﻿194 
  Retrograde 
  Varieties 
  

  

  long 
  before 
  the 
  day 
  of 
  inspection 
  comes 
  around. 
  

   Crosses 
  are 
  unavoidable 
  and 
  hybrid 
  seeds 
  will 
  

   unavoidably 
  come 
  into 
  the 
  harvest. 
  Their 
  

   number 
  may 
  be 
  limited 
  by 
  an 
  early 
  eradication 
  

   of 
  the 
  vieinists, 
  or 
  by 
  the 
  elimination 
  of 
  the 
  

   first 
  ripe 
  seeds 
  before 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  regu- 
  

   lar 
  harvest, 
  or 
  by 
  other 
  devices. 
  But 
  some 
  

   degree 
  of 
  impurity 
  will 
  remain 
  under 
  ordinary 
  

   circumstances. 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  quite 
  superfluous 
  to 
  give 
  more 
  de- 
  

   tails. 
  In 
  any 
  case 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  selection 
  is 
  not 
  

   done 
  before 
  the 
  blooming 
  period, 
  some 
  impuri- 
  

   ties 
  must 
  result. 
  Even 
  if 
  it 
  is 
  done 
  before 
  that 
  

   time, 
  errors 
  may 
  occur, 
  and 
  among 
  hundreds 
  

   and 
  thousands 
  of 
  individuals 
  a 
  single 
  anomalous 
  

   one 
  may 
  escape 
  observation. 
  

  

  The 
  conclusion 
  is, 
  that 
  flower 
  seeds 
  as 
  they 
  

   are 
  offered 
  in 
  commerce, 
  are 
  seldom 
  found 
  

   absolutely 
  pure. 
  Every 
  gardener 
  knows 
  that 
  

   he 
  will 
  have 
  to 
  weed 
  out 
  aberrant 
  plants 
  in 
  

   order 
  to 
  be 
  sure 
  of 
  the 
  purity 
  of 
  his 
  beds. 
  I 
  

   tested 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  samples 
  of 
  seeds 
  for 
  

   purity, 
  bought 
  directly 
  from 
  the 
  best 
  seed- 
  

   growers. 
  Most 
  of 
  them 
  were 
  found 
  to 
  contain 
  

   admixtures 
  and 
  wholly 
  pure 
  samples 
  were 
  very 
  

   rare. 
  

  

  I 
  will 
  now 
  give 
  some 
  illustrative 
  examples. 
  

   From 
  seeds 
  of 
  a 
  yellow 
  snapdragon, 
  I 
  got 
  one 
  

   red-flowered 
  specimen 
  among 
  half 
  a 
  hundred 
  

  

  