Breeding Wheat, Corn and Other Crops. n 



the blood of the "rock-bottomed" Morgan horses, which 

 came near extinction. 



19. More comprehensive plans are needed for im- 

 proving all existing breeds and varieties, and especially 

 for so marshaling records of intrinsic qualities in pedi- 

 grees that the best varieties and breeds will be in more 

 active and universal demand to be used for upgrading 

 our common herds and flocks, that scrub stock may "be 

 well nigh abolished. 



20. We need new breeds and new varieties, if by 

 new combinations of lines of blood now available we 

 can repeat the experiences of the makers of our present 

 stocks and thus have better breeds and better varieties. 



21. By hybridization 'the breeder creates greater 

 variations, destroys the uniformity of his herd or va- 

 riety, and usually decreases its immediate value, but if 

 large numbers of the hybrid are propagated, he has 

 a wider range of variation from among which to secure 

 extraordinary individuals with remarkable prepotency 

 or which may be made so by breeding more or less with- 

 in close relationships. 



22. Hybridization of plants or animals is very 

 easily accomplished, and is not expensive, but the labor 

 and time involved in selecting the best from among 

 very many make it the work of the philanthropist, or 

 of the permanently established seed house or breeding 

 firm, or of the state, whose life is continuous and is 

 therefore directly interested in future generations. 



23. The public at large is so vitally interested in 

 the discovery of those germs, whether of useful plant 

 varieties or of animal breeds, which are powerful in 

 their ability to transmit qualities of great intrinsic value, 

 that it can afford to aid the successful individual breed- 

 er, the co-operative association, and the corporate seed 

 breeding establishment or firm, in creating them by 

 hybridization and in eliminating the many undesirable 

 ones to secure the few best. 



24. Since private agencies are too slow in pre-emp- 

 ting the virgin soil in these long-time business proposi- 



