April 8, 1869. ] 



JOUENAIi OP HORTICULTUBB AND COTTAGE OABDENHB. 



211 



Every scientific inrjuiry may be oompared to a line which can 

 always be extended from each eud. But as the progress of 

 onything cannot bo ascertained without knowing the different 

 stages, as the distance travelled can only be measured from a 

 fixed starting point, I will take as that starting point llaphanus 

 raphanistrum, as it is found wild, and which ia represented in 

 figs. 1, 2, and ;;. 



Kaphanus raphanistrum, or the Wild Radish, is a weed be- 

 longing to the natural order Cruoifern?, and often confounded 

 with Sinapis arvensis, or Charlock. It is much branched, the 

 ramifications strong, wide apart, springing from the collar, with 

 lyrate leaves (y;//. 1). In a wild state it is found with pale 

 yellow, as well as with pure white or lilac-veined llowers. 



Having stated what are the principal characters of 11. rapha- 

 nistrum, I will mention how the idea occurred to me of sub- 

 jecting the plant to cultivation. Born and brought up iu the 



tained were nearly eimilar. At Paris the long form of root pre- 

 dominated, and was almost the only one, and in the country it 

 was the reverse. Again, whilst at Paris, only white or rose- 

 coloured roots were produced, in the country these were purple, 

 or very dark brown verging on black, and there were some of 

 all forms and colours. There were at once representatives of 

 the various sorts both of Kadish and Turnip, a statement, 

 however, which must not bo taken as meaning that I consider 

 the two vegetables the same. There was even one (/if/. 5) 

 exactly like the Chinese Winter lladish, and with a flavour in- 

 termediate between that of the Kadish and the Turnip. Finally, 

 one of the most singular of the varieties rait^ed yii/. '.t) was of a 

 beautiful purple colour, both oxtornally, and in its flesh, being 

 in this respect similar to the red-lleehod Beetroots, and purple- 

 fleshed Potatoes, among vegetables, and the Sanguine Peach 

 and Pain-Yin Pear among fruits. 



Fig. 1. 

 V?ild Radisli ia flower. 



country, mo.?t of my youth was spent iu the fields. One day I 

 observed some resemblance between the pods of the garden 

 Radish and those of the wild one, which at that time I mis- 

 took for Charlock. I found them good to eat, and it occurred to 

 me to sow the seeds, but my intention to do so was not carried 

 . out till long afterwards, when, hearing of various experiments 

 made with Cabbages, Beet, and Carrots, the remembrance of 

 what I called Charlock occurred to me, and I determined to 

 experiment on the plant. With this yiew, I gathered in the 

 fields, and as far as possible from allied plants, such as Cabbages, 

 Turnips, Eadishes, &c,, seeds of Kaphanus raphanistrum, and 

 sowed them with the iutention'of resowing in several successive 

 years, selecting every time seeds from those plants which pre- 

 sented the most promising features. 



To give my experiment, which was continued during five 

 successive years, a greater amount of certainty, and to impress 

 upon it more deeply the seal of truth than would otherwise 

 have been the case, it was carried out under two different con- 

 ditions — viz., at Paris, in the light, dry soU of the nurseries of 

 the Museum of Natural History, and in the country, in a strong 

 calcareous clay. Under these two conditions the results ob- 



Fig. 2. 

 Pods of the Wild Radish. A, Pod of the samo improved. 



The better to show the differences between II. raphanistrum, 

 and the varieties which it produced, I will place in opposition 

 the leading characteristics of each, which are as follow : — 



EAPH.1XUS RAPiiAN'isTRua, tlia t_vpo. Flowcfs pale yellow or white, 

 sometimes lightly streaked with purple. Pods very small, inclining, 

 only slightly fleshy, /loots long and thin, dry, flbroas, of one unifona 

 shape, always white, hard, suh-ligneons, uneatable. 



Yarieties Pkodcced by Eaphantjs RAPHANisTnuii. Floirers white, 

 rosy purple, or yellow, of one colonr or more frequently streaked- 

 Pvds variable in size and form, inolining, occasionally npris^bt, some- 

 times very strong and almost as thick and long as those of the Madras 

 Kadish, being then succulent and gooi to eat. Iioots large, sometimes 

 of very great size, very variable in form and colour, fleshy ; the flesh 

 white, sometimes yellow or rose-coloured, sometimes purple, saccoldut 

 and good to eat. 



From the above it will be seen that the differences between 

 the type and the varieties which proceeded from it were con- 

 siderable, especially considering that they were the results of 

 only four generations. I will now proceed to point out the 

 principal characteristics of the roots shown in the figures. 



i"7;;s. 1, 2, and 3 are typical of the Wild Radish. Fiij. 1 is a 

 representation (one-half the natm-al size), of the end of a 



