y came when the first petal
lifted, and the next morning the petals spread forth in all their glory.
It was a gem, we realized we had something first class. My father said
after he had studied it a while, "It pays me for all my time, and money,
and work. If I never get another as good I shall be satisfied." It was a
beautiful dark red, very early, as good a red as Terry's Rachel. We
named it Richard Carvel.

Six other plants bloomed that season. One was of the Japanese type. The
others singles.

By the next spring the small plants were well established, and we knew
by their vigorous growth that we might expect the most of them to bloom
that season.

Thorough cultivation was given from the start, and by the middle of May
the bed was covered with a mass of buds. June came. The blooming season
was at hand. Slowly the buds began to show color. Here and there over
the field a petal began to lift. A short space of anxious waiting, and
then a day came when it seemed as if the bed had been touched by a hand
of magic, for from one end to the other it was one solid blaze of color.
Before us were thousands upon thousands of flowers and no two alike.

As quick as the flowers began to open we started to grade and mark them.
It took two men working steadily for a week to inspect and mark this
bed. Everything that looked choice was marked No. 1. Everything that
looked as though it stood a chance of coming choice, if given a better
chance, was marked No. 2. All other doubles were marked double with
their color. And all singles were marked single with their color.

When the digging season came those marked Nos. 1 and 2 were lifted and
divided and each planted in a bed specially prepared for them. Each sort
was staked. These plants were set in rows three and one-half feet apart
and three feet apart in the row.

Intense cultivation was given them for three years. The performance of
each sort was recorded for each year. At the end of the third year those
sorts which had come good two years out of the three were again lifted
and planted in another soil and watched closely for another period of
three years. This gave us a pretty definite knowledge of their behavior,
made us acquainted with them. It toned down, as I might say, the
enthusiasm with which we first selected them, allowed of our making
careful comparison with the best sorts, and finally enabled us to keep
what were really choice. We did not have any need for the others.

O