172 THE SURVIVAL OP THE UNLIKE. [vi. 



of the merits of all novelties. Yet there are so many 

 difficulties and uncertainties pertaining to the so-called 

 testing of varieties that the results often possess nothing 

 of permanent value; and there are certain reasons why 

 the experimenter, if he derives his knowledge wholly 

 from his own tests, is less competent to pronounce upon 

 the merits of novelties than the grower is himself. 



What constitutes a test of a variety ? Simply this : 

 Obtaining exact knowledge as to whether the variety is 

 distinct from others and whether it is useful for certain 

 places or purposes. It would seem to be simple enough 

 to obtain such knowledge as this; and yet it supposes 

 that the experimenter knows all existing varieties — which 

 no one does or can — and that he is equally expert in 

 judging the merits of any and all plants which may be 

 brought to him, from strawberries to chrysanthemums, 

 and from celery to apples. But there are other difficul- 

 ties, which inhere in the subject itself. To test a variety 

 for any purpose, it is necessary to actually grow it and 

 use it for that purpose. The chief end of most varieties 

 is for the market, but the experiment station cannot 

 grow varieties for commercial market. One crate or 

 even one shipment does not test the shipping qualities of 

 a variety, for these qualities vary with the season, the 

 weather, the methods of transportation, and with the 

 different pickings of the same variety; and it is, there- 

 fore, impossible to give any adequate test to twenty or 

 thirty or even more varieties of any one fruit, let alone 

 the many kinds of fruits and other products with which 

 the experimenter is supposed to deal. It is said that one 

 can judge from the looks and behavior of a variety if it 

 will be a good shipper, but I must remind my reader 

 that this short-cut method of arriving at conclusions is 



