6 



THE FARMER AND NATURE 



changed from time to time, and that there were forces 

 which caused these changes, but which did not themselves 

 change. Then he began to work upon these forms 

 through these forces. Let us say that he noticed a sort 



of grass growing in an 

 open space of the forest. 

 We may suppose that 

 this was wheat in its 

 wild state. The man 

 discovered that its seed 

 was good to eat. But 

 the good plant died. 

 The man planted some 

 seeds of it, however, and 

 thus obtained another 

 plant nearly like the first 

 one. Then he planted 

 seeds from the second 

 plant, and from the 

 third, and so on, and 

 always obtained plant 

 after plant that differed 

 little from the first one 

 which he found in the 



VARIATION IN TIMOTHY HEADS. 



These heads of timothy all grew in 

 the same square yard. Selecting the 

 best is the first step in improvement. 



forest. 



Thus this first farmer 

 discovered two things : 

 namely, a form of plant 

 structure which perished, and & force which did not perish. 

 The form of the wheat plant he could see, and, in part 

 at least, could easily understand. But he saw also, dimly, 

 that back of that grass form, and of every form, like a 

 tree or a horse, lies a hidden principle of growth that 

 carves out, as it were, the wheat or the tree or the horse 



