HARDENING AND ADAPTATION 
not gone far enough, have stopped when appa- 
rently there was no other outcome, but when 
they were, in reality, only at the beginning, or, 
at best, in the middle, of their difficulties. It 
is hard work,—it takes time, it takes patience, 
it takes persistence, to go on beyond, but is it 
not worth it? 
“Now and then the limit appears to be 
passed and the theorist says, ‘Ah, but this 
is only an abnormality, a monstrosity.’ Yes, 
but is it? How does he know it is? How 
does he know but that the very abnormality 
may not be followed and helped and developed 
until it becomes a splendid norm, reproducing 
it again and again and again, strengthening it 
where necessary, but all the time pressing it 
forward and finally fixing it? How many 
normalities have we now in plant life that 
were not, in one sense, once abnormalities? 
“In hardening a plant from cold, it is 
generally best to select for stock upon which 
to work those plants which have naturally - 
the hardiest bulbs, the hardiest leaves, and the 
hardiest wood,—generally, I say, though not 
always. An arctic plant which may have all 
these characteristics may prove very valuable 
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