THE WHEAT CULTUEIST. 



41 



introducing to my readers the operation of liybridiza- 

 tion. 



D. J. Brown, in one of the Patent Office Reports, 

 when alluding to the hybridizing of wheat, states that : 



" The terms 'mule,' 'hybrid,' ' half-breed,' and ' cross- 

 breed' are vaguely and indiscriminately used by many 

 writers ; but it is essential to accuracy, that more precise 

 distinctions should be observed. The offspring of two 

 animals of different species is a mule^ and is seldom en- 

 dowed with the procreative power, and still more rarely 

 with a long-continued succession. The product of two 

 plants of different species is a hybrid ; and although it is 

 in general more prosperous than the mule of animals, it 

 is still destined to yield at length to the beneficent law 

 of I^ature, which ordains that neither among animals 

 nor vegetables shall the distinctions of species be oblit- 

 erated. The permanent divisions among plants of the 

 same species, often called ' varieties,' are properly^7"C)Z6<§, 

 or races. The product of two individuals of the same 

 species, but of ditterent races, is a variety^ as is every 

 modification of this, effected by cross-fecundation with 

 any other variety, or with any of the races of its species. 



" Great advantages have been found to proceed from 

 the practice of cross-fecundation, in the extraordinary 

 improvement effected in the flowers, esculent vegetables, 

 and fruits of almost every country. That the Cereals 

 have only to a limited extent shared these advantages is 

 a subject of just surprise to the curious inquirer ; but, 

 until very recently, it was doubted that much, if any- 

 thing, could be accomplished in regard to them. Pro- 

 fessor Gsertner, of Stuttgart, who has been said to have 

 almost exhausted the subject in certain points of view, 

 has declared the Cereals to be ' among the plants 



