SECRETARY'S REPORT. 71 



exists a little plant with a fusiform root, smooth glaucous leaves, 

 flowers similar to wild mustard and of a saline taste. It is called 

 by botanists, Brassica oleracea. By cultivation there have been 

 obtained from this insignificant and apparently useless plant — 



1st, all Borecoles or Kails, 12 vai-ieties or more, 



2d, all cabbages having heart. 



3d, the various kinds of Savoy cabbages. 



4th, Brussels sprouts. 



6th, all the Broccolis and Cauliflowers which do not heart. 



6th, the rape plant. 



*li\\, the ruta baga or Swedish turnip. 



8th, yellow and white turnips. 



9th, Hybrid turnips. 



10th, Kohl Rabbi. 



Similar examples are numerous among bur common useful plants, 

 and among flowers the dahlia and verbena furnish an illustration 

 of countless varieties, embracing numberless hues and combinations 

 of color, from purest white through nearly all the tints of the rain- 

 bow to almost black, of divers hights too, and habits of growth, 

 springing up under the hand of cultivation in a few years from 

 plants which at first yielded only a comparatively unattractive and 

 self-colored flower. In brief, it may be said, that nearly or quite 

 all the choicest productions both of our kitchen and flower gardens 

 are due to variations induced by cultivation in a course of years 

 from plants which in their natural condition would scarcely attract 

 a passing glance. 



We cannot say what might have been the original type of many 

 of our domestic animals, for the inquiry would carry us beyond 

 any record of history or tradition regarding it, but few doubt that 

 all our varieties of the horse, the ox, the sheep and the dog, sprang 

 each originally from a single type, and that the countless variations 

 are due to causes connected with their domestication. Of those 

 reclaimed within the period of memory may be named the turkey. 

 This was unknown to the inhabitants of the old continent until 

 discovered here in a wild state. Since then, having been domes- 

 ticated and widely disseminated, it now off"ers varieties of wide 

 departure from the original type, and which have been nurtured 

 into self-sustaining breeds, distinguished from each other by the 

 possession of peculiar characteristics. 



Among what are usually reckoned the more active causes of 

 variation may be named climate, food and habit. 



