56 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



one may greatly improve or even originate new varieties of veget- 

 ables as well as of other plants. The seed stock of desir- 

 able new or improved varieties may often be sold at pro- 

 fitable prices, or by retaining- the sole ownership of such 

 new or improved kinds one may perhaps raise crops that 

 have highly esteemed qualities as to size, shape, color, 

 flavor, hardiness, season of maturity or other features, and so 

 command an advanced price. Thus a grower may sometimes 

 be well rewarded for his care and attention in improving- his 

 specialties, but careful study and persistence is necessary to 

 success, and few persons are keen enough in their powers of 

 observation, to succeed in this line of work. 



There is a constant tendency for cultivated plants to vary wide- 

 ly from the original form, though this feature may not manifest it- 

 self for many generations after cultivation has commenced. The 

 higher the state of cultivation to which a plant is subjected, 

 the greater are the chances of its producing new features. 

 When a plant once commences to vary from the original type, 

 the changes ofttimes come very rapidly, and the possibilities are 

 endless. Thus from a wild plant two or more feet hi^h with 

 only a few leaves has been developed (1) the modern cab- 

 bage of (a) the wrinkled, (b) the smooth, (c) the red-leaved, 

 and (d) the many ornamental kinds; (2) Brussels sprouts, 

 with numerous small cabbage heads on a stem two or more 

 feet high: (3) cauliflowers, in which the inflorescence becomes 

 thick and fleshy : (4) the various kinds of Kale: and (5) cow 

 cabbage, which in the Jersey Islands has been known to grow 

 to the height of sixteen feet and strong enough for rafters of 

 cow sheds. The many varieties of garden and field plants are 

 conclusive evidence of the variation of plants under culti- 

 vation. 



All of our valuable garden vegetables are the result of almost 

 endless care in selection and in a few cases of artificial as well as 

 chance crossing. They must be regarded as artificial productions 

 having a constant tendency to revert to the wild state, which we must 

 constantly try to overcome if their desirable qucdities are to be 

 maintained. 



It ts necessary for the successful breeding of plants to have in 

 view a well defined purpose and in selecting seed not to vary the ideal 

 standard of excellence sought, for such variation increases the diffi- 

 culty of fixing desired characteristics. 



