IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION. 115 



Each plant can be counted on to give not less 

 than ten first-class cuttings, so that if only fifty 

 plants come up to the standard the first year they 

 will give at least five hundred good rooted cut- 

 tings for the second season. Each of these plants 

 should carry the number of their parent, with an 

 additional mark to indicate the season; for ex- 

 ample, the ten plants from number one the first 

 year would all be recorded as plants a, 

 next year the plants from these would be pi an ts 

 b, and so on. If the work is carried out well 

 the first year, three hundred plants, repre- 

 senting the best of the five hundred, can be 

 staked the second season. These receive their 

 specified numbers, are watched as before, and will 

 give from one thousand to one thousand five hun- 

 dred good plants for the next season's crop. 

 Working in this way, and of course keeping clear- 

 ly before one the importance of looking after every 

 detail of culture, the average yield can be brought 

 up to the one hundred mark, where it may be kept 

 as long as the proper vigilance and intelligence 

 are exercised in the work. We are satisfied 

 that two-thirds of the failures in 

 growing violets come about from not 

 fully recognizing the principles we have 

 here set forth. Left to itself, or if not 

 properly assisted, the tendency of the violet is to 

 retrograde, partly no doubt because it has been 

 grown so long under abnormal conditions and 



