﻿812 
  Fluctuations 
  

  

  in 
  better 
  conditions 
  of 
  fertility 
  than 
  was 
  

   possible 
  for 
  the 
  fields 
  at 
  large. 
  A 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  qualities 
  and 
  exigencies 
  of 
  

   the 
  elite 
  plants 
  accompanied 
  this 
  selection, 
  

   and 
  gave 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  gradually 
  increasing 
  the 
  

   standard. 
  Resistance 
  against 
  disease 
  was 
  ob- 
  

   served 
  and 
  other 
  qualities 
  were 
  ameliorated 
  in 
  

   the 
  same 
  manner. 
  Mr. 
  Eimpau 
  repeatedly 
  told 
  

   me 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  most 
  anxious 
  not 
  to 
  overlook 
  any 
  

   single 
  character, 
  because 
  he 
  feared 
  that 
  if 
  any 
  

   of 
  them 
  might 
  become 
  selected 
  in 
  the 
  wrong 
  

   way, 
  perchance 
  unconsciously, 
  the 
  whole 
  strain 
  

   might 
  suffer 
  to 
  such 
  a 
  degree 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  all 
  the 
  

   other 
  ameliorations 
  quite 
  useless. 
  With 
  this 
  

   purpose 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  plants 
  per 
  acre 
  was 
  

   kept 
  nearly 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  those 
  in 
  the 
  fields, 
  

   and 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  culture 
  was 
  large 
  enough 
  

   every 
  year 
  to 
  include 
  the 
  best 
  kernels 
  of 
  quite 
  a 
  

   number 
  of 
  heads. 
  These 
  were 
  never 
  separated, 
  

   and 
  exact 
  individual 
  pedigrees 
  were 
  not 
  in- 
  

   cluded 
  in 
  the 
  plan. 
  This 
  mixture 
  seemed 
  to 
  

   have 
  the 
  advantage 
  of 
  keeping 
  up 
  an 
  average 
  

   value 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  characters, 
  

   which 
  either 
  from 
  their 
  nature 
  or 
  from 
  their 
  

   apparent 
  unimportance 
  had 
  necessarily 
  to 
  be 
  

   neglected. 
  

  

  After 
  ten 
  years 
  of 
  continuous 
  labor, 
  the 
  rye 
  

   of 
  Rimpau 
  caught 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  his 
  neigh- 
  

   bors, 
  being 
  manifestly 
  better 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  ordi- 
  

  

  