We will confine ourselves to a consideration of the flowers, and ask
what degree of purity may be expected as the result of the elimination
of the anomalous plants during the period of blooming.
Now it is evident that the colors and forms of the flowers can only be
clearly distinguished, when they are fully displayed. Furthermore it is
impossible to destroy every single aberrant specimen as soon as it is
seen. On the contrary, the gardener must wait until all or nearly all
the individuals of the same variety have displayed their characters, as
only in this way can all diverging specimens be eliminated by a single
inspection. Unfortunately the insects do not wait for this selection.
They fertilize the flowers from the beginning, and the damage will have
been done [194] long before the day of inspection comes around. Crosses
are unavoidable and hybrid seeds will unavoidably come into the harvest.
Their number may be limited by an early eradication of the vicinists, or
by the elimination of the first ripe seeds before the beginning of the
regular harvest, or by other devices. But some degree of impurity will
remain under ordinary circumstances.
It seems quite superfluous to give more details. In any case in which
the selection is not done before the blooming period, some impurities
must result.
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