PROBLEMS OF PLANT BREEDING 391 



their experiment stations and colleges of agriculture, ex- 

 pend large sums of money on plant breeding. These 

 facts are well known and sometimes form a basis for un- 

 founded criticisms because comparatively few people 

 realize the value in dollars and cents of this work. As 

 a matter of fact the expense is a mere trifle compared 

 to the returns. A few years ago Mr. Luther Burbank 

 placed on the market a new potato. It was estimated 

 that when it had come into general use it had increased 

 the value of the annual potato crop by an amount 

 greater than the entire cost of running the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for one year. Just before the Great 

 War the Marquis wheat, produced by Dr. Charles E. 

 Saunders, Dominion Cerealist, had come into general cul- 

 tivation in the areas of Canada and the Dakota region 

 of the United States which are suited to it. It is a very 

 interesting fact that the increase in yield due to its intro- 

 duction in these areas is almost exactly the same as the 

 amount of wheat which the two countries could spare for 

 export to our allies. What the lack of this additional 

 wheat would have meant, the reader can readily judge 

 for himself. Its mere monetary value to the producer 

 was more than a hundred million dollars. When Pro- 

 fessor Roberts of Kansas isolated his Kanred wheat he 

 added to the annual income of every Kansas owner of a 

 160-acre wheat field enough money to buy a new auto- 

 mobile and that without the least increase of labor. 



The Problems of Plant Breeding are as various as 

 the desires of men. Increase of yield is one of the most 

 frequent. It is often desirable to extend the range over 

 which a crop can be grown and so it becomes necessary 

 to produce a new variety that will thrive under the new 

 conditions of greater cold or higher temperature, drier or 

 wetter soils, more or less sunshine, etc. In many crops 

 (e.g., apples, potatoes) uniformity of size and appearance 

 is highly desirable. In oranges and grapes, seedless 

 varieties are valuable as well as those high in sugar con- 



