FINAL SELECTION 55 



often of closely similar appearance, the one that 

 seems to him the choice of the entire lot; and 

 then in succession the second and third and 

 fourth best, until he has chosen possibly six or 

 eight individuals out of a group of hundreds 

 or thousands. 



These six or eight individuals will be preserved 

 for use in further experiments. They are the 

 ones with which the attempt to improve the vari- 

 ety to which they belong will be carried out. 



And the ultimate success of the entire experi- 

 ment in plant breeding will very largely be deter- 

 miiivAi by the perspicacity with which the selec- 

 tion of these few individuals was made. Nor 

 can we doubt that it must often happen, in the 

 case of plant seedlings as in that of the cattle, 

 that after the final selection has been made there 

 remain, unknown to the experimenter and in 

 contravention of his judgment, better plants 

 among those rejected than any one that he has 

 chosen. 



It could not be otherwise when we consider 

 the large numbers involved, the variety of plant 

 characteristics, and the great diversity of traits 

 represented in a single generation of hybridized 

 seedlings. Yet, on the other hand, experience 

 should enable the experimenter to choose with a 

 relative degree of certainty, and it is possible to 



