WHAT VARIETIES COME TRUE FROM SEEDS ? Ill 



in the wild state, in their native habitats, almost invaria- 

 bly produce a progeny nearly identical with the parent ; 

 and many species, even after they have been subjected to 

 long years of cultivation, seemingly never appear to 

 change in the slightest degree. Other species under cul- 

 tivation, quickly develop varieties greatly different from 

 the original, and become what is technically termed 

 " broken." Thus the original species of our well-known 

 Verbena is indigenous to South America, having a com- 

 paratively small scarlet flower. From this, and probably 

 some other species hybridized with it, we have the gor- 

 geous and varied coloring of the Verbenas of to-day. But it 

 took many years to produce these, for we can well remem- 

 ber that in our early gardening days there was no white, 

 and the furor that took place in the floricultural world 

 when Verbena teucrioides, the first white, appeared. It was 

 far from being an attractive plant, but the color was novel, 

 and single plants were sold by the florists of that time at 

 a price that would now buy a hundred. The Verbena, 

 then, is one genus of which the species have given us in- 

 numerable varieties. The Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, 

 Fuchsia, Geranium, Tulip, Hyacinth, Gladiolus, Pansy, 

 Petunia, the Rose, and many others, are also familiar 

 examples where the original species has "broken" from 

 what may be termed its primary condition into everchang- 

 ing variety. Thus changed, it is probable that their seeds 

 will never produce two individual plants exactly alike. 

 It is probable that all species of animals and veg< 

 etables, under long years of domestication and culti- 

 vation, would ultimately "break" from the original 

 type, though we know that in some species this tendency 

 is sooner developed than in others. It is not to be wondered 

 at that amateur horticulturists, like my inquiring friend, 

 are puzzled at what looks like inconsistency in nature- 

 why she refuses to produce always again his Baldwin 

 Apple, or his Rareripe Peach, his Striped Petunia, or his 



