14 



far as it may be necessary to protect the seed supply required for 

 sowing and to ensure by this a condition of purity. This is, however, 

 an important point the end term of the series which commences 

 with the single plant of the plant breeder. Every link of the chain 

 forming that series must be adequately guarded, and the last, no less 

 than the first, will require consideration if the field of investigation 

 is to be covered. 



We can recognize in the above review four primary lines of 

 investigation to which we apply the terms Economic, Botanical, 

 Agricultural, and Commercial, and to these we may add certain 

 collateral lines. These may, in like manner, be termed Entomological, 

 Mycological, Bacteriological, and Physical. But let me not be 

 misunderstood in this matter ; the difference between the primary 

 and collateral lines, as here defined, is not one of relative practical 

 importance. The former are concerned directly with the plant and 

 its produce, the latter with the subsidiary conditions of growth which 

 make cultivation an economic proposition. The two groups are truly 

 complementary, for it is as useless to produce a potentially valuable 

 plant, if the conditions of growth do not permit it to develop its inherent 

 qualities, as it is to control those conditions in the absence of a plant 

 capable of reaping the full benefit of that control. 



(1) ECONOMIC. 



The essential economic considerations have been seen to include 

 diversity of classes, accompanied by uniformity within the class 

 itself. That diversity is required to meet the needs of different 

 sections of the trade ; the demand for any particular class is thus to 

 some extent independent of the demand for other classes, and the 

 magnitude of the demand depends on the relative importance of 

 the section mainly concerned in working up that class. A knowledge 

 of the normal relative requirement of the different classes and the 

 normal relative price of these under conditions when supply and 

 demand about balance is of primary importance. 



In view of the probable early disappearance of Egypt's mono- 

 polistic position with regard to certain classes of cotton, accurate 

 information is also required of the developments taking place in all 

 countries likely to encroach on that monopoly. Especial care requires 

 to be taken in the collection of statistical information on botlKthese 

 heads. 



(2) BOTANICAL. 







1. Selection. Selection requires to be conducted on two in- 

 dependent lines, and work along both of these should be conducted 

 simultaneously. In the first place, and this forms the most important 

 immediate need, selection should be directed to isolating and maintain- 



