Recognition of Plant Bacti-rioi.ogy in Europi- 335 



tation i)f ai;ricultuial sdiIs in the United States," •• read August 25, 

 1899, before the Botanical Section of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, referred to the careful cotton 

 breeding practice of the Sea Island growers. While he did not 

 recomniend that seed selection be experimentally investigated by 

 scientists to determine whether the technique might he applied 

 to breeding for disease-resistance, he later disclosed in an address, 

 " Plant Breeding in the Ignited States Department of Agricul- 

 ture," "^ presented before the third International Conference on 

 Genetics, that he realized that an assistant was needed to find " a 

 satisfactory remedy Jor the widespread " disease of cotton caused 

 by the " little fungus known as Fusarium," and 



picked out for this responsible post Mr. William A. Orton, then a recent 

 graduate of the University of Vermont, who subsequently obtained most 

 brilliant results in o\ercoming the ravages of this disease by means of 

 selection. I might add in passing that Mr. Orton had never seen a cotton 

 field until he went South on this perplexing and seemingly well-nigh 

 hopeless mission. Very little was accomplished the first year. I well 

 remember a notable conference with Mr. Orton at the close of the first 

 season's work, when he was thoroughly discouraged and expressed himself 

 as feeling that the whole year had been wasted. I cheered and encouraged 

 him as best I could and advised him to continue. The key to the situation 

 was obtained the next year. Subsequently the work was carried out as 

 follows, Mr. Orton receiving great assistance from some of the growers, 

 particularly from Mr. Rivers, on whose plantation the very resistant " Rivers 

 Cotton " originated. 



In fields much subject to this disease it was observed that here and there 

 a plant came to maturity and bore fruit. The seeds were selected from these 

 unusually resistant plants, and the following spring they were planted on 

 land subject to the disease. Many of the resultant plants contracted the 

 disease, but a considerable proportion remained free from it or practically 

 free. Selections this year were made from the most resistant plants, having 

 an eye to obtaining plants with other good qualities, such as productivity, 

 shape of boll, length of fibre, &c. The same method was pursued the 

 following year. In the course of four years plants were obtained with good 

 productivity, good quality of fibre, and marked resistance to disease. Such 

 plants stood up and bore a good crop on fields where the ordinary cotton 

 made a total failure. ... 



Mr. Orton has also had charge of the work of obtaining resistant varieties 

 of watermelons to replace varieties much subject to a soil disease which 



* Scientific American Supplement, no. 1246, op. cit., 19981, Nov. 18, 1899- 



'" Reprint, from The Report of the Conference on Genetics, by permission of the 



Council from the Royal Horticultural Society's Report, 301-303, London, Spottis- 



woode & Co., Ltd., 1907. 



