﻿Selection 
  of 
  Elementary 
  Species 
  97 
  

  

  market 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  " 
  Talavera 
  de 
  

   Bellevue. 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  tall, 
  white 
  variety, 
  with 
  long 
  

   and 
  slender 
  white 
  heads, 
  almost 
  without 
  awns, 
  

   and 
  with 
  fine 
  white 
  pointed 
  kernels. 
  It 
  was 
  in- 
  

   troduced 
  into 
  commerce 
  about 
  1830, 
  and 
  is 
  still 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  generally 
  cultivated 
  French 
  

   wheats. 
  It 
  was 
  highly 
  prized 
  in 
  the 
  magnifi- 
  

   cent 
  collection 
  of 
  drawings 
  and 
  descriptions 
  of 
  

   wheats, 
  published 
  by 
  Vilmorin 
  under 
  the 
  title 
  

   ' 
  ' 
  Les 
  meilleurs 
  bles 
  ' 
  ' 
  and 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  quite 
  

   a 
  number 
  of 
  valuable 
  qualities, 
  branching 
  freely 
  

   and 
  producing 
  an 
  abundance 
  of 
  good 
  grain 
  and 
  

   straw. 
  It 
  is 
  however, 
  sensitive 
  to 
  cold 
  win- 
  

   ters 
  in 
  some 
  degree 
  and 
  thereby 
  limited 
  in 
  its 
  

   distribution. 
  Hallett, 
  the 
  celebrated 
  English 
  

   wheat-breeder, 
  tried 
  in 
  vain 
  to 
  improve 
  the 
  

   peculiar 
  qualities 
  of 
  this 
  valuable 
  production 
  

   of 
  Le 
  Couteur 
  's. 
  

  

  Le 
  Couteur 
  worked 
  during 
  many 
  years 
  along 
  

   this 
  line, 
  long 
  before 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  Vilmorin 
  

   conceived 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  improvement 
  by 
  race- 
  

   selections, 
  and 
  he 
  used 
  only 
  the 
  simple 
  

   principle 
  of 
  distinguishing 
  and 
  isolating 
  the 
  

   members 
  of 
  his 
  different 
  fields. 
  Later 
  he 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  his 
  results 
  in 
  a 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  varieties, 
  

   peculiarities 
  and 
  classification 
  of 
  wheat 
  (1843), 
  

   which 
  though 
  now 
  very 
  rare, 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  basis 
  

   and 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  principle 
  of 
  variety-testing. 
  

  

  The 
  discoverv 
  of 
  Lagasca 
  and 
  Le 
  Couteur 
  was 
  

  

  