Apparently, however, little improvement m cereals 

 was made until the beginning of the 19th century, when Le 

 Couteur of the Island of Jersey, on the suggestion of Le 

 Gasca of Madrid, began the selection of ears of wheat which 

 differed from others in the same field. One of these new 

 varieties was the "Bellevue de Talavera," still grown in 

 England and France. Later on, Patrick Shireff, a Scotch- 

 man, (1819) developed several new varieties by selection, 

 namely: "Mungoswell" wheat, "Hopetown" wheat and 

 oats, "Pringle's" wheat, etc. 



In 1857 Hallett began his "pedigree culture" of wheat, 

 oats and barley, and introduced the Victoria, Hunter, Ori- 

 ginal, Red and Golden Drop wheats, the Pedigree White Cana- 

 dian and Pedigree Black Tartarian oats, and the Chevalier 

 barley. 



The centgener method of W. M. Hayes, of Minnesota, 

 with modifications in some cases, is one commonly em- 

 ployed in cereal breeding,and consists in the sowing of about 

 one hundred seeds from each of the mother plants selected 

 for their excellence from a very large number of plants 

 grown from the best grains. Several of the best plants 

 from the centgener group are reserved for seed, and the 

 total of each centgener group is weighed to estimate the 

 comparative value of each of the original mother plants. 



This process is repeated for the third and fourth years 

 and the most promising varieties are planted in small fields 

 or multiplying plots. (See also page 155). 



Barley. — Three distinct races— the two-rowed, the four- 

 rowed, and the six-rowed — have been in cultivation for 

 thousands of years. It is the opinion that these races arose 

 from a wild two-rowed ancestor in prehistoric times. 



Rice. — This plant has been cultivated for more than 

 5,000 years in China and India where selection of superior 

 strains was practised. 



Rye. — Several related species of rye grow wild in Eu- 

 rope and Asia, so that there seems to be no doubt of the 

 origin of the cultivated form. Its domestication, however, 

 is comparatively recent. 



Oats. — The modern races of oats are not of great antiq- 

 uity. Several closely related wild species are to be found 

 and it is very probable that our cultivated forms had their 

 origin from one or more of these wild species. 



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