302 



patience and care, were so profitable in their results — the essential 

 results have been confirmed in so many other ways and by so many 

 practical men — that they are worthy of being quoted in this con- 

 nection. 



He began with a single head of wheat, chosen irrespective of ^ize 

 or vigor, but of a variety producing a good quality of grain. The 

 head was 4f inches long and had 47 gi-ains, which were carefully 

 planted in rows, 1 grain in a place, 12 inches apart each way. At 

 harvest the plants were carefully compared, and the one with the 

 largest number of heads was chosen, and the grains from the best 

 head of this best plant were planted the next year in the same wa}"; 

 and this was continued year after year, choosing each time for seed 

 the best head from the most prolific plant. At the first harvest the 

 best plant bore 10 heads, at the second 22, at the third 39, at the fourth 

 52, the best head of which was 8f inches long and bore 123 grains. 

 . (Jour. Roy. Agi-. Soc, Vol. XXII, p. 371, and plate.) 



This was the origin of the famous " Pedigree wheat.'' Later, and 

 in a similar way, he made the varieties of " Pedigree oats " and 

 " Pedigree barley," all very prolific, and each becoming famous. He 

 gave the name '' Pedigree " to these varieties because his process was 

 precisely analogous to that of improving live stock by breeding to 

 points and strengthening the heredity of the good points by pedigree. 

 vStill later he gave his riper conclusions (Trans. Brit. Assoc. Adv. 

 Sci., 1869, p. 113) drawn from his long series of experiments, in sub- 

 stance as follows: That every fully developed plant, whether of 

 wheat, oats, or barley, has one ear su^Derior in reproductive power to 

 any of the others on the plant; that every such plant has one gnxin 

 more productive than any other, and that this best grain grows on 

 the best ear; that the superior vigor of this grain is transmissible to 

 its progeny ; that by selection this superiority is accumulated ; that 

 the improvement is at first very rapid, but that in successive years it 

 gradually grows less; that an improved type is the result, and that 

 by careful selection the improvement can be kept up. Another paper 

 on his pedigree system, read before the Farmers' Club at Birming- 

 ham in 1874, giving many interesting facts, is republished in sub- 

 stance in the monthly reports of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture for August and September, 1874, page 381. 



The practical fact underlying this relates to selection. " Natural 

 selection " is undoubtedly the principle by which species are pre- 

 served, whether it accounts for their origin or not, and artificial 

 selection of seed is the only method by which any variety of grain 

 can be improved or even maintained. Without it the variet}^ alwaj^s 

 either runs out or changes; how rapidly this takes place depends 

 upon various circumstances. 



It is unnecessary to multiply further proofs, because all experi- 

 ment points the same way, and the law is universally recognized. I 

 have merely cited a few out of many scientific experiments. The 

 principle is never denied ; it is simply too often neglected in practice. 

 In this connection it is well to remember that it is easier to deteriorate 

 a crop by using bad seed, or even by simply neglecting the selection of 

 the good, than it is to improve an already good variety; the down- 

 hill road is the easiest traveled. The selection of seed to keep up 

 the vigor and the fruitfulness of the varieties cultivated are more 



