NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 
you wish. Fix this firmly in your mind, and 
constantly select with this end in view. And 
be not led astray from it by some other inter- 
esting manifestation of the flower; or, if some- 
thing unusual does develop, side-track this 
for further test, and keep on the main track, 
doing all faithfully, consistently, enthusiasti- 
cally, and the desired end will come. It must 
be ever borne in mind that only those plants 
must be kept which are pressing onward 
toward the ideal. All the rest must be 
destroyed, or else they will be liable to mix 
with the ones under test and thus lower the 
standard. 
Naturally, the more extensive botanical and 
historical knowledge one has of a given plant 
under experiment, the better,—its habits, its 
former environment, its needs as to soil, 
amount of moisture, preference for sunshine or 
shade, and so on, its complete life history. 
For crossing first and then selection, he 
places the violet near the head of the list as 
the flower now offering to the amateur one of 
the finest fields for experimentation. It is 
somewhat more difficult to cross than some of 
the others, but still, with a little patience, may 
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