IMPROVEMENT IN VARIETIES. 265 



The breeding of plants is as nearly alike to the same pro- 

 cess among animals, as the physical characters of plants and 

 animals approach in similarity. 



It has been shown how nearly alike in principle the re- 

 productive processes are; and it is quite evident that these 

 are as amenable to control and direction in one case as in the 

 other. A study of these principles and their relation to the 

 growth of plants will enable any farmer or gardener to turn 

 them to his own advantage in the improvement of the va- 

 rieties of the plants which he cultivates. During a few years 

 past a large number of farmers have been working in this 

 direction, and hundreds of new kinds of potatoes; tomatoes; 

 corn; w r heat; oats; barley; roots; and several other valua- 

 ble agricultural plants have been introduced. The early 

 rose potato is one instance of this improvement, and the ac- 

 tual money value of the benefit thus accrueing to the far- 

 mers from this one variety is certainly more than one hun- 

 dred million dollars. Several varieties of wheat, the Claw- 

 son; the Fultz; the Schumacker; and others have been 

 equally valuable ; and the same is true of other crop plants. 



It has been explained that the fertilizing influence exists 

 in the pollen of the plants which is contained in the anthers 

 upon the summit of the stamens. That this pollen is scat- 

 tered by various methods, some direct and some indirect, so 

 as to reach the receptive stigmas upon the pistils. As a 

 rule, the stamens are so placed, that their pollen cannot 

 easily reach the pistils of the same plant; hence a sort of 

 natural crossing between unrelated organs is secured. But 

 nature never does all for mankind. Man was given dominion 

 over nature; and to secure the most benefit from her work he 

 must control and direct it. Nature secures some method of 

 reproduction and avoids extinction, but it is with enormous 

 waste of effort and resources. By cultivating the soil and 

 planting and saving seeds, man avoids these wastes; and by 

 controlling the fecundation of the plants, he can avoid nat- 

 ural or accidental deterioration and secure improvement. 

 The accidental processes of nature in this direction by means 

 of winds and of insects, are insufficient for our purpose; and 



