2 BREEDING CROP PLANTS 



times by primitive peoples who developed many varieties. As 

 some of the varieties which were then grown are in existence 

 today and are cultivated in some regions, a little idea of earlier 

 work is obtained. 



Coming now more nearly to present times we may briefly 

 consider the work of the Indians with maize. Piper speaks 

 of the plan by which seeds of different colors were planted 

 together in one hill with the thought that this method gave 

 increased yields. It tended to keep the varieties in a heterozy- 

 gous condition. During the last three or four years Squaw Flint 

 from the Indian reservations in Minnesota has averaged as large 

 a yield per acre at University Farm, St. Paul, as the more care- 

 fully selected varieties. 



These facts should help to give the student of plant-breeding 

 some idea of the great accomplishments in plant production in 

 earlier times and to correct possible exaggeration of relative values 

 of the results of recent work. Present-day breeding has achieved 

 great results and will accomplish much more; the foundation, 

 however, was laid many years ago. 



THE FOUNDERS OF THE ART OF PLANT BREEDING 



The relation between the science and the art of plant breeding 

 is a very interesting subject. Through many years of trials, 

 methods are improved; and a correct knowledge of the funda- 

 mentals of the science often does not widely modify the actual 

 practice involved. As a rule, scientific principles allow some 

 short cuts in breeding methods and help to eliminate erroneous 

 and useless practices. 



As will be constantly emphasized in this work, there is a close 

 relation between the mode of reproduction and the methods of 

 breeding a plant. A knowledge of sexuality was, therefore, 

 almost a necessity before it was possible to develop the art of 

 breeding. Sexual processes, while not thoroughly understood, 

 were observed in animals three or four centuries B.C. by the 

 Egyptians and Assyrians. Existence of fruit-bearing and sterile 

 trees of the date palm was known to the people of Egypt and 

 Mesopotamia in early times and records of artificial pollination 

 as early as 700 years B.C. have been found (see Fig. 1). The 

 Assyrians commonly referred to the date trees as male and 

 female. The Greeks, however, to whom we look for early 



