332 Ever-sporting Varieties 



Perhaps each of them originally had a congru- 

 ent single-flowered form, from which it was pro- 

 duced by seed in the same way as the double 

 stocks now are yearly. If this assumption is 

 right, the corresponding fertile line is now lost ; 

 it has perhaps died out, or been masked. But 

 it is not absolutely impossible that such strains 

 might one day be discovered for one or another 

 of these now sterile varieties. 



Eeturning to the stocks we are led to the con- 

 ception that some varieties are absolutely sin- 

 gle, while others consist of both single-flowered 

 and double-flowered individuals. The single 

 varieties are in respect to this character true 

 to the original wild type. They never give seed 

 which results in doubles, providing all inter- 

 crossing is excluded. The other varieties are 

 ever-sporting, in the sense of this term pre- 

 viously assumed, but with the restriction that 

 the sports are exclusively one-sided, and never 

 return, owing to their absolute sterility. 



The oldest double varieties of stocks have at- 

 tained an age of a century and more. During 

 all this time we have had a continuous pedi- 

 gree of fertile and single-flowered individuals, 

 throwing off in each generation a definite num- 

 ber of doubles. This ratio is not at all depend- 

 ent on chance or accident, nor is it even variable 

 to a remarkable degree. Quite on the contrary 



