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The great majority of ferns, however, vary more or less 

 when raised from spores. The seedlings are only approxi- 

 mately, and not absolutely, like the parent ; some may be 

 undistinguishable, some may be better than the parent, but 

 a considerable proportion are inferior, it may be only 

 slightly, but still inferior. If seedlings be again raised 

 from these seedlings it is obvious that in a few generations 

 the character may be considerably modified without any 

 great break having been observed. For these reasons it 

 is important that the original plant should always, as far as 

 possible, be preserved as a standard. Our Society is doing 

 •something by means of its herbarium to preserve an official 

 standard and record of named varieties, but it would be 

 better still if a record could be kept of the whereabouts of 

 living original plants. If desired, I would myself be willing 

 to keep such a record and to publish the particulars from 

 time to time. Of course, if a distinctly improved form of 

 any variety be raised it becomes itself a new departure, 

 and is itself an original. We must beware, however, of 

 giving names to seedlings which depart very slightly from 

 the original — that way lies madness and confusion. There 

 has been too much of this in the past, and new names have 

 undoubtedly been given to plants which were only modified 

 " states," or even inferior forms, of old varieties. Many of 

 these elaborate names will, in the future, have to disappear 

 as the differences which they were supposed to denote are 

 not maintained under cultivation. This redundancy of 

 names applies, in a less degree, even to wild finds : for 

 example a gentleman once told me that he had found 

 fourteen seedling ferns together under one rock. The 

 fourteen were grown on and given separate names. 

 Eventually they were exhibited before the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society and obtained fourteen first-class certifi- 

 cates ! To-day the fourteen names have disappeared and 

 all, if known at all, are known under one name which was 

 not new when the find was made. A newly found variety 



