i So Breeding Plants and Animals. 



to insure that the country may enjoy the possible in- 

 crease of wealth from this source. 



In the case of the self-pollented plants like wheat, 

 barley and peas, where it is practicable to originate a 

 new variety from a single mother plant by seed pro- 

 duction, private breeders also find a field of operation. 

 But even here there is a grave question as to whether 

 private breeders and seed and nursery firms will enter 

 upon plant improvement on a sufficiently large scale 

 to really produce the improvements the times demand. 

 The large wealth at stake makes it imperative that there 

 be organized adequate systems of breeding these crops 

 that the in or more per cent possible to add to the an- 

 nual yields may be secured. Breeding these crops has 

 passed beyond the experimental stage. The investment 

 annually of large sums of money by the nation and the 

 State is fully warranted on the basis of each dollar 

 expended bringing back from ten to one hundred fold. 



Breeding the open-pollenated species reproduced 

 by seeds is in some ways even more complicated, and 

 only a few species will be bred on an adequate scale 

 by private parties. Corn stands out as the one species 

 of this class which is being and must be bred by many 

 practical farmers and seed corn specialists. But even 

 here the creation of specific varieties for particular 

 uses, as for manufacturing starch, will probably not be 

 pressed to its limit except for restricted areas. Even 

 in corn it is improbable that private initiative will carry 

 the improvement forward on that extensive scale which 

 will result in varieties especially suited to each soil type 

 in each climate, region. In any event public institutions 

 may have large function in testing varieties of corn, so 

 as to compare the yields of value per acre of one va- 

 riety with another in each general region thus to assist 

 both growers and breeders in a knowledge of which 

 varieties thrive best in each locality. The breeding of 

 corn has gained a foothold through the efforts of Dr. 

 Hopkins, Prof. Holden, Mr. Shamel and others which 

 assures to it large efforts. The demand for seed corn 



