400 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



growers gave up in despair. A few growers, more observant than 

 their neighbors, noticed that sometimes a plant would be found in 

 the infected field free from the disease. These were later isolated 

 and through the co-operation of the Bureau of Plant Industry of 

 the Department of Agriculture, have been used as the basis of de- 

 veloping resistant strains. This work has been ett'ective to an extent 

 almost beyond the expectations of the most optimistic. 



The history of the grape industry here and abroad is rich in in- 

 spiration for the plant breeder. Early settlers attempted to intro- 

 duce European varieties but almost invariably they were overcome 

 by either the phylloxera, which attacked the roots or the mildew on 

 the leaves. The native varieties had become immune to these para- 

 sites but they were generally undesirable from the standpoint of the 

 horticulturist. In some way, however, these pests were introduced 

 into France and threatened to destroy the wine growing industry 

 because of the ready succeptibility of the European varieties, and it 

 was not until someone discovered the possibility of grafting the 

 European varieties on American roots that the injury due to the 

 phylloxera was overcome. It was also found practicable to hybridize 

 with the resistant American varieties and thus successfully combat 

 the downy mildew. Thus was the grape growing industry in both 

 Europe and America first placed on a firm basis. 



Within recent years the truckers of Wisconsin have suffered great 

 loss from the attacks of a disease known as the "yellows" on their 

 cabbage. Spraying is impracticable, but with the aid of the scien- 

 tists of the Agricultural Experiment Station they have succeeded in 

 developing an immune strain. Sometimes plants are found which 

 are resistant to disease but are not desirable from other standpoints, 

 but they may be used for hybridizing and their disease resistant 

 properties transmitted to the progeny where it is sometimes possible 

 to combine it with other desirable characters. This was done by 

 Biffen, an English plant breeder when working on rust resistant 

 wheat. At State College, we have in progress an experiment with 

 cabbage in which we are attempting to produce a disease resistant 

 strain of Danish Ballhead by combining it with a rather inferior 

 variety but which is resistant to disease. 



In conclusion, we may say that plant breeding will not have reached 

 its fullest development until the general farmer and gardener, as 

 well as the scientist, becomes interested in the work. In the past 

 much of the work of economic value which has been done has been by 

 fjersons other than professional scientists. Riley, the Indiana farmer, 

 who bred the Boone county White corn, was an ordinary farmer and 

 not a scientific experimenter, yet the one variety he developed is to- 

 day being grown extensively over a dozen corn states and has added 

 thousands and thousands of dollars to the corn crop of the world. 



Much has been said and written concerning the tendency of boys 

 and girls to leave the farm. Let them become interested in plant im- 

 provement, the boys in field and orchard crops and the girls in vege- 

 tables and flowers and the difficulty will largely be overcome. At 

 the present time probably no field of human activity offers greater 

 opportunity for interesting work and reward than does the field of 

 plant breeding. The surface has scarcely been skimmed, and when 

 pursued with intelligence and energy, success is almost sure to 

 follow. 



