192 THE SMALL GRAINS 



from Talavera wheat in 1838, and distributed by Vil- 

 morin as Bellevue Talavera. 



194. Work of Shirreff. Patrick Shirreff (1873) lived 

 at Mungowells Farm in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, and 

 during the same period selected wheat in the same 

 manner as Le Couteur. He searched for exceptional 

 plants, and made these plants the mothers of varieties. 

 His exceptional plants were seemingly rare, as in 40 

 years' work he isolated only 4 new varieties which had 

 permanent value. His Mungowells wheat was selected 

 in 1819 as a single strong plant surviving the winter in a 

 badly damaged wheat field, from which the new variety 

 was developed and distributed. 



195. Work of Hallett. F. Hallett (1861), at Manor- 

 house, Brighton, England, also practiced pure-line 

 selection about the middle of the last century, but not 

 exactly in the same manner as Le Couteur and Shirreff. 

 He believed that each plant has one spike superior to all 

 its other spikes and that spike one kernel superior to all 

 its other kernels ; also that this kernel will transmit to 

 its progeny the qualities which it possesses. He made 

 selections accordingly, which he repeated through several 

 generations, during the same time giving the mother plants 

 exceptionally favorable conditions. For a few genera- 

 tions large increases in yield were obtained, but later on 

 little or no increase. Hallett considered continuous 

 selection to be essential, while Le Couteur and Shirreff 

 emphasized only the initial selection, and afterward gave 

 attention only to the multiplication of the variety. Hal- 

 lett practiced the pedigreeing of ordinary varieties a 

 great deal, retaining the original name in the new name 

 of the pedigreed strain. Some of his new wheat strains 

 are: Hallett Pedigree Hunter White, Hallett Pedigree 



