﻿Five-leaved 
  Clover 
  345 
  

  

  leaves 
  are 
  also 
  sometimes 
  produced 
  by 
  my 
  new 
  

   race 
  of 
  clover. 
  

  

  Returning 
  to 
  the 
  original 
  plants 
  of 
  this 
  race, 
  

   it 
  is 
  evidently 
  impossible 
  to 
  decide 
  whether 
  they 
  

   were 
  really 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  strain, 
  and 
  

   had 
  originated 
  themselves 
  by 
  some 
  sudden 
  

   change 
  from 
  the 
  common 
  type, 
  or 
  whether 
  

   they 
  belonged 
  to 
  an 
  old 
  variety, 
  which 
  had 
  

   propagated 
  itself 
  perhaps 
  during 
  centuries, 
  

   unobserved 
  by 
  man. 
  But 
  the 
  same 
  diffi- 
  

   culty 
  generally 
  arises 
  when 
  new 
  varieties 
  are 
  

   discovered. 
  Even 
  the 
  behavior 
  of 
  the 
  plants 
  

   themselves 
  or 
  of 
  their 
  progeny 
  does 
  not 
  afford 
  

   any 
  means 
  of 
  deciding 
  the 
  question. 
  The 
  sim- 
  

   plest 
  way 
  of 
  stating 
  the 
  matter 
  therefore, 
  is 
  to 
  

   say 
  that 
  I 
  accidentally 
  found 
  two 
  individuals 
  of 
  

   the 
  ' 
  ' 
  five-leaved 
  ' 
  ' 
  race. 
  By 
  transplanting 
  them 
  

   into 
  my 
  garden, 
  I 
  have 
  isolated 
  them 
  and 
  kept 
  

   them 
  free 
  from 
  cross-fertilization 
  with 
  the 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  type. 
  Moreover, 
  I 
  have 
  brought 
  them 
  un- 
  

   der 
  such 
  conditions 
  as 
  are 
  necessary 
  for 
  the 
  full 
  

   development 
  of 
  their 
  characters. 
  And 
  last 
  but 
  

   not 
  least, 
  I 
  have 
  tried 
  to 
  improve 
  this 
  character 
  

   as 
  far 
  as 
  possible 
  by 
  a 
  very 
  rigid 
  and 
  careful 
  

   selection. 
  

  

  The 
  result 
  of 
  all 
  this 
  effort 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  rapid 
  

   improvement 
  of 
  my 
  strain. 
  I 
  saved 
  the 
  seed 
  

   of 
  the 
  original 
  plants 
  in 
  1889 
  and 
  cultivated 
  the 
  

   second 
  generation 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  year. 
  It 
  

  

  