24 LUTHER BURBANK 



Tests calculated to discover possibilities in this 

 direction are now being made, and there is some 

 reason to hope that they will have valuable 

 results. 



It may be added that the wild wheat is not 

 universally self-fertilized. The stamens and pis- 

 tils of its flowers sometimes protrude and permit 

 cross-fertilization by the aid of the wind or in- 

 sects. This may to some extent facilitate the 

 hybridizing of the wild wheat with cultivated 

 wheats. 



But, on the other hand, it will probably be 

 desirable to eliminate this propensity from the 

 new varieties after they are fixed for commercial 

 use. For, as already pointed out, there are 

 great advantages in the self-fertilization of a 

 grain like wheat, to prevent deterioration of the 

 type by undesired crossing. 



But the question of the hybridizing of the 

 domesticated wheat with the wild type remains 

 for future investigation. 



As I have already pointed out, this work is 

 preeminently one that should go forward under 

 Government auspices. My own experiments in 

 this line with the wild wheats are necessarily 

 limited. 



A work that involves matters of such vast 

 economic significance, having direct connection 



