1914-15] REPORT OF WINTER MEETINGS 47 



^^My plea to the market growers is that they should save 

 seed, but onh^ when his local conditions are most favorable 

 to produce high quality and when he fully understands the 

 merit of his crop, along lines of character and type. 



''Given these conditions, and the required knowledge, 

 the market grower should select and bring up to its full 

 development such strains as are important to him and can 

 be kept true. The man that can and will speciaUze in this 

 way can easih^ establish his reputation and obtain the satis- 

 faction of having accomplished a good work that will abide." 



Mr. Willard then told of seed growing in connection with 

 plant breeding and showed what had been accomphshed 

 in recent years. 



''We need to keep ever in mind" said Mr. Willard, "that 

 even if we give a crop the greatest care, and attain the high- 

 est perfection in quality, there is always the necessity of 

 selection of the best for reproduction and not only the best 

 in appearance, but the true type. Men have experimented 

 to obtain new^ varieties, b}^ method of cross fertilization and 

 with success among many varieties of flowers, but very 

 little of value among garden vegetables, yet much has been 

 learned by the results obtained. 



"The law of survival of the fittest does not apply to 

 plants in any development for quality except as they re- 

 ceive all the care and protection possible for many to be- 

 stow. We must consider in our selections the possibility 

 of plant breeding on the lines of quality and productiveness 

 as w^ell as appearances. Nature's efforts are to mature seed, 

 so plants can be said to form habits, taking all the time there 

 is in a given section, in our comparatively short season. 

 It's somewhat of a hurry-up habit, but we get the thicker 

 shell on our squash, egg plants and other things, for that is 

 nature's way of protecting the seed, and we get the harder, 

 more solid heads of cabbage for the same reason. 



"These, and many others similar, give you in this state 

 an opportunity which j^ou certainly should use to the best 

 advantage." 



