﻿Selection 
  of 
  Elementary 
  Species 
  107 
  

  

  peared. 
  Among 
  the 
  vanished 
  forms 
  are 
  the 
  

   special 
  barley 
  and 
  wheat 
  of 
  the 
  lake-dwellings, 
  

   the 
  remains 
  of 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  accidentally 
  

   preserved, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  forms 
  must 
  have 
  dis- 
  

   appeared 
  without 
  leaving 
  any 
  trace. 
  

  

  This 
  inference 
  is 
  supported 
  by 
  the 
  researches 
  

   of 
  Solrns-Laubach, 
  who 
  found 
  that 
  in 
  Abyssinia 
  

   numerous 
  primitive 
  types 
  of 
  cereals 
  are 
  still 
  in 
  

   culture. 
  They 
  are 
  not 
  adequate 
  to 
  compete 
  

   with 
  our 
  present 
  varieties, 
  and 
  would 
  no 
  doubt 
  

   also 
  have 
  disappeared, 
  had 
  they 
  not 
  been 
  pre- 
  

   served 
  by 
  such 
  quite 
  accidental 
  and 
  almost 
  

   primitive 
  isolation. 
  

  

  Closing 
  this 
  somewhat 
  long 
  digression 
  into 
  

   history 
  we 
  will 
  now 
  resume 
  our 
  discussion 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  selecting 
  

   cereals 
  for 
  isolation 
  and 
  segregate-cultivation. 
  

   Some 
  decades 
  after 
  Le 
  Couteur, 
  this 
  method 
  

   was 
  taken 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  celebrated 
  breeder 
  Patrick 
  

   Sheriff 
  of 
  Haddington 
  in 
  Scotland. 
  His 
  be- 
  

   lief, 
  which 
  was 
  general 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  was 
  " 
  That 
  

   cultivation 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  found 
  to 
  change 
  well 
  

   defined 
  kinds, 
  and 
  that 
  improvement 
  can 
  be 
  best 
  

   attained 
  by 
  selecting 
  new 
  and 
  superior 
  varie- 
  

   ties, 
  which 
  nature 
  occasionally 
  produces, 
  as 
  if 
  

   inviting 
  the 
  husbandman 
  to 
  stretch 
  forth 
  his 
  

   hand 
  and 
  cultivate 
  them.' 
  

  

  Before 
  going 
  into 
  the 
  details 
  of 
  Sheriffs 
  

   work 
  it 
  is 
  as 
  well 
  to 
  say 
  something 
  concerning 
  

  

  