64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



of covering, as already indicated, is of no advantage to the seed. 

 Its increase in size is therefore a draft upon the tree, without 

 having any relation to the species. So far as the economy of 

 the plant is concerned, it is a mistake. The machinery is out>of 

 order. There is an absolute throwing away of material and of 

 vital energy. And this goes on, as in some oranges and grapes, 

 till no seeds are formed. 



We are now prepared to introduce and illustrate certain prop- 

 ositions, which seem warranted by plant development : 



1. In some plants the idea of beauty is the most prominent 

 idea, inasmuch as under the best cultivation the variation of 

 these plants is always in the line of beauty, either in the leaf or 

 flower. The beauty of the flower — the rose, for example — often 

 increases at the expense of the reproductive organs, until the 

 power of producing seed is lost. 



2. In other plants, utility of fruit is the prominent idea, as in 

 the apple and the peach. Such plants, under careful cultiva- 

 tion, produce larger and more delicious kinds of fruit, without 

 increase of beauty in the flower. 



8. From these two propositions another follows: That the 

 plants best known to us from long-continued cultivation can be 

 readily divided into two great series, without reference to their 

 botanical relationship, but according to their lines of develop- 

 ment. In one series utility of fruit is the prominent idea, and 

 in the other beauty of flower ; as under the best cultivation 

 these series are developed in these two directions respectively. 



The idea of utility is not manifested by fruit alone. The 

 sugar of the sugar-cane constitutes its utility, while that of the 

 Indian corn lies in its grain. These plants, so nearly allied 

 botanically, are developed in these two directions, according to 

 the leading idea in their products. The apple and the rose, 

 already referred to, belong to the same botanical family, yet 

 they are developed, in nearly all their variations, in opposite 

 directions. The potato has, for its leading idea, the formation 

 of underground stems or tubers ; while its brother, the tomato, 

 has for its idea the production of a fruit corresponding in 

 structure to the potato-grape. They show this in all their 

 variations. In the pine tree the leading idea is wood, and in the 

 mint, essential oil. But in such plants as do not readily produce 

 varieties the line of development is determined with difficulty. 



