1894. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 245 



considerably more than two feet (or about 70 centimetres), and of 

 which several specimens are preserved. It is a veritable giant among 

 insects." 



Pedigree Wheat. 

 A WELL-KNOWN artist, on being asked by an amateur how he mixed 

 his colours, replied that he mixed them with brains. Fortunately for 

 the languishing pursuit of agriculture, there is some prospect of a 

 larger admixture of brains than was necessary when farm produce 

 was protected by duties on importations. The live-stock of England 

 has become famous all over the world because of careful 

 selection by breeders. As Mr. Rendle shows, in his article on the 

 Cross-fertilisation of Food Plants in this issue of Natural Science, 

 as much may be done for food plants as has been done for domesti- 

 cated animals. Unfortunately, many plants, like fruit trees and 

 potatoes, have been propagated so entirely from cuttings that the 

 necessity of growing from seeds has been lost sight of. But it seems 

 a general law of the organic world that sexual reproduction, securing 

 as it does the advantages of cross-fertihsation and the admixture of 

 strains, is necessary, at least occasionally, to secure the best and 

 hardiest offspring. But in all breeding from seeds careful selection 

 is absolutely necessary. The most expensive tillage, the most lavish 

 manuring, and the blandest of seasons are as naught compared with 

 the selection of seeds from the best plants, and the skilful choice of 

 plants for cross-fertilisation. Animals and plants are born differently, 

 and by careful attention to these natural variations almost anything 

 can be done in a few generations. England is a country well 

 adapted by its range of climate and of natural conditions, and by 

 the high state of cultivation of its soil, for experimental seed-growing, 

 and there is no reason why the pedigree wheats of England should not 

 command the markets of the world just as the pedigree horses of 

 England are sought far and near. The range of our land is not wide 

 enough to yield the enormous crops of Russia, America, and Canada, 

 but we might well provide the best seeds for these larger areas. For 

 this change of industry scientific knowledge is requisite. The councils 

 of many English counties are providing agricultural scholarships to 

 be held at scientific institutions. We hope that the councils will see 

 that their scholars are chosen from among those likely to engage in 

 the practice of agriculture, and that they receive their technical 

 training at institutions where scientific knowledge is combined with 

 enlightened practice. There is still a future for England, but it 

 is a future depending more on the brains of her sons than on the 

 natural fertility of her soil. 



An Ammonite Problem Solved. 

 It is a well-known fact that the various species of Ammonites 

 have a very wide distribution over the earth's surface, and that they 



