﻿374 
  Ever-sporting 
  Varieties 
  

  

  ance 
  of 
  our 
  anomaly, 
  we 
  may 
  now 
  consider 
  it 
  

   from 
  the 
  double 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  of 
  inheritance 
  

   and 
  variability. 
  

  

  The 
  fact 
  of 
  inheritance 
  is 
  shown 
  by 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   perience 
  of 
  many 
  authors, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  circum- 
  

   stance 
  already 
  quoted, 
  that 
  the 
  variety 
  has 
  been 
  

   propagated 
  from 
  seed 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  cen- 
  

   tury, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  obtained 
  from 
  various 
  seed- 
  

   merchants. 
  In 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  variability, 
  the 
  

   variety 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  ever-sporting 
  group, 
  con- 
  

   stituting 
  a 
  type 
  which 
  is 
  more 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  

   the 
  " 
  five-leaved 
  " 
  clover 
  than 
  to 
  the 
  striped 
  

   flowers 
  or 
  even 
  the 
  double 
  stocks. 
  

  

  It 
  fluctuates 
  around 
  an 
  average 
  type 
  with 
  half 
  

   filled 
  crowns, 
  going 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  possible 
  in 
  both 
  

   directions, 
  but 
  never 
  transgressing 
  either 
  limit. 
  

   It 
  is 
  even 
  doubtful 
  whether 
  the 
  presumable 
  

   limits 
  are, 
  under 
  ordinary 
  circumstances, 
  ever 
  

   reached. 
  Obviously 
  one 
  extreme 
  would 
  be 
  the 
  

   conversion 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  stamens, 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  the 
  

   absolute 
  deficiency 
  of 
  any 
  marked 
  tendency 
  to 
  

   such 
  a 
  change. 
  Both 
  may 
  occur, 
  and 
  will 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time. 
  But 
  they 
  

   must 
  be 
  extremely 
  rare, 
  since 
  in 
  my 
  own 
  exten- 
  

   sive 
  experiments, 
  which 
  were 
  strictly 
  controlled, 
  

   I 
  never 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  single 
  instance 
  of 
  

   either 
  of 
  them. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  outer 
  stamens 
  

   have 
  always 
  remained 
  unchanged, 
  yielding 
  

   enough 
  pollen 
  for 
  the 
  artificial 
  pollination 
  of 
  

  

  