60 THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 



consisted raerely iu sepiratiug some veiy distinct variety, 

 and breeding from it, the principle would be so obvious 

 as hardly to be worth notice; but its importance consists 

 in the great effect produced by the accumulation in one 

 direction, during successive generations, of differences ab- 

 solutely inappreciable by an uneducated eye — differences 

 which I for one have vainly attempted to appreciate. 

 Not one man in a thousand has accuracy of eye and 

 judgment sufficient to become an eminent breeder. If 

 gifted with these qualities, and he studies his subject 

 for years, and devotes his lifetime to it with indomitable 

 perseverance, he will succeed, and may make great im- 

 provements; if he wants any of these qualities, he will 

 assuredly fail. Few would readily believe in the natural 

 capacity and years of practice requisite to become even 

 a skilful pigeon- fancier. 



The same principles are followed by horticulturists; 

 but the variations are here often more abrupt. No one 

 supposes that our choicest productions have been pro* 

 duced by a single variation from the aboriginal stock. 

 We have proofs that this has not been so in several 

 cases in which exact records have been kept; thus, to 

 give a very trifling instance, the steadily-increasing size 

 of the common gooseberry may be quoted. We see an 

 astonishing improvement in many florists' flowers, when 

 the flowers of the present day are compared with draw- 

 ings made only twenty or thirty years ago. When a 

 race of plants is once pretty well established, the seed- 

 raisers do not pick out the best plants, but merely go 

 over their seed-beds, and pull up the "rogues," as they 

 call the plants that deviate from the proper standard. 

 With animals this kind of selection is, in fact, likewise 



