potatoes and to- 
matoes are both very easy to work upon, and 
excellent results may be looked for, both in 
the improvement of size, flavor and hardiness. 
Corn of all varieties, though particularly the 
sweet corns, he recommends. Squashes are 
more difficult to cross satisfactorily, as well as 
melons, though they are apt to bring very 
satisfactory results. Considerable difficulty will 
be experienced by the beginner in working on 
peas and beans, but, if the work is successfully 
done, remarkable results are likely to follow. 
He does not think it worth while to try to 
improve such vegetables as cauliflower, lettuce 
and cabbages by crossing, because they are 
most excellent as they are, and to cross them 
might easily result in so breaking up their old 
242 
