FAEMERS' INSTITUTES. 209 



Thus, by means of repeated selection alone iu this short time the length of the 

 ears has been doubled, their contents nearly trebled, and the 'tillering' poAver 

 of the seed increased five fold." The seeds were planted, one in a place, nine 

 by nine inches. The plants were cultivated. This may seem to look well on 

 paper, and to be only worthy of a fancy farmer. Of course we should expect 

 that ordinary care would soon cause the wheat again to degenerate. From seed 

 raised in this way a whole field of ten acres in a very unfavorable year yielded 

 fifty-seven bushels to the acre, while with ordinary seeds on previous years the 

 same land yielded from thirty-two to forty bushels to the acre. He could not 

 find that there Avas any particular part of a head of wheat which produced seed 

 that would uniformly yield better than seeds from any other part of the head. 

 As we might expect, after continuing the experiments Mr. Hallett found that 

 the heads became more uniformly of good size and good quality and good yield. 

 Like a well bred flock of sheep, where the owner had bred toward one standard, 

 they were even and uniformly good. Many of our farmers are quite particular 

 to sow good plump seed wheat, and nearly all, perhaps all, would prefer such 

 seed. But how are the plump kernels selected? By means of the screens in 

 the f anning-mill the plump kernels are separated. They come from all sorts of 

 heads long or short, large or small, from those stools producing a few small 

 heads, or from those jiroducing many large heads. They are selected at random 

 from anything that may happen to produce plump kernels. There is, in this 

 common practice, no attention paid to the pedigree. This plan is good so far 

 iis it goes, but it does not go far enough. It does not go half way. Are not 

 the above suggestions worth tlie attention of our best farmers? It seems to me 

 practicable to improve the yield and quality of our wheat. 

 I will refer again to the experiments on corn. 



Improving our Native or Wild Fruits. 



The process for improving our wild fruits would be similar to those used for 

 improving our cultivated varieties, by selecting the best and by cross-fertilizing 

 the flowers. 



We cannot tell what native fruit would first sport into something new and 

 desirable. Some of them are doubtless just ready and waiting to give a bounti- 

 ful reward to the skillful hand of the experimenter. 



To improve a wild plant we take it from its native place and cultivate it, 

 treating it artificially or very different from nature's treatment. By some 

 means which we do not understand and over which we have no control, the 

 plant '' sports," or suddenly changes in some way, perhaps in some respect 

 agreeable to us, but as often otherwise. We select this sport, which suits us 

 better than the original form, and plant it apart from all others of the species. 

 We save its seeds, and very likely get others like the first. By selecting seeds 

 from a certain type for a time varying with each plant, we get the new variety 

 established in such a way that it will come true to seed. We get what is called 

 a permanent variety or a race. We have examples of varieties in our apples, 

 pears, potatoes, geraniums, and cultivated roses. They do not come true to 

 seed. We propagate them by cuttings, layers, budding, or grafting ; while 

 races can be propagated by seeds, as our races of Indian corn, wheat, oats, tur- 

 nips, squashes, radishes, cabbages, and the like. 



By selection, gardeners have now got Phlox Drummondii and Clarkia and 

 other flowers so they will come true, — so they have become races, I doubt not, 

 with time enough, the Northern spy apple could be made to come true to seed. 



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