88 PLANT-BREEDING 



of types, among which some showed a new quality in that 

 their scales were smooth. Smooth and hairy scales occur- 

 red both on ears with and without awns, thus constituting 

 four principal types in which the remaining differentiating 

 marks gave races of an inferior rank. The next generation 

 still showed some splitting but soon the isolated types became 

 constant and uniform, eight of them being distinct enough 

 to justify a more comprehensive testing. Those which lacked 

 the hairiness and the awns were, of course, considered as 

 distinct improvements, and as such received new numbers 

 in the pedigree-book. Besides these two quahties, they also 

 had denser ears of better construction and stiffer culms, while 

 in other respects they had kept the excellent characters of the 

 parent form. Soon afterward the cold winter of 1900-01 

 showed them to possess an exceptional degree of resistance to 

 frost, and thereby elevated them to the first rank among all 

 the novelties of winter wheats. In concluding the descrip- 

 tion of this most interesting case of variation it remains to 

 be stated that the parent-strain from which it sprang has since 

 remained as pure as before, never repeating the novelty nor 

 producing any other. 



As a second instance, a winter variety of wheat may be 

 chosen, which had been isolated in 1892 from the Hcrrcn- 

 hoff- wheat and bore the number 0516. It is distinguished 

 by long and narrow, smooth ears. It has an excellent quality 

 of grain but weak culms, and moreover, is deficient in its de- 

 gree of resistance to cold. It was absolutely pure and uni- 

 form, but produced in the summer of 1897 one single indi- 

 vidual with stiff culms and short and rounded ears. The 

 progeny of this mutant at once proved constant and uniform 

 and quite distinct from all existing varieties, excelling in the 

 marks of its original parent as well as by virtue of a high degree 

 of resistance to cold. It has since remained absolutely pure 

 and constant, has been multiplied during five years and given 



