Direct
observations are possible and any comparison of numerical proportions of
species in succeeding years affords clear proof of the part it plays.
And above all, such observations can be made quite independently of
doubtful theoretical considerations about presumed changes of character.
The fact of natural selection is plain and it should be studied in its
most simple conditions.
[121]
C. RETROGRADE VARIETIES
LECTURE V
CHARACTERS OF RETROGRADE VARIETIES
Every one admires the luxuriance of garden-flowers, and their diversity
of color and form. All parts of the world have contributed to their
number and every taste can find its preference among them. New forms
produced by the skill of the breeder are introduced every year. This has
been done mostly by crossing and intermingling the characters of
introduced species of the same genus. In some of the cases the history
of our flowers is so old that their hybrid origin is forgotten, as in
the case of the pansies. Hybridizations are still going on in other
groups on a large scale, and new forms are openly claimed to be of
hybrid origin.
Breeders and amateurs generally have more interest in the results than
in the way in which they have been brought about. Excellent flowers and
fruit recommend themselves and there seems to be no reason for inquiring
[122] about their origin.
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