THE BREEDING OF PLANTS 55 



contradictory result. Some hybrids also are blends. A very complex body of speculation has been built 

 up around the so-called Mendellian law, as there has been about other pronouncements in times present 

 and past ; how much of it is truth time only can tell. The Mendellian discussion has challenged our 

 notions of hybridization and heredity and has modified the methods of experiment ; but there is no indi- 

 cation that the Mendel law will enable us to produce new plants with certainty, as some of its early 

 adherents predicted. 



Plant-breeding societies. 



This Editorial is written from the viewpoint of the farmer : the professional plant-breeder will take 

 care of himself. The f arnier needs help in this particular effort, as he needs it in other ways. The organ- 

 ization of breeding societies is one of the best means of spreading and unifying the work. A number of 

 these societies are now in existenc3, indicating the interest in the subject and the grip that it has on 

 practical men. Associations for plant-breeding are as necessary as societies for animal-breeding. As an 

 illustration of the kind of effort that these organizations stand for, citations may be made from the 

 literature of the Ohio Plant Breeders' Association : " The purposes of this association shall be to encour- 

 age the improvement of plants and to provide an official record for breeders who are giving special 

 attention to this work.'' The rules for the registry of seed corn are as follows : 



"Section I.— Eligibility. 



" In order that a strain of corn may be eligible to registry with the Ohio Plant Breeders' Association, 

 it is necessary that it trace directly and exclusively to remnants of ears that have ranked not lower 

 than fourth in point of yield of gi»in; protein, starch or fat in a duplicate ear-row test of not less than 

 twenty-five ears ; and that each year's breeding or testing work shall have been conducted and recorded 

 in accordance with the requirements of the Association. , 



"Section II. — Ohio Pedigreed Corn. 



"Any corn which is the product of a cross between two ear remnants, one as sire and the other as 

 dam, each of which has been selected as per Section I, shall be entitled to the name Ohio Pedigreed. 

 The records shall show whether the cross was made by artificial or natural pollination. 



"Section III. — Ohio Standard Corn. 



"Eight or more registered ears, as per Section 11, or ear remnants, as per Section I, may be merged 

 by shelling and mixing together the grain from all, before planting. If this merged corn, or corn 

 descended exclusively from it, shall, on the average, excel in yield of grain, protein, starch or fat per 

 acre, each of three other varieties (including the one from which it has descended and a standard variety 

 which shall be supplied by the council upon request), when tested upon not less than tenth-acre plots for 

 three consecutive years, the owner of it shall be entitled to a certificate under the seal of the Association, 

 setting forth the record numbers under which the work upon this corn has been recorded, together 

 with a statement that it has filled the requirements of the association and is entitled to the name 

 Ohio Standard. A fee of $10 shall be required for this certificate and copies of same shall be issued at 

 25 cents each to accompany any corn that traces directly and exclusively to this merging. 



" Section IV. — Transfers. 



"Transfers of grain, together with all breeding privileges, may be made at any time, but in order that 

 the progeny of such grain may be eligible to registry with the Association, each transfer must be entered 

 for registry with the Recording Secretary of the Association within three months of the time of transfer. 

 A certificate of transfer shall then be issued under the seal of the Association shov/ing the record 

 numbers under which the work of the breeders upon this corn has been recorded. A fee of $1 shall be 

 charged for each record of transfer." 



How to cross plants. 



One of the means of inducing variation, as already explained, is to cross one plant with another. By 

 crossing, also, it may be possible to combine some of the attributes of two or more plants into one. The 

 reader will want to know how crossing is accomplished. 



