326 Ever-sporting Varieties 



being more largely cultivated in some countries. 

 It lias one great drawback: it never comes 

 wholly true from seed. It may be grown in 

 full isolation, and carefully selected, all red or 

 nearly monochromatic samples being rooted out 

 long before blooming, but nevertheless the seed 

 will always produce some red roots. The most 

 careful selection, pursued through a number 

 of years, has not been sufficient to get rid of 

 this regular occurrence of reversionary individ- 

 uals. Seed-growers receive many complaints 

 from their clients on this account, but they are 

 not able to remove the difficulty. This experi- 

 ence is in full agreement with the experimental 

 evidence given by the snapdragon, and it would 

 certainly be very interesting to make a complete 

 pedigree-culture with the radishes to test 

 definitely their compliance with the rules ob- 

 served for striped flowers. 



Horticulturists in such cases are in the habit 

 of limiting themselves to the sale of so-called 

 mixed seeds. From these no client expects pu- 

 rity, and the normal and hereditary diversity 

 of types is here in some sense concealed under 

 the impurities included in the mixture from 

 lack of selection. Such cases invite scrutiny, 

 and would, no doubt, with the methods of isola- 

 tion, artificial pollination, and the sowing of 

 the seeds separately from each parent, yield 



