that the smallest corns those most remote from the center 

 of growth exhibited throughout, most unexpectedly, a vig- 

 or equal to Jhat of the largest; and that the remarked worst 

 grains, in one or two instances, did not by any means fall 

 so far short of the good ones as had been expected. I have 

 also made frequent trials of the comparative power of large 

 and small, plump and thin grains; and, in the case of oats, 

 which produce a small grain attached to a large one, trials 

 as to their respective powers, with uniformly the same re- 

 sult, viz, that in good grains of the same pedigree, neither 

 mere size nor situation in the ear supplies any indication 

 of the superior grain." 



"Very close observation during many years has led me 

 to the discovery that the variations in the cereals which 

 nature presents to us are not only hereditary, but that they 

 proceed upon a fixed principle, and from them I have ed- 

 uced the following law of development of cereals:" 



1. "Every fully-developed plant, whether of wheat, 

 oats, or barley, presents an ear superior in productive pow- 

 er to any of the rest on that plant." 



2. "Every such plant contains one grain which, upon 

 trial, proves more productive than any other." 



3. "The best grain in a given plant is found in its 

 best ear." 



4. "The superior vigor of this grain is transmissible 

 in different degrees to its progeny." 



5. "By repeated careful selection the superority is ac- 

 cumulated." 



6. "The improvement, which is at first rapid, gradual- 

 ly after a long series of years, is diminished in amount, 

 and eventually so far arrested that, practically speaking, a 

 limit to improvement in the desired quality is reached." 



7. "By still continuing to select, the improvement is 

 maintained, and practically a fixed type is the result." * * * 



"The superiority of some individuals over others is so 



