THE SPENCER GROUP 15 







plants are cultivated on over-rich land, this graceful wavi- 

 ness, which all admire, becomes an ungainly floppiness 

 that completely spoils the bloom ; an overfed, smooth 

 flower might appear slightly coarse, but it never assumed 

 such an aspect as the waved standards in similar circum- 

 stances. The remedy is, of course, obvious. Do not so 

 unintelligently manure the soil, and subsequently feed the 

 plants, that they will produce flowers that have these de- 

 fects, which are sufficient to ruin the plants as well when 

 grown for garden embellishment as for exhibition. 



Turning now to the structural difference, it has been 

 said already that when the keel closely enclosed the essen- 

 tial organs, this circumstance reduced to a minimum the 

 probabilities of natural agencies stepping in and causing 

 cross-fertilisation. In the Spencer group, to which atten- 

 tion is now being directed, the segments of the keel expand 

 and the organs protrude. This characteristic constitutes 

 the distinguishing feature of the varieties as compared with 

 those of the Unwin type, to which reference will be made 

 in due course. 



Good judges differ as to whether this peculiarity has or 

 has not affected the stability of varieties. Certain it is that, 

 despite all the efforts which have been made, perfect fixa- 

 tion of these varieties is still a more or less doubtful quan- 

 tity. On the contrary, there are some varieties which are 

 absolutely of Spencer form that have scarcely varied in 



