XXVIII.] DO CARNATIONS RUN OUT? 447 



plants coming from the same parent, as much dif- 

 ference, in fact, as there is between some wholly dis- 

 tinct varieties. If I were to follow up my practice 

 on each of these lots — as I propose to do — I might 

 be able within a few generations to obtain distinct 

 varieties ; and there is little doubt that the last lot 

 — made from flower stems — would soon become 

 very weak, and might perish altogether. 



I am ready to believe that any noticeably weak 

 plant will produce poor offspring, and by that much 

 hasten the disappearance of the variety. It is well 

 known that stock of a certain kind may be better 

 grown by a given man than when grown by his 

 neighbor, and there is every reason to believe that 

 the treatments which the plants receive are responsi- 

 ble for the difference. 



2. Do varieties disappear by variation into other 

 forms ? The above experiment shows that cuttings 

 from the same plant vary among themselves in 

 strength when taken from different parts of the 

 parent. It is likewise true that some individual 

 plants change their character from year to year, 

 and cuttings taken from such plants at various 

 epochs in their history produce different offspring. 

 The "running" of carnations in England is an exam- 

 ple of the variation of the same plant from season to 

 season. A plant which produces a good bizarre may 

 bear a self the next year. If the individual plant is 

 not stable, the cuttings cannot be expected to be 

 stable. Many other plants often refuse to "come 

 true" from cuttings, as, for instance, some petunias 

 and variegated pelargoniums. I suppose that the 

 reason why the striped varieties do not "run" in 



