434 



FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



other only a good kind. In other words, you have fixity of type ; and the 

 good qualities gain the force, as it were, of impetus, by continual accumula- 

 tion." 



Having proved to himself, by his earlier experiments, that accidentally 

 large ears were not the best to start with, he began by choosing the then 

 best known variety of red wheat, called the Nursery wheat. 



In a field seeded with two buahels to the acre, and treated in the usual 

 way, he planted a number of grains singly, so that they had room for full 

 development; from the best stools grown from these seeds he selected his 

 two original ears. These ears were chosen, not with reference to their size, 

 but with reference to the quality of the grains they contained. 



The number of grains in the two heads was 87. One contained 47, the 

 other 40. These were sown in rows 12 inches apart, each head having a row 

 to itself. The grains were placed singly 12 inches apart. From this sowing 

 the finest grain produced ten ears, the best one containing 79 grains. From 

 the second sowing the best grain from the ear containing 79 grains produced 

 a stool with 22 ears, and the best ear contained 91 grains. The next year 

 the heads were imperfect owing to bad weather, but the best stool had 39 

 ears. The fourth year one grain produced a plant having 52 ears. Another 

 grain produced a plant having 24 ears, and the best ear from this stool con- 

 tained 123 grains. 



Year. 



1857 



1858. 



1859. 



1860. 



1861. 



Original ear 



Finest ear 



Finest ear 



Ears imperfect from wet season. 

 Finest ear 



Number of 



ears 



on finest 



stool. 



10 

 32 

 39 

 62 



" Thus," says Mr. Hallet, " by means of repeated selection alone the length 

 of the ears has been doubled; their contents nearly trebled, and the tillering 

 power of the seed increased five fold." From his 20 years' experience in 

 experimenting with wheat, oats and barley, Mr. Hallet draws the following 

 conclusions: 



That on every plant there is one ear which has greater productive power 

 than any other ear on that plant. That there is one grain contained in the 

 best ear of every plant that is more productive than any other grain of that 

 ear, or of the whole plant. That by repeated selection the superiority is 

 accumulated. That there is a limit to improvement, and that a high degree 

 of development can be maintained by continued selection. 



THIN" SEEDING. 



In an experiment to ascertain the comparative number of ears on an acre 

 seeded thickly and on one seeded thinly, he drilled in the ordinary manner, 

 on one piece one and one-half bushels to the acre, on another he dibbled in 

 the seed, using four and one-half pints to the acre. On the drilled piece he 



