THE WHEAT CULTTJRIST. 41 



introducing to my readers the operation of hybridiza- 

 tion. 



D. J. Brown, in one of the Patent Office Reports, 

 when alluding to the hybridizing of wheat, states that : 



" The terms ' mule,' ' hybrid,' ' half-breed,' and ' cross- 

 breed ' are vaguely and indiscriminately used by many 

 writers ; but it is essential to accuracy, that more precise 

 distinctions should be observed. The offspring of two 

 animals of different species is a mule, and is seldom en- 

 dowed with the procreative power, and still more rarely 

 with a long-continued succession. The product of two 

 plants of different species is a hybrid ; and although it is 

 in general more prosperous than the mule of animals, it 

 is still destined to yield at length to the beneficent law 

 of Nature, which ordains that neither among animals 

 nor vegetables shall the distinctions of species be oblit- 

 erated. The permanent divisions among plants of the 

 same species, often called ' varieties,' are properly ^cfe, 

 or races. The product of two individuals of the same 

 species, but of ditterent races, is a variety, as is every 

 modification of this, effected by cross-fecundation with 

 any other variety, or with any of the races of its species. 



" Great advantages have been found to proceed from 

 the practice of cross-fecundation, in the extraordinary 

 improvement effected in the flowers, esculent vegetables, 

 and fruits of almost every country. That the Cereals 

 have only to a limited extent shared these advantages is 

 a subject of just surprise to the curious inquirer ; but, 

 until very recently, it was doubted that much, if any- 

 thing, could be accomplished in regard to them. Pro- 

 fessor Gsertner, of Stuttgart, who has been said to have 

 almost exhausted the subject in certain points of view ; 

 has declared the Cereals to be ' among the plants 



