Chap. XXI. FAVOUKABLE CIRCUMSTANCES. 221 



that many individuals of the breed which is to be improved 

 should be raised ; for thus there will be a better chance of the 

 appearance of variations in the right direction, and individuals 

 varying in an unfavourable manner may be freely rejected or 

 destroyed. But that a large number of individuals should be 

 raised, it is necessary that the conditions of life should favour 

 the propagation of the species. Had the peacock been reared 

 as easily as the fowl, we should probably ere this have had 

 many distinct races. We see the importance of a large 

 number of plants, from the fact of nursery gardeners almost 

 always beating amateurs in the exhibition of new varieties. 

 In 1845 it was estimated 43 that between 4000 and 5000 

 pelargoniums were annually raised from seed in England, yet 

 a decidedly improved variety is rarely obtained. At Messrs. 

 Carter's grounds, in Essex, where such flowers as the Lobelia, 

 Nemophila, Mignonette, &c, are grown by the acre for seed, 

 " scarcely a season passes without some new kinds being 

 raised, or some improvement effected on old kinds." 44 At 

 Kew, as Mr. Beaton remarks, where many seedlings of common 

 plants are raised, " you see new forms of Laburnums, Spmeas, 

 and other shrubs." 45 So with animals : Marshall, 46 in speak- 

 ing of the sheep in one part of Yorkshire, remarks, " as they 

 belong to poor people, and are mostly in small lots, they never 

 can be improved." Lord Rivers, when asked how he suc- 

 ceeded in always having first-rate greyhounds, answered, " I 

 breed many, and hang many." This, as another man remarks, 

 " was the secret of his success ; and the same will be found in 

 exhibiting fowls, — successful competitors breed largely, and 

 keep the best." 47 



It follows from this that the capacity of breeding at an 

 early age and at short intervals, as with pigeons, rabbits, &c, 

 facilitates selection ; for the result is thus soon made visible, 

 and perseverance in the work encouraged. It can hardly be 

 an accident that the great majority of the culinary and agri- 

 cultural plants which have yielded numerous races are annuals 



43 'Gardener's Chronicle,' 1815, p. 368. 



273. 46 ' A Review of Reports,' 1808, p. 



44 'Journal of Horticulture,' 1862, 4-06. 



p. 157. 47 - Gardener's Chronicle,' 1853 ; p 



** 'Cottage Gardener,' 1860, p. 45. 



