112 Elementary Species 



Some years afterwards, in the summer of 

 1824, he observed a large spechnen of oats 

 in one of the fields of the same farm. Being 

 at that time occupied in making a standard col- 

 lection of oats for a closer comparison of the 

 varieties, he saved the seeds of that plant and 

 sowed them in a row in his experiment-field. 

 It yielded the largest culms of the whole collec- 

 tion and bore long and heav\^ kernels with a red 

 streak on the concave side and it excelled all 

 other sorts by the fine qualities of its very white 

 meal. In the unequal length of its stalks it has 

 however a drawback, as the field appears thin- 

 ner and more meager than it is in reality. 

 '* Hopetown oats," as it is called, has found its 

 way into culture extensively in Scotland and 

 has even been introduced with success into Eng- 

 land, Denmark and the United States. It has 

 been one of the best Scottish oats for more 

 than half a century. 



The next eight years no single plant judged 

 worthy of selection on his own farm attracted 

 Shirreif 's attention. But in the fall of 1832 he 

 saw a beautiful plant of wheat on a neighboring 

 farm and he secured a head of it with about 100 

 grains. From this he produced the ^^ Hope- 

 town wheat." After careful separation from 

 the kernels this original ear was preserved, and 

 was afterwards exhibited at the Stirling Agri- 



