I 



THE CANADIAN m»RTICUI/rLKIST. 



181 



recognition of the value of systematic 

 effort in improvement has differentiated 

 the pursuit of animal breeding and has 

 constituted a class of men called breed- 

 ers, so seed-growers should be lik<;w'ise 

 differentiated into a class called seed- 

 In-eedei-s. Seed-breeding is already be- 

 ginning to be, and soon must become 

 of importance as a fanii or garden pur- 

 suit. 



In gardening we have m.my illustra- 

 tions of seed- breeding in the production 

 of new forms of vegetables secured 

 through hybridization and careful selec- 

 tion, as also in the system called 

 " rogueing," which consists in the i-e- 

 moval from plants designed for seed 

 purposes of all the plants which are 

 untrue to the form desired. In agri- 

 culture we have fewer illustrations, and 

 the farmer has applied less discrimina- 

 tion to his field produce than the 

 gardener has to his small, but more in- 

 tensively cultivated garden. We have, 

 however, a few illustrations in agricul- 

 ture of what may be accomplished 

 through the selection of seed undei- 

 that uniformity of idea which is de- 

 scribed as seed-breeding. In ISf)? 

 Major Hallet, of Brighton, England, 

 commenced his experiments on w])eat, 

 selecting his seed from the quality of 

 the })lant produced, his standard em- 

 bracing hardiness, trueness to type, 

 quality of sample, productiveness, 

 power of tillering, stiffness and tough- 

 ness of straw, and (jarliness of ripening. 

 The residts obtained may be expressed 

 in the following table : 



drains in 

 vrigiiial mr. 



Kind 0/ wheat. 



Grains in 

 improved ear. 



46 Original red, commenced in 1867 123 



60 Hunter's White, " " 1801 124 



60 Victoria Wiiite, " " 1862 114 



32 Golden Drop, " " 1864 »6 



We have here an illustmtion of 

 what has been obtained in the effort to 

 increase the prolificacy of the plant, 

 and this gain in prolificacy has also 

 been attended by a gain in the size of 



the kernels. The amount of crop raised, 

 or prolificacy of the plant under circum- 

 stances of field seeding also, if reports 

 are to be trusted, offer parallel results ; 

 the increase of yield by the use of 

 Hallet's seed in various countries of the 

 world, being reported as between two 

 and thi-ee times the average crop from 

 other varieties. 



In the case of the Waushakum corn, 

 the selection being made by castrating 

 the barren stalks for two years in s\ic- 

 cession. the seed saved being not from 

 the most prolific stalks that were left, 

 but merely of the perfect ears, raised 

 the average crop from about 45 bushels 

 to about 60 bushels to the acre. 



Although the Station has not as yet 

 had time to do much work in this di- 

 rection, yet a beginning has been 

 already made. On account of the im- 

 portance of these facts relating to seed, 

 we are disposed to quote the conclu- 

 sions gained by Major Hallet which 

 read as .oUows : 



1. Evei-y fully developed i)lant of a 

 cereal [)resents an ear superior in pro- 

 ductive power to any of the rest on 

 that plant. 



2. Every such plant contains one 

 grain which, upon trial, proves more 

 productive than any other. 



3. The best grain on a given plant 

 is found in the best ear. 



4. The superior vigor of this grain 

 is transmissible in different degrees to 

 its progeny. 



b. l>y repeated careful selections the 

 superiority is accumulated. 



6. The improvement, which is at 

 first ra})id, gradually after a long series 

 of years is diminished in amount, and 

 eventually so far arresttnl that pi-acti- 

 cally a limit to improvement in the 

 desired quality is reached. 



7. By still continuing to select, the 

 improvement is maintained, and prac- 

 tically a fixed type is the result. 



