52 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



that plant should be, paying attention to vigor, shape, 

 productiveness, earliness, etc., of the plant as well as 

 the special features of the parts for which the plant 

 is grown (e. g., grain, fiber, fruit, etc.). These plants 

 are marked and when the seed is ready for gathering 

 they are taken by themselves and the seed saved for 

 next year's planting. Enough may be taken in some 

 crops to plant all of the next crop, but with some only 

 enough can be selected in this way to plant in a plot 

 by itself, all the seed from this plot being used the 

 following year. If possible the seed of each selected 

 plant should be kept by itself and a certain number 



COTTON, SHOWING IMPROVEMENT PRODUCED IN LENGTH AND QUANTITY 

 OF FIBER BY THREE YEARS OF SELECTION. 



from each lot tested as to its power of germination. 

 That lot or those lots only should be saved that show 

 a high rate of germination. The lighter seeds should 

 be discarded as the best plants are produced by the 

 heavier seeds. One step further in advance consists 

 in roguing the fields. This means to go over the 



