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  Elementary 
  Species 
  

  

  neither 
  of 
  them 
  conveys 
  a 
  real 
  explanation; 
  

   their 
  aim 
  is 
  chiefly 
  to 
  support 
  different 
  views 
  as 
  

   to 
  the 
  causes 
  of 
  variability, 
  and 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  

   elementary 
  species 
  at 
  large. 
  

  

  One 
  opinion, 
  advocated 
  by 
  De 
  Candolle, 
  Dar- 
  

   win 
  and 
  others, 
  claims 
  that 
  the 
  varieties 
  owe 
  

   their 
  origin 
  to 
  the 
  direct 
  influence 
  of 
  cultiva- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  corresponding 
  forms 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  wild 
  state, 
  are 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  original, 
  but 
  have 
  

   escaped 
  from 
  cultivation 
  and 
  apparently 
  be- 
  

   come 
  wild. 
  Of 
  course 
  this 
  possibility 
  cannot 
  

   be 
  denied, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  any 
  single 
  instance, 
  but 
  it 
  

   seems 
  too 
  sweeping 
  an 
  assertion 
  to 
  make 
  for 
  

   the 
  whole 
  range 
  of 
  observed 
  forms. 
  

  

  The 
  alternative 
  theory 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  van 
  Mons, 
  

   the 
  Belgian 
  originator 
  of 
  commercial 
  varieties 
  

   of 
  apples, 
  who 
  has 
  published 
  his 
  experiments 
  in 
  

   a 
  large 
  work 
  called 
  ' 
  i 
  Arbres 
  f 
  ruitiers 
  ou 
  Pomo- 
  

   nomie 
  beige. 
  ' 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  remarkable 
  ap- 
  

   ples 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century 
  were 
  pro- 
  

   duced 
  by 
  van 
  Mons, 
  but 
  his 
  greatest 
  merit 
  is 
  

   not 
  the 
  direct 
  production 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  good 
  

   varieties, 
  but 
  the 
  foundation 
  of 
  the 
  method, 
  by 
  

   which 
  new 
  varieties 
  may 
  be 
  obtained 
  and 
  im- 
  

   proved. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  van 
  Mons, 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  a 
  

   new 
  variety 
  consists 
  chiefly 
  of 
  two 
  parts. 
  The 
  

   first 
  is 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  a 
  subspecies 
  with 
  new 
  

   desirable 
  qualities. 
  The 
  second 
  is 
  the 
  trans- 
  

  

  