PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 277 



and unsatisfactory milling qualities. Having failed to find suit- 

 able varieties, it was undertaken to produce them by crossing the 

 most promising winter varieties with the leading spring varieties 

 known to be locally adapted. 



Beginning with 1899, 14 crosses were made between parents of 

 spring "Club" wheat {Triticum compacturn)^ and the ordinary 

 vulgar e types of winter wheat. From these crosses 215 plants 

 were harvested in 1900. Of these, 149 proved to be hybrids, being 

 intermediate in type between the parents. The remainder were 

 identical with the female parent, thus showing that the flowers 

 had been self-fertilized. The following remarkable statement oc- 

 curs : 



"No important variations occurred in the first generation, except as 

 noted below, but when the heads appeared on the second generation, 

 a remarkable state of affairs was seen to exist. At first glance it appeared 

 that each of the hybrids had split up into all sorts of types, but closer 

 inspection showed that in every case but one, which is noticed later, the 

 forms in each plot were simply combinations of the characters of the 

 parent forms. Further inspection revealed the fact that, in plots of 

 similar breeding, exactly the same types were present. This suggested 

 the idea that perhaps a hybrid tended to produce certain definite types, 

 and possibly in definite proportions." (p. 88.) 



All of the hybrid plots were accordingly assorted into types, 

 and the proportions of each type determined. The results con- 

 firmed the idea that definite types and proportions existed in the 

 progeny. The statement follows : 



"if similar results are shown to follow the crossing of other groups 

 of wheat, it seems entirely possible to predict, in the main, what types 

 will result from crossing any two established varieties, and approximately 

 the proportion of each type that will appear in the second generation." 

 (p. 88.) 



The statement is then made : 



"with the exception already referred to, the second generation con- 

 sisted of the two parent types, and of all the intermediate types possible 

 between them." (p. 88.) 



The instance is given where one parent had long, bearded 

 heads, and the other short, beardless heads ; six types could be 

 distinguished : 



"... 2 of these had long heads like one of the parents, 2 others short 

 heads like the other parent, and 2 were intermediate ; and one of each 

 of these 3 groups had beards, while the other had none." (p. 88.) 



