﻿Five-leaved 
  Clover 
  351 
  

  

  to 
  these 
  come 
  the 
  fours 
  and 
  the 
  sixes, 
  while 
  the 
  

   trifoliolate 
  and 
  seven-bladed 
  types 
  are 
  nearly 
  

   equal 
  in 
  number. 
  But 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  lot 
  of 
  plants, 
  

   grown 
  from 
  seed 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  parent, 
  it 
  is 
  often 
  

   possible 
  to 
  choose 
  some 
  in 
  which 
  one 
  extreme 
  

   prevails, 
  and 
  others 
  with 
  a 
  preponderating 
  

   number 
  of 
  leaves 
  with 
  the 
  other 
  extreme 
  num- 
  

   ber 
  of 
  leaflets. 
  If 
  seed 
  from 
  these 
  extremes 
  are 
  

   saved 
  separately, 
  one 
  strain, 
  that 
  with 
  numer- 
  

   ous 
  seven-bladed 
  leaves 
  will 
  remain 
  true 
  to 
  the 
  

   type, 
  but 
  the 
  other 
  will 
  diverge 
  more 
  or 
  less, 
  

   producing 
  leaves 
  with 
  a, 
  varying 
  number 
  of 
  sub- 
  

   divisions. 
  

  

  Very 
  few 
  generations 
  of 
  such 
  opposite 
  selec- 
  

   tion 
  are 
  required 
  to 
  reduce 
  the 
  race 
  to 
  an 
  

   utterly 
  poor 
  one. 
  In 
  three 
  years 
  I 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  

   nearly 
  obliterate 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  my 
  variety. 
  I 
  

   chose 
  the 
  seedlings 
  with 
  an 
  undivided 
  pr 
  unary 
  

   leaf, 
  cultivated 
  them 
  and 
  counted 
  their 
  off- 
  

   spring 
  separately 
  after 
  the 
  sowing. 
  I 
  found 
  

   some 
  parents 
  with 
  only 
  2-3$ 
  of 
  seedlings 
  with 
  

   divided 
  primary 
  leaves. 
  And 
  by 
  a 
  repeated 
  

   selection 
  in 
  this 
  retrograde 
  direction 
  I 
  suc- 
  

   ceeded 
  in 
  getting 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  plants, 
  

   which 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  summer 
  made 
  only 
  

   verv 
  few 
  leaves 
  with 
  more 
  than 
  three 
  blades. 
  

  

  t/ 
  

  

  But 
  an 
  absolute 
  reversion 
  could 
  no 
  more 
  be 
  

   reached 
  in 
  this 
  direction 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  normal 
  

   one. 
  Any 
  sowing 
  without 
  selection 
  would 
  be 
  

  

  