﻿Selection 
  of 
  Elementary 
  Species 
  109 
  

  

  England 
  by 
  F. 
  F. 
  Hallett 
  of 
  Brighton 
  in 
  Sussex, 
  

   who 
  at 
  once 
  called 
  it 
  " 
  pedigree-culture,' 
  and 
  

   produced 
  his 
  first 
  new 
  variety 
  under 
  the 
  very 
  

   name 
  of 
  " 
  Pedigree-wheat." 
  This 
  principle, 
  

   which 
  yields 
  improved 
  strains, 
  that 
  are 
  not 
  con- 
  

   stant 
  but 
  dependent 
  on 
  the 
  continued 
  and 
  care- 
  

   ful 
  choice 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  plants 
  in 
  each 
  succeeding 
  

   generation, 
  is 
  now 
  generally 
  called 
  " 
  selec- 
  

   tion." 
  But 
  it 
  should 
  always 
  be 
  remembered 
  

   that 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  historic 
  evolution 
  of 
  the 
  

   idea, 
  the 
  word 
  has 
  the 
  double 
  significance 
  of 
  the 
  

   distinction 
  and 
  isolation 
  of 
  constant 
  races 
  from 
  

   mixtures, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  choice 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  rep- 
  

   resentatives 
  of 
  a 
  race 
  during 
  all 
  the 
  years 
  of 
  its 
  

   existence. 
  Even 
  sugar-beets, 
  the 
  oldest 
  " 
  se- 
  

   lected 
  ' 
  ' 
  agricultural 
  plants 
  are 
  far 
  from 
  having 
  

   freed 
  themselves 
  from 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  contin- 
  

   uous 
  improvement. 
  Without 
  this 
  they 
  would 
  

   not 
  remain 
  constant, 
  but 
  would 
  retrograde 
  with 
  

   great 
  rapidity. 
  

  

  The 
  double 
  meaning 
  of 
  the 
  word 
  selection 
  

   still 
  prevailed 
  when 
  Darwin 
  published 
  his 
  

   " 
  Origin 
  of 
  Species." 
  This 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  

   1859, 
  and 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  Shirreff 
  was 
  the 
  highest 
  

   authority 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  successful 
  breeder 
  of 
  

   cereals. 
  Vilmorin's 
  method 
  had 
  been 
  applied 
  

   only 
  to 
  beets, 
  and 
  Hallett 
  had 
  commenced 
  his 
  

   pedigree-cultures 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  before 
  and 
  

   his 
  first 
  publication 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Pedigree-wheat 
  " 
  

  

  