v.] THE MYSTERY OF PLANT -BREEDING. 161 



more diverse are the ideals of selection ; and the more 

 variable plants are, the more plastic they are in the 

 hands of the breeder. These new forms have no limit 

 of duration. They do not wear out. But as often 

 as they are grown in new conditions and by different 

 persons, they again vary and are again the subjects of 

 selection. So there is a constant shifting of forms, 

 but the longevity of any form depends, not upon any 

 predestined limitations, but upon the accident of the 

 conditions under which it is grown and bred. The 

 same forces which have brought domestic plants and 

 animals to their present condition, and which are largely 

 responsible for the general uplift of the vegetable king- 

 dom from the beginning, are the ones which, variously 

 modified and refined, must carry the domestic flora and 

 fauna on to the end. What, then, is the mystery of 

 plant -breeding! Only this: Good care, varying cir- 

 cumstances, judicious selection for what you want ! 



11 SUE. 



