SYSTEMATIC IMPROVEMENT OF PLANTS 203 



study will enable us to put much meaning into these numbers. 

 For example, suppose 20 ears of corn are to be planted. For 

 the first year of an experiment, instead of numbering them from 

 1 to 20 it is better to number them from 101 to 120, next year 

 from 201 to 220, and so on, so that the figure in the hundreds' 

 place denotes the number of generations of improvement. Thus, 

 if an ear should have the number 614, we know at once that it 

 represents the sixth generation of improvement. In general, the 

 following will be sufficient for the record of simple breeding 

 operations : (1) number of seed ; (2) description ; (3) number of 

 plot or row in which it is planted ; (4) number of parent stock, — 

 one number if fertilization is left open as in corn or closed as in 

 wheat, but if crossed by hand, then two numbers will be needed, 

 one for the male and one for the female parent. 



With this information and these few general directions the 

 student is amply able to begin experiments in plant improve- 

 ment, and it is the earnest hope of the author that young people 

 may quite generally appreciate the opportunity for improvement 

 in seed and plant and flower, that still stands waiting the hand 

 of the -breeder. It is a fascinating field into which the student 

 is advised, even urged, to enter, — cautiously at first, taking one 

 or two simple things, remembering always that such work runs 

 rapidly into numbers ; then, as experience is gained, he may 

 range farther afield. 



It is no stretch of the imagination nor is it a chimerical dream 

 to say that the students of our better schools, aided by their 

 teachers, can, if they will, do more to further improve many of 

 our cultivated plants than can the farmers themselves. It is well 

 within their powers. They have the time and can acquire the 

 skill, — things which are difficult to secure to the man that is 

 busy in active commercial life. 



As an example of what can be done in the improvement of a 

 single character, I introduce the following table, which exhibits 

 the results of ten years of selection for high and low oil of corn 

 carried on by Dr. C. G. Hopkins of the University of Illinois. 



