no PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 



climax of variation in the produce of cross-fertilized peas, and until 

 which time it would seem useless to expect a fixed seedling variety to 

 be produced, although a reversion to the characters of either parent, or 

 any one of the ancestors, may take place at an earlier period." (p. 13.) 



Laxton's purely botanical attitude toward the matter is well 

 brought out in his final statement : 



". . . in conclusion I may, perhaps, in furtherance of the objects of 

 this paper, be permitted to inquire whether any light can, from these 

 observations or other means, be thrown upon the origin of the cultivated 

 kinds of peas, especially the 'maple' variety, and also as to the source 

 whence the violet and other colors, which appear at intervals on the 

 seeds and in the offspring of the cross-fertilized purple-flowered peas, 

 are derived." (p. 14.) 



16. The Experiments of Patrick Skirreff. 



Before closing an account of the early English hybridizers, 

 it is proper to add an account of the work carried on in the 

 breeding of wheat by Patrick Shirreff of Scotland, recorded in his 

 brief memoir, "Improvement of the cereals and an essay on the 

 wheat-fly," published at Edinburgh and London, in 1873. These 

 experiments began in 1819, with a series of pure line selections 

 of wheat and oats, and concluded with hybridization experiments. 



The fact that Shirreff appears not only to have been the first 

 experimenter of any consequence with the cereals to follow the 

 principle of selecting only pure lines, and the fact that he was 

 the first considerable hybridizer of wheat, make it desirable to 

 include an account of his series of experiments for the sake of 

 their historical value, as well as because of their not inconsid- 

 erable practical success. The circumstance that dominance in cer- 

 tain cases was reported, even if not further commented upon, is 

 interesting as a matter of record. 



In the spring of 1819, when walking over a field of wheat, on 

 the farm of Mungoswells, in the County of Haddington, Scot- 

 land, Shirreff noticed "a green spreading plant" which attracted 

 his notice, "the crop then looking miserable from the effects of 

 a severe winter." At harvest time 63 heads were harvested, yield- 

 ing 2,473 grains. These were dibbled in, the following autumn, 

 at wide intervals. For two succeeding seasons, the seed was sown 

 broadcast, and the first harvest of the progeny of the original 

 plant amounted to 336 bushels. 



In the summer of 1824, "a tall oat plant was observed on a 



