172 Flowers and their Pedigrees. 



process of selection and amelioration has been constant 

 and unbroken, until in our own day the descendants 

 of these little degraded lilies, readapted to new func- 

 tions under a fresh regime^ have come to cover almost 

 all the cultivable plains in all civilised countries, and 

 supply by far the largest part of man's food in 

 Europe, Asia, America, and Australia. 



