﻿186 
  Retrograde 
  Varieties 
  

  

  formerly 
  active, 
  and 
  awaiting 
  probably 
  through 
  

   centuries 
  an 
  occasion 
  to 
  awaken, 
  and 
  to 
  dis- 
  

   play 
  the 
  lost 
  characters. 
  

  

  Cases 
  of 
  apparent 
  reversion 
  were 
  often 
  seen 
  

   in 
  nurseries, 
  especially 
  in 
  flower 
  culture, 
  which 
  

   under 
  ordinary 
  circumstances 
  are 
  rarely 
  

   wholly 
  pure, 
  but 
  always 
  sport 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  into 
  

   the 
  colors 
  and 
  forms 
  of 
  allied 
  varieties. 
  Such 
  

   sporting 
  individuals 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  extirpated 
  

   regularly, 
  otherwise 
  the 
  whole 
  variety 
  would 
  

   soon 
  lose 
  its 
  type 
  and 
  its 
  uniformity 
  and 
  run 
  

   over 
  to 
  some 
  other 
  form 
  in 
  cultivation 
  in 
  the 
  

   vicinity. 
  For 
  this 
  reason 
  atavism 
  in 
  nurseries 
  

   causes 
  much 
  care 
  and 
  labor, 
  and 
  consequently 
  

   is 
  to 
  be 
  dealt 
  with 
  as 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  factor. 
  

  

  From 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  the 
  idea 
  has 
  suggested 
  

   itself 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  authorities 
  on 
  the 
  

   amelioration 
  of 
  plants, 
  that 
  this 
  atavism 
  was 
  

   not 
  due 
  to 
  an 
  innate 
  tendency, 
  but, 
  in 
  many 
  

   cases 
  at 
  least, 
  was 
  produced 
  by 
  crosses 
  between 
  

   neighboring 
  varieties. 
  It 
  is 
  especially 
  owing 
  

   to 
  Verlot 
  that 
  this 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  question 
  was 
  

   brought 
  forward. 
  But 
  breeders 
  as 
  a 
  rule 
  have 
  

   not 
  attached 
  much 
  importance 
  to 
  this 
  supposi- 
  

   tion, 
  chiefly 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  practical 
  diffi- 
  

   culties 
  attending 
  any 
  attempt 
  to 
  guard 
  the 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  cultures 
  against 
  intermixture 
  

   with 
  other 
  varieties. 
  Bees 
  and 
  humble-bees 
  fly 
  

   from 
  bud 
  to 
  bud, 
  and 
  carry 
  the 
  pollen 
  from 
  one 
  

  

  