﻿274 
  Retrograde 
  Varieties 
  

  

  seems 
  to 
  have 
  no 
  lacunae, 
  are 
  not 
  sufficient. 
  

   Most 
  of 
  the 
  questions 
  remain 
  open 
  and 
  need 
  in- 
  

   vestigation. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  capital 
  idea 
  to 
  try 
  

   to 
  repeat 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  begonias 
  or 
  any 
  

   other 
  hybrid 
  race, 
  making 
  all 
  the 
  described 
  

   crosses 
  and 
  then 
  recording 
  the 
  results 
  in 
  a 
  man- 
  

   ner 
  requisite 
  for 
  complete 
  and 
  careful 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  investigations. 
  

  

  Many 
  large 
  genera 
  of 
  hybrid 
  garden-flowers 
  

   owe 
  their 
  origin 
  to 
  species 
  rich 
  in 
  varieties 
  or 
  

   in 
  elementary 
  subspecies. 
  Such 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  

   with 
  the 
  gladiolus 
  and 
  the 
  tulips. 
  In 
  other 
  

   cases 
  the 
  original 
  types 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  ob- 
  

   tained 
  from 
  the 
  wild 
  state 
  but 
  from 
  the 
  cultures 
  

   of 
  other 
  countries. 
  

  

  The 
  dahlias 
  were 
  cultivated 
  in 
  Mexico 
  when 
  

   first 
  discovered 
  by 
  Europeans, 
  and 
  the 
  chrys- 
  

   anthemums 
  have 
  been 
  introduced 
  from 
  the 
  old 
  

   gardens 
  of 
  Japan. 
  Both 
  of 
  them 
  consisted 
  of 
  

   various 
  types, 
  which 
  afterwards 
  have 
  been 
  in- 
  

   creased 
  chiefly 
  by 
  repeated 
  intercrossing. 
  

  

  The 
  history 
  of 
  many 
  hybrid 
  races 
  is 
  obscure, 
  

   or 
  recorded 
  by 
  different 
  authorities 
  in 
  a 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  way. 
  Some 
  have 
  derived 
  their 
  evidence 
  

   from 
  one 
  nursery, 
  some 
  from 
  another, 
  and 
  the 
  

   crosses 
  evidently 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  different 
  in 
  

   different 
  places. 
  The 
  early 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  glad- 
  

   iolus 
  is 
  an 
  instance. 
  The 
  first 
  crosses 
  are 
  re- 
  

   corded 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  between 
  Gladiolus 
  

  

  