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THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF GENETICS TO SOME PRACTICAL PROBLEMS ' 



Uy Major C. C. HURST F. L, S. 



Dire.-t..]- .)! Ilie lliiil.age i;,\|..-i imiMil Slalii.ii ^Englaria., 



llio new Science of Genelics, so faithlully chrislened by Baleson al mir 

 l.i.sl coiilerence, lias been foundetl on llic wonderful work of Mendel. Tlic 

 d('vcIo|)nienl ol' tlie new Science lias recenily been 

 so T'apid.tliat innianyrespcclsit liasqiiileonl^ro\\ii 

 ils .Mendeliaii inl'ancy and simplicily. Il is indeed 

 l'ast lalvingon Ihe more conijdexsirength and beanly 

 of vigoi'ous yoiilh, equally unspoiied by Iradilion 

 and unlrammelied by convention. The lime is now 

 al hand therd'ore, wlien Ihe imporlanl qucslion (il 

 ils usefnlness in life, may be fairly asked of il. .\ii 

 older Science might resenl such a question and 

 scornfiilly reply, " Trulh for Truth's sake ". iSiil 

 noL so our ne\v world science, fiiled wilh Ihe Sjjiril 

 of Ihe. Age which requires even Trulh lo be effi- 

 rient. The efficient application of pure Science 

 lo llie practical problems of life. is in any case a 

 matler of considérable difficulty, and Ihis is [larli- 

 cularly so with such a Science as Genetics. In Ihe 

 lirst place comas Ihe necessary appréciation of Ihe 

 signilicance of the praclical problem lo be solved. 

 Tins can only jje allained by years of intimate praclical expérience, usually 

 impossible lo tlie Man of Science. In Ihe second place comes the eqnally im- 

 porlanl lirsl-hand knowledge of researcli in Ihe pure science concerncd. This 

 can only be secured by years of scientific sludy and expérience, usually impo.s- 

 sible to the praclical man. It is évident thaï the opporlunilics of efficienlly 

 applying pure Science tothe practical problems of life, are few and farbehveen. 

 A greal responsibility therefore rests on those individuals who happen to be 

 placed in circumslances where scientific rescarch and économie work can be 

 Iiap|)ily combined. 



^^'ith Ihis objecl in vie\\ , Ihe Burbage Experiment Station lias been esta- 

 blished, l'or the application of the principles of Genetics to some practical 

 problems of Agriculture, Ilorliculture, and Foreslry. on an exlended scale, and 

 in the following report a slight sketch is givcn of the practical problems 

 Ihal bave been laken up al the station. 



Culinari/ /Vos. — In (luliimi'y |)oas. jx-rliaps Ihe miisl pressing praclical 

 problem lo be solvetl, is the fréquent appeai'ance of '" rogiies " amongsl some 

 of the besl and mosl carefully selected varieties. Some of thèse are undoubt- 

 edly due to accidentai mixlurc duriiig process of har\esling, cleaniiig, and so 



Jhijor C. C. Iltus 



1. O 



i, p, 



de la CoiilërtMic 



