THE CREATIVE IDEA. Gl 



that so much could be done upon such a narrow corner of Massa- 

 chusetts as this. Now, I bring these facts to your minds to show 

 you that we can carry on the business of farming, and carry it on 

 well, here at home ; and the better educated we are, the closer 

 our alliance is with the distinguished men abroad who are 

 engaged in the same business, the better will be our agricultural 

 education, and the better will be our agriculture. 

 Adjourned to meet at 7| o'clock, P. M. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The Board met at the hour appointed, when a lecture was 

 delivered on the 



VARIETIES IN PLANTS. 



BY ri'.OF. P. A. CHADBOURXK. 



Gentlemen : When I last had the honor of addressing this 

 Board, I spoke on the Relation of Plants to the World — to soil, 

 climate, and to our place in the solar system. I also spoke of 

 the relation of plants to the animal kingdom, especially of that 

 curious relation by which plants seem to respond to the instinct 

 of certain animals, providing, by a fixed law of growth, both 

 shelter and food for many of their insect enemies. We should 

 certainly expect that they would respond as fully to the intellect 

 of man. And I propose to treat to-night of the final cause of 

 varieties. There seems to be in every plant what may be called 

 the creative idea — that is, a certain purpose, often dimly 

 sketched in the wild plant, but which is more perfectly devel- 

 oped by all the changes produced by cultivation. And while 

 this development under cultivation may give rise to an untold 

 number of forms, as in the case of apples and other fruits, this 

 leading idea is never lost. While the species unfolds itself in 

 the production of varieties, there seems to be a line beyond 

 which it cannot go. Of this fact, our cultivated plants, so long 

 the companions of man, are the best proof. 



Accepting, then, the common definition of varieties in the 

 organic kingdom, we regard them as forms produced by the 

 variation of species. The cause of this variation has never 

 been explained. It was formerly referred to soil and climate ; 

 but probably the only account that will ever be given is : such 

 is the nature of species. It is a law written on the plant and 

 animal, that in their development there shall be variation from 



