292 THE SMALL GRAINS 



in which seed from a distance appears to give better 

 results (318). For instance, in a dry district, seed from 

 a locality still drier is safer for planting than seed of the 

 same variety from a more humid locality. Also, seed 

 gathered in a dry season is to be preferred to seed of the 

 next year's crop for planting the second year, if the latter 

 seed has advantage of a good rainfall. A real survival of 

 the fittest will have occurred in the dry season, through 

 destruction of the weaker plants by drought, and seed of 

 the surviving plants will therefore in turn produce plants 

 better able to survive another drought. 



314. Principles to be observed in obtaining new seed. 

 In obtaining new seed, whether of a new variety or of 

 the same variety, it is important to observe certain prin- 

 ciples. It is a general principle that seed from the best 

 of those plants that have survived the most strenuous 

 existence of whatever nature, other things being equal, 

 will be the best. To specify : (1) Seed of the best plants 

 surviving a dry season is better than seed gathered in a 

 wet season ; (2) seed from a drier locality is better than 

 seed from a more humid locality ; (3) for cold resistance, 

 seed from a colder locality than the one for which it is 

 wanted is desirable; (4) for resistance to diseases, seed 

 from resistant plants from those localities where such dis- 

 eases are the most common is best. A second general 

 principle is that certain qualities are best secured in seed 

 from localities where opposing conditions are so severe 

 that such qualities are not common. To specify: (1) 

 Seed for winter hardiness will be most likely found where 

 winter varieties are rarely and with difficulty grown, that 

 is, in a spring wheat district; (2) dwarfness will be se- 



course, that the tuber is a form of underground stem and not a 



