io6 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1905 



Hybridized Baldwin Apple, One-Half Yellow, One-Half Red 



A Bed of Fragrant Verbenas 



has been found, and is selected for further experiment. All 

 the remaining plants, the unchangeables, are uprooted and 

 destroyed. Upon the one the efforts of the breeder are 

 centered. The 

 faculty to discern a 

 slight variation in a 

 single plant is an 

 essential, the foun- 

 dation upon which 

 after-results are 

 obtained. Let the 

 lover of plants en- 

 deavor to exercise 

 this faculty and 

 pick out of a bed 

 of a thousand 

 flowers the one 

 that differs from 

 all others in color, 

 form or fragrance, 

 and then will be 

 understood the fine 

 quality of that gift 

 which enables Mr. 

 Burbank to glance 

 over a bed of 

 f 1 ow e r s and in- 

 stantly discern the 

 one variation for 

 which he is seek- 

 ing. Minute attention to detail is one secret of the success at- 

 tained. Sterilizations extend not only to the soil in which 

 seeds are planted, but to the fertilizer with which the soil 



Cactus Ready for the Hybridizer 



is enriched. Hostile germs are destroyed by boiling the soil. 

 The boxes are sterilized by a solution of sulphate of copper. 

 Mr. Burbank has correspondents in every part of the 



world where the 

 science of botany is 

 understood or a 

 botanist penetrates. 

 Scientific associa- 

 tions everywhere 

 are his coadjutors. 

 Persons in every 

 zone forward to 

 him new types. 

 For him to look at 

 a seed is to identify 

 it. The environ- 

 ments and condi- 

 tions of growth 

 are understood as 

 soon as the home 

 latitude of the 

 plant is ascer- 

 tained. Identical 

 environments of a 

 plant may be imi- 

 tated, and later, by 

 graft or hybridiz- 

 ing, new vigor, 

 which means 

 greater power of 

 be imparted. A 

 the yellow calla, 

 which is naturally confined to a limited area in the sub- 

 tropical regions of South Africa. At home it is an extremely 

 fragile plant. By hybridizing and crossing with the ordinary 

 white calla of the United States a deep yellow flower has 

 been evolved as hardy as the native variety. The first cross- 



resistance to lower temperatures, may 

 conspicuous instance of this fact is 



Sweet Vernal Grass, Showing Great Variation in Size of Plants 

 Grown from the Seed of One Plant 



The Two Central Raspberries were Produced from the Two 

 Varieties at the Ends by Crossing and Selection 



