Selection of Elementary Species 111 



2500 grains. All of these were sown the fol- 

 lowing fall, and likewise in the succeeding years 

 the whole harvest was sown in separate lots. 

 After two years of rapid multiplication it 

 proved to be a good new variety and was 

 brought into commerce. It has become one of 

 the prominent varieties of wheat in East 

 Lothian, that county of Scotland of which Had- 

 dington is the principal borough. 



The grains of " Mungoswell's wheat " are 

 whiter than those of the allied " Hunter's 

 wheat/' more rounded but otherwise of the 

 same size and weight. The straw is taller and 

 stronger, and each plant produces more culms 

 and more heads. 



Shirreff assumed, that the original plant of 

 this variety was a sport from the race in which 

 he had found it, and that it was the only in- 

 stance of this sport. He gives no details 

 about this most interesting side of the question, 

 omitting even to tell the name of the parent- 

 variety. He only asserts that it was seen to be 

 better, and afterwards proved so by the appre- 

 ciation of other breeders and its success in 

 trade. He observed it to be quite constant 

 from the beginning, no subsequent selection be- 

 ing needed. This important feature was simp- 

 ly assumed by him to be true as a matter of 

 course. 



