THE ASSOCIATION OF CHARACTERS 271 



pale yellow color, its smooth and downy coat, its typical 

 form, and the chemical qualities of its tissues. 



This new race has been constant and uniform from the 

 very first moment of the discovery of its mother plant. Its 

 progeny had only to be multiplied, absolutely no selection 

 being wanted. The multiplication has been very rapid, and 

 nine years after its commencement (1892) it could be given 

 into trade (1901), having triumphed at numerous agricul- 

 tural expositions over all other similar sorts. 



Apart from the enormous amount of work involved, as 

 well in the selection of the first year as in the consecutive 

 comparative trials of the originally isolated strains, this great 

 success is in the main due to the discovery of the laws of 

 variability and correlation governing the characters of our 

 cereals. It is a principle, which already has given proof 

 of its wide applicability to nearly all the large agricultural 

 crops, embracing even the minor types, such as vetches and 

 other leguminous forage plants. It is a leading idea, and 

 hardly any limits seem to be set to its influence. To the 

 practical breeder it shows the way in nearly all the burning 

 questions, and for the scientist it may prove to give the 

 solution of numerous problems which have eluded his evo- 

 lutionary speculations for more than half a century. 



C. A METHODICAL STUDY OF CORRELATIONS 

 Correlations between botanical marks and breeding qual- 

 ities are to be considered as reliable guides in the work of 

 selection. Numerous instances have been dealt with in 

 which single individuals, chosen in a field on account of 

 some slight deviation of form, color, or hairiness, have 

 become the parents of valuable varieties. Until some years 

 ago our knowledge of these correlations was limited to a 

 greater or lesser number of isolated cases, and although 

 their significance was clear enough, it was hardly possible 



