

CHARTER I. 



PRODUCTION OF A NEW VARIETY OF FRUIT. 



OF the vegetable no less than of the animal 

 kingdom, it is a law to which there are few 

 exceptions, that, in their native wilds uncon- 

 trolled by man, the different species exactly 

 reproduce themselves. 



The process of change commences with the 

 generations raised in a domesticated state. 



Some plants, indeed, and animals also seem 

 not to be susceptible of the ameliorating influ- 

 ences of human care. But almost all the 

 really useful species are easily brought into a 

 state of domestication. When once the artifi- 

 cial treatment of culture is applied, the artifi- 

 cial product of varieties is the result. The 

 seeds, for example, of the common field- 

 strawberry, sown in the garden, will produce 

 fruit differing from that of the parent-plant 

 and also from each other. The product from 

 sowing the seeds of these will be still more 



