BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 489 



and rejection of the unfit, he developed the present English wheat 

 which combines nearly all the characteristics which the millers 

 demanded. 



In the United States, Mr. Burbank stands at the head of our 

 plant breeders. By cross-breeding and rigid selection he has 

 developed many valuable new species. His improved potato adds 

 $17,500,000 to the annual income of the farmers of the United 

 States. He has increased the yield of some kinds of corn twenty 

 fold. He has improved known fruits in their quality, hardiness, 

 or resistance to insects. He has developed several new fruits, 

 either from wild species or by crossing. Many large and beauti- 

 ful flowers have been produced, such as the mammoth poppy 

 with a diameter of ten inches, and the delicate shasta daisy. One 

 of his most notable successes has been the spineless cactus, which 

 is now available as cattle fodder in regions where it is difficult to 

 provide food for stock. 



Burbank's work is merely a very noted example of the ap- 

 plication of biologic laws to plant improvement, such as is being 

 carried on by all seedsmen and all intelligent farmers and gar- 

 deners. When we save seed from our best or earliest plants, keep 

 them separate from less satisfactory kinds, and plant their seed 

 again, we are following in the footsteps of these great breeders, 

 and utilizing the same laws of inheritance. 



By similar methods, practically every plant that man culti- 

 vates has been improved and developed into forms that better 

 serve his purposes. 



Plant Protection. Biology comes to the aid of the farmer in 

 his struggle against plant disease. Moulds, rusts, blights, and 

 bacterial attacks all have to be met by proper treatment of seed 

 with formalin, or the plant itself with fungus-killing sprays like 

 Bordeaux mixture. 



Insect enemies and the means of checking them open another 

 chapter of farm biology. Here also belongs the study of useful 

 birds and their enormous value as insect destroyers. 



Animal Husbandry. Principles of biology are also applied to 

 animal raising, their care and feeding, selection and domestica- 



