Five-leaved Clover 345 



leaves are also sometimes produced by my new 

 race of clover. 



Returning to the original plants of this race, 

 it is evidently impossible to decide whether they 

 were really the beginning of a new strain, and 

 had originated themselves by some sudden 

 change from the common type, or whether 

 they belonged to an old variety, which had 

 propagated itself perhaps during centuries, 

 unobserved by man. But the same diffi- 

 culty generally arises when new varieties are 

 discovered. Even the behavior of the plants 

 themselves or of their progeny does not afford 

 any means of deciding the question. The sim- 

 plest way of stating the matter therefore, is to 

 say that I accidentally found two individuals of 

 the ' ' five-leaved ' ' race. By transplanting them 

 into my garden, I have isolated them and kept 

 them free from cross-fertilization with the ordi- 

 nary type. Moreover, I have brought them un- 

 der such conditions as are necessary for the full 

 development of their characters. And last but 

 not least, I have tried to improve this character 

 as far as possible by a very rigid and careful 

 selection. 



The result of all this effort has been a rapid 

 improvement of my strain. I saved the seed 

 of the original plants in 1889 and cultivated the 

 second generation in the following year. It 



