PLANT BREEDING 



INTRODUCTION. 



Much seieiitific tliought has been centered on fertilizing the soil that 

 tlio lai-gest possible returns niiglit be se<3ured from a given amount of 

 labor and expense. Man has been slow to recognize tliat plant life is 

 in a wondiM'ful manner subject to his control. There lias been a con- 

 trolling pliilosophy connected with botanical thought which has held 

 too closely to tlu^ doctrine of the immutability of specnes in plants. 

 The systematic botanist held the species so close to our eyes that the 

 mol)ile chai-acter of the plants was not generally recognized. That 

 "like begets like" is an important fact; but it is of greatest impor- 

 tance wlien used to intensif^^ or fix vari^itions of peculiar merit that 

 these variations may be multiplied and thus become the basis of 

 improved varieties. The results of breeding and the science of breed- 

 ing have come forward slowly and unobti'usively. Their significance 

 has not been fully appreciated. In view of the great results from 

 breeding which have already appeared, it is safe to assume that per- 

 sistent systenuitic effort will bring improvements that are now gener- 

 ally deemed impossible. 



In any country there are very many localities each with its special 

 conditions and needs. Each locality' uses not a few, l)ut many, sjiecies 

 and varieties of plants, each suited to the particular soil, climate, and 

 othei- conditions. Now tliat the creative work of plant breeding has 

 been taken up by many scientific workers in State experiment sta- 

 tions, the national Department of Agriculture, and by many seed 

 firms and individuals, variety formation and scientific breeding are 

 ])()iiii(l to develop very i-apidly. The suggestive work of Charles Dar- 

 win is ati last vivif5ang the dormant ideas concerning breed and vari- 

 ety formation. Weismann and others who study hei-edity will con- 

 tinue to be heard with interest; and those who are studying methods 

 of plant l)reeding to increase production will be lieard in proportion to 

 the economic and artistic value of their products and to the scientific 

 value of their theoretical discoveries. Many of the facts relating to 

 heredity are not only of great interest but of great value to the breeder. 

 The study of the cell iind (tf enil)ryolog3' '^ adding knowledge of 



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