﻿G. 
  L. 
  Goodale 
  — 
  Possibilities 
  of 
  Economic 
  Botany. 
  281 
  

  

  ficiently 
  well 
  distinguished 
  to 
  admit 
  of 
  description 
  and 
  in 
  most 
  

   instances 
  of 
  delineation, 
  without 
  any 
  danger 
  of 
  confusion. 
  

   The 
  potato 
  has, 
  he 
  says, 
  innumerable 
  varieties, 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  

   accepts 
  forty 
  as 
  easily 
  distinguishable 
  and 
  worthy 
  of 
  a 
  place 
  in 
  

   a 
  general 
  list, 
  but 
  he 
  adds 
  also 
  a 
  list, 
  comprising, 
  of 
  coarse, 
  

   synonyms, 
  of 
  thirty-two 
  French, 
  twenty-six 
  English, 
  nineteen 
  

   American 
  and 
  eighteen 
  German 
  varieties. 
  The 
  following 
  

   numbers 
  speak 
  for 
  themselves, 
  all 
  being 
  selected 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   careful 
  manner 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  potato 
  : 
  celery 
  more 
  than 
  

   twenty 
  ; 
  carrot 
  more 
  than 
  thirty 
  ; 
  beet, 
  radish 
  and 
  potato 
  more 
  

   than 
  forty 
  ; 
  lettuce 
  and 
  onion 
  more 
  than 
  fifty 
  ; 
  turnip 
  more 
  

   than 
  seventy 
  ; 
  cabbage, 
  kidney 
  bean 
  and 
  garden 
  pea 
  more 
  than 
  

   one 
  hundred. 
  

  

  The 
  amount 
  of 
  horticultural 
  work 
  which 
  these 
  numbers 
  

   represent 
  is 
  enormous. 
  Each 
  variety 
  established 
  as 
  a 
  race 
  

   (that 
  is 
  a 
  variety 
  which 
  comes 
  true 
  to 
  seed) 
  has 
  been 
  evolved 
  

   by 
  the 
  same 
  sort 
  of 
  patient 
  care 
  and 
  waiting 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  

   seen 
  is 
  necessary 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  cereals, 
  but 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  wait- 
  

   ing 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  as 
  a 
  general 
  thing 
  so 
  long. 
  

  

  You 
  will 
  permit 
  me 
  to 
  quote 
  from 
  Vilmorin 
  16 
  also 
  an 
  account 
  

   of 
  a 
  common 
  plant, 
  which 
  will 
  show 
  how 
  wide 
  is 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  

   variation 
  and 
  how 
  obscure 
  are 
  the 
  indications 
  in 
  the 
  wild 
  plant 
  

   of 
  its 
  available 
  possibilities. 
  The 
  example 
  shows 
  how 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  hidden 
  are 
  the 
  potential 
  variations 
  useful 
  to 
  mankind. 
  

  

  " 
  Cabbage, 
  a 
  plant 
  which 
  is 
  indigenous 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  Western 
  

   Asia, 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  vegetables 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  cultivated 
  from 
  the 
  

   earliest 
  time. 
  The 
  ancients 
  were 
  well 
  acquainted 
  with 
  it, 
  and 
  

   certainly 
  possessed 
  several 
  varieties 
  of 
  the 
  head-forming 
  kinds. 
  

   The 
  great 
  antiquity 
  of 
  its 
  culture 
  may 
  be 
  inferred 
  from 
  the 
  im- 
  

   mense 
  number 
  of 
  varieties 
  which 
  are 
  now 
  in 
  existence, 
  and 
  from 
  

   the 
  very 
  important 
  modifications 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  produced 
  in 
  

   the 
  characteristics 
  in 
  the 
  original 
  or 
  parent 
  plant. 
  

  

  The 
  wild 
  Cabbage, 
  such 
  as 
  it 
  now 
  exists 
  on 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  

   England 
  and 
  France, 
  is 
  a 
  perennial 
  plant 
  with 
  broad-lobed, 
  undu- 
  

   lated, 
  thick, 
  smooth 
  leaves, 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  glaucous 
  bloom. 
  The 
  

   stem 
  attains 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  from 
  nearly 
  two 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  to 
  over 
  three 
  

   feet, 
  and 
  bears 
  at 
  the 
  top 
  a 
  spike 
  of 
  yellow 
  or 
  sometimes 
  white 
  

   flowers. 
  All 
  the 
  cultivated 
  varieties 
  present 
  the 
  same 
  peculiarities 
  

   in 
  their 
  inflorescence, 
  but 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  flowering 
  they 
  exhibit 
  

   most 
  marked 
  differences 
  from 
  each 
  other 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  original 
  

   wild 
  plant. 
  In 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  Cabbages, 
  it 
  is 
  chiefly 
  the 
  leaves 
  that 
  

   are 
  developed 
  by 
  cultivation 
  ; 
  these 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  part 
  become 
  

   imbricated 
  or 
  overlap 
  one 
  another 
  closely, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  more 
  

   or 
  less 
  compact 
  head, 
  the 
  heart 
  or 
  interior 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  composed 
  

   of 
  the 
  central 
  undeveloped 
  shoot 
  and 
  the 
  younger 
  leaves 
  next 
  it. 
  

   The 
  shape 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  is 
  spherical, 
  sometimes 
  flattened, 
  sometimes 
  

   conical. 
  All 
  the 
  varieties 
  which 
  form 
  heads 
  in 
  this 
  way 
  are 
  

   known 
  by 
  the 
  general 
  name 
  of 
  Cabbages, 
  while 
  other 
  kinds 
  with 
  

  

  