328 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 531. 



vestigation makes it possible to increase the 

 yield of wheat and corn a definite measur- 

 able number of bushels which the farmer 

 can appreciate at once. It is useless to 

 enumerate the fruits, grains, fibers, etc., 

 that have been improved by this means. 

 It has been said that in the breeding of 

 plants we have a practise iinconsciously 

 carried on for centuries, and that the or- 

 dinary selection of the farmer results in 

 as great improvement as can be obtained 

 from the application of scientific knowl- 

 edge as to the strains best adapted for 

 crossing and selecting. If this be true, 

 why is it that all these centuries have not 

 given rise to the results, easily obtained in 

 one generation by the scientific way? No 

 one would for a moment wish to dispute the 

 great good that has resulted from the use 

 of the knowledge gained from experience 

 in the raising of plants for commercial 

 purposes, but when one has witnessed the 

 immediate benefit of the application of 

 science to the traditional practises of the 

 farmer and horticulturist, he can no longer 

 deny that the combination is more prac- 

 tical and more efficient, and results in re- 

 turns vastly in excess of those obtained 

 when the methods are separated by preju- 

 dice or ignorance. 



It is always easier to estimate the value 

 of any piece of work when it is possible to 

 base it upon what has been actually gained, 

 rather than upon any loss which it pre- 

 vents. Consequently, the vast saving to this 

 country because of the investigations made 

 upon plant diseases is usually overlooked. 

 No line of botanical research has resulted 

 in a greater practical benefit to the farmer 

 and those engaged in the growing of plants 

 for profit, and yet it is seldom that the 

 tedious and necessary investigations carried 

 on by the mycologist, upon which all in- 

 telligent remedial work is based, receive 

 due credit. 



If we turn to the realm of beneficial bac- 



teriology and mycology, there are, of 

 course, innumerable instances of the direct 

 results obtained from botanical research, 

 not only in those processes having to do 

 with the growing of crops for man and 

 beast, but also in increasing the value and 

 importance of numerous industries. See 

 how necessary the trained mycologist has 

 become to the brewer! No industry is 

 more scientific in its methods, and it I'e- 

 quired but the investigations of Hansen 

 and Jorgensen to place the business upon 

 a plane of absolute security, scarcely en- 

 joyed by a manufacturer depending upon 

 the most mechanical and routine processes. 

 By the pure yeast cultures the brewer has 

 everything under his control, for the mash 

 is sterilized by boiling and the addition of 

 the hops prevents the growth of deleterious 

 bacteria which might be added subsequent- 

 ly. Thus, there is no reason why the beer 

 made a year hence should not be precisely 

 the same as that made to-day. 



The maker of wine has not been so quick 

 to take advantage of the information fur- 

 nished by botanical research, and in many 

 cases the results of his labors are lost, or at 

 most, the product is often far from what 

 it might have been had the proper plant 

 furnishing the proper enzyme been speci- 

 fically added, instead of its being left to 

 chance. AVhile it is true that there may 

 be difficulties attending the sterilization of 

 the grape must, which, of course, is laden 

 with wild yeasts and moulds, to say noth- 

 ing of the bacteria, it seems more than 

 probable that by proper attention to the 

 acidity of the must and by adding the pure 

 yeast in considerable quantity so as to 

 overcome the objectionable forms, most 

 beneficial results may be obtained. Cer- 

 tainly, the only way in which the making 

 of wine is to be placed upon the same pre- 

 cise and satisfactory basis as that of malt 

 liquors, is by investigations concerning the 

 purely scientific processes involved and not 



