270 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



heads scattered all up and down the stem. Below it we 

 have the common solid-headed cabbage, in which all the 

 leaves of the collard or kale are gathered together into 

 a close-packed mass. Then comes the cauliflower, in 

 which the inner leaves, the flower stems, and flowers 

 are made up into a cheesy mass, a much-esteemed vege- 

 table of much milder flavor than the other varieties. 

 Next above is the kohlrabi, which may be considered 

 as a cabbage head compacted into a turnip-like form, 

 flavored much like cauliflower. Finally there is the 

 " Swede" turnip, having cabbage leaves like the kohl- 

 rabi but with the turnip partly underground. So we 

 see how one and the same original plant or forms very 

 similar to it have been varied by cultivation and selec- 

 tion from a tree eight or more feet high to a round tur- 

 nip. Other culture plants have been similarly varied. 

 Varieties. Nearly all cultivated plants have many 

 varieties, some produced by accident, and many by 

 intentional selection, for the purpose of obtaining or 

 increasing desirable changes for particular purposes. 

 When we sow many seeds of the same kind, no two 

 seedlings are ever exactly alike. We can select from 

 them one or several showing some desirable quality, 

 and from the seeds of these make further selections, 

 and so on. Such selections are constantly made by 

 gardeners, who then give new names, such as we see 

 in nurserymen's catalogues, to the variety having some 

 special advantage. 



