454 STATE EOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



ture. It is a common practice with horticulturists to obtain seeds from another 

 place having a very different soil so as to avoid raising plants for a long suc- 

 cession of generations under the same conditions: but witli all the species 

 which freely intercross by the aid of insects or the wind, it would be an incom- 

 parably better plan to obtain seeds of the required variety, which had been 

 raised for some generations under as different conditions as possible, and sow 

 them in alternate rows with seeds matured in the old garden. The two stocks 

 would tlien intercross, with a thorough blending of tlieir whole organizations, 

 and with no less of purity to the variety; and this would yield far more favor- 

 able results than a mere exchange of seeds. Mix seeds of the same variety 

 grown in different localities to grow your seed. 



A PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 



Brief reviews of this book reached me two years ago this January. Mr. 

 Darwin had not tested the crossing of flowers by foreign stock in cases of our 

 fruits, nor had he tried the same on but few of our vegetables. He had not 

 tried it on any of the cereals except on Indian corn, and on this imperfectly, 

 because corn will not ripen in the open air in England. It seemed to me to be 

 the greatest chance ever offered to make some good experiments in this country 

 for the benefit of our farmers.* I lost no time in trying this on several plants 

 of widely different characters. I obtained pollen of tlic apple from Adrian, 

 Lenawee county, by letter, and used it in crosses, which took good effect. I 

 have some young trees one year old as the result. I also tried this experiment 

 on two races of Indian corn, viz. : White Dent and Yellow Dent. I obtained 

 Yellow Dent from Jacob Wolton, of Raisin, who got it from a man who had 

 taken much pains with it and had kept it pure for ten years or more. I also 

 procured some seed much like this from Benjamin Hathaway, of Little Prairie 

 Eonde. He had kept it pure, and improved it for some fifteen years or more. 

 I planted the Wolton and the Hathaway corn in alternate rows, in a patch by 

 itself. I gave it good care. Understand me, I was not expecting to get a new 

 variety, as these two lots were already nearly or quite alike. From the rows of 

 the Wolton corn I cut all tlie tops as the tassels appeared. I secured a perfect 

 cross. From seed thus saved were planted four rows through the middle of a 

 field of Dent corn on the college farm. 



In bushels of ears these four rows yielded a little over one-half as much as 

 the sum yielded by six rows on each side. Or in other words, the yield from 

 the crossed seed exceeded the yield of that not crossed as 153 exceeds 100. 



I know of several men in different portions of the State who have mixed their 

 seed corn and who think they have increased the yield by so doing. They 

 have mixed different varieties, and have made no accurate experiments to de- 

 termine the gain, if any, by this process. 



RESULTS AVITII CROSSED UEANS. 



There were eight short rows, two feet apart, with the plants finally thinned 

 on July 10 to five plants, about 15 inches apart in the row. The seed for half 

 the rows (alternate rows) is called "old stock," and was raised in the garden 

 the previous year from seeds which descended from those raised on the place 

 for nine years or more. The "crossed stock" was obtained as follows : In 



* The foUowinff reports of experiments with corn and beans was printed in the American Jour- 

 nal of Science and Arts for Maj'. With reference to them Prof. A. Grav, of Harvard University, 

 writes, "The experiments are very neat and to the purpose, "and tlieii lie gives the article tlie 

 place of honor in the Journal of which he is one of the associate editors. 



