244 



Plant-Breeding 



again, are saved, and all the seeds are sown. So the 

 operation goes on, patiently and persistently, and there is 

 a reward at the end. This is the one fundamental practice 

 that underlies the amelioration of plants under the touch 

 of man ; and because we know, from experience, that it 

 is so important, we are sure, as Darwin was, that selec- 

 tion in nature must be a factor in the progress of the 

 vegetable world. 



But suppose this suggestion of the new variety does 



not appear among the 

 batch of plants that 

 we raise? Then sow 

 again ; vary the con- 

 ditions; choose the 

 most widely variable 

 types ; cross ; at length 



if the ideal is true 



the suggestion will 

 come. " Cultivation, 

 diversification of the 

 conditions of existence, 



and repeated sowings" are the means which Verlot 

 would employ to induce variations. But the skill and 

 the character of the final result lie not so much in the 

 securing of the initial start, as in the subsequent se- 

 lection. Nature affords starting-points in endless num- 

 bers, but there are few men alert and skillful enough 

 to take the hint and improve it. If we want a new 

 tomato, we first endeavor to discover what we want. We 

 decide that we must have one like the Acme in color, but 

 .more spherical, with a firmer flesh, and a little earlier. 



FIG. 62. Savoy cabbage. 



