Peas and Beans as 

 Money Crops 



Improvements Which Promise Much 



AVERY good illustration of directive plant 

 breeding is furnished by the case of the 

 Empson peas. 



This was a case in which I received an order 

 for the development of a new variety of pea that 

 would fulfill certain definite specifications, some- 

 what as a manufacturer of cloth or of electric 

 dynamos or of machinery of any sort might receive 

 an order for a new product to meet a special 

 condition. 



It is gratifying to record that I was able to 

 meet the specifications, and "deliver the goods," 

 as a manufacturer might say, about as accurately 

 and satisfactorily as if the product had been one 

 to be turned out by factory machinery instead of 

 by selective breeding of a living plant. 



The specifications were these: A variety that 

 shall mature all its pods at the same time; bearing 



[Volume VII— Chapter III] 



