16 PLANT BREEDING. 



business ability, liis fur-seeing patience, and his long life resulted in 

 his forming a subbreed of meaty Sliorthorns which has made him 

 famous and has produced great wealth for growers of cattle and users 

 of meat. 



Utilizing large numbers of the larger domestic animals, or such 

 plants as foi-est trees and even some large fruit trees, is often so 

 expensive as to be almost prohibitor3^ On the other hand, the 

 breeder of wheat, corn, asters, or geraniums can inexpensively use 

 large numbers and make correspondingly rapid progress. The prin- 

 cipal part of the work in breeding is in eliminating the many poor 

 ones, and plans for doing this effectively and cheaply without danger 

 of discarding the few desired plants are very necessary. It is but 

 natural that many of these broader laws or principles of business 

 practice in plant breeding are being worked out by persons who are 

 dealing with vai-ieties and breeds with which it is practicable to 

 employ very large numbers. Wheat, in addition to the advantage of 

 using immense numbers at small cost, has many other characteristics 

 valuable to the student of breeding and heredity. The "performance 

 record" of each individual can be measui-ed in a number of its impor- 

 tant characteristics — as yield in weiglit of grain, quality of grain, size 

 of kernels, height of plant, etc. — and these values nuiy be expressed 

 in numbers, so as to be averaged for a series of plants in one year or 

 for a series of years. The seeds from each plant being numerous, a 

 small plot can be planted from each of several mother plants, and by 

 securing their averages of yield, quality of grain, height, etc., the 

 transmitting powers of the respective parents may be easily compared. 

 Field varieties may be develoi^ed from each of the several best stocks, 

 and these, at a reasonable expense, may be tested in field trials as to 

 yield and also as to their milling properties. Moreover, the seeds 

 may be preserved for a number of years, so that the original variety 

 ma}^ be grown and compared with progenj' which has been bred for a 

 series of years. The hoped-for benefits from extensive experiments in 

 plant breeding being^o great, it would seem that those interested 

 in [)lant production and those concerned in the country's welfare 

 would no longer be content until tliis work is placed on that adequate 

 scientific and financial footing which its requirements and its impor- 

 tance demand. 



GENERAL FACTS CONCERNING HEREDITY. 



Many important facts concerning heredity and variation in their 

 relation to plant and animal improvement are easily understood. 

 There are innumerable facts and intricate theories regarding the cell 

 and its contents, concerning fecundation, the development of the 

 embryo, the growth of the individual and its life and death, which 

 interest and fascinate the student. These interesting and highly 

 inij)ortant facts are so numerous that they may entice the would-be 



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