340 THE SELF-FERTILIZATION OF PLANTS. 



Darwin notes, in profound ignorance of the reason, p. 

 9, Origin of Species), "Sterility has been said to be 

 the bane of horticulture;" and, that so many plants 

 become self-impotent? 



Strange, mysterious, and inexplicable seem, to Dar- 

 win, to be the many phenomena of self-impotent 

 Plants, recorded by him ; but, the disorder is resolved 

 into the fullest harmony, when it is observed, that 

 the lessened fertility and lessened vigor, attend- 

 ant upon Interbreeding and upon Self-Fertiliza- 

 tion, are ever proportionate to the plants' depart- 

 ure from the type of the sum of all the positive 

 parts of its species j and that gain in fertility 

 and in constitutional vigor from crossing, is due 

 to either of the crossed parents contributing a 

 character or characters which the other parent 

 lacks, and to the consequent remove which is 

 made towards the original, perfect type of the 

 given species. 



It is not by the exclusive development " of the part 

 valued," to the neglect, or suppression of the other 

 characters, that any Plant may progress toward per- 

 fection. The further such culture is carried, the worse 

 it becomes, physiologically, for the plant; for, the 

 more is its balance disturbed. 



Darwin talks about "serious defects in structure," 

 and about the policy of not violating " the mutual re- 

 lation of the parts." If he had but availed himself of 

 such ideas, to resolve the phenomena which he records, 

 he would have spared himself the mortification of con- 

 fessing his ignorance of the many phenomena of 



