THE ORIGIN OF EED BOBS 275 



but whether he "won it with Marquis or Red Bobs is uncer- 

 tain.^" He selected Eed Bobs from White Bobs in 1910, 

 and Kitchener from Marquis in 1911. As an active 

 member of the Canadian Seed Growers' Association, he 

 has supplied to other farmers a considerable amount of 

 pure seed of Marquis, Kitchener, and Red Bobs. He has 

 also been much in demand as a judge at Seed Fairs and 

 in standing crop competitions. His stimulating influence 

 has done much to forward the best interests of agriculture 

 in western Canada. When one considers the very small 

 amount of schooling which Mr. Wheeler received as a 

 boy, one cannot help feeling surprise at the successes which 

 he has achieved in the difficult task of plant-breeding. 

 However, he is a born observer, and has remarkable 

 natural ability in distinguishing slight differences in 

 cereals and other plants. There can be no doubt that his 

 selection of Red Bobs from White Bobs was a fine piece 

 of work, such as would be highly creditable to any plant 

 breeder ; and the reputation which he has thereby achieved 

 has been well merited. 



XI. Kitchener 



Kitchener is a selection from Marquis made by Mr. 

 Seager Wheeler in 1911. The year 1911 was the first 

 in which Mr. Wheeler grew Marquis and he naturally 

 paid a considerable amount of attention to it. One plant 

 in a plot of Marquis stood out from all the others as a dis- 

 tinct type. He therefore pulled it up by the roots and 

 stored it until winter. Each of the four or five heads 

 was then rubbed out in the hand separately, and the 

 grains from each head were sown in head-rows in a plot 

 in 1912. The year 1912 was very wet, so much so that 



10 Yide Chapter III, Section IX, on Prizes Won hy Marquis. 



