1922.] 



Science and the Farmer. 



■210 



and producing - the most extraoxdinaiy " hands " cr in vel 

 carbon-compounds: ho the breeder, since Mendel taught him the 

 trick, has been able to produce new combinations which have 

 made the world richer. Metaphorically he grafts on new charac- 

 ters of value and prunes off old characters that are detrimental, 

 and so we get Yeoman wheat from Professor Biffen of Cam- 

 bridge, Plumage Archer barley from Mr. 1! iaven of Warminster, 

 and Blue Cone wheat from Professor Percival of Reading. We 

 may almost speak of the creative biolcgist. though he is really 

 not more than the architect of the materials which are provid» d 

 by Nature. " A wheat giving a slightly increased yield, or 

 better able to withstand the weather conditions of this country, 

 puts money in the pockets of the farmer, and by increasing home 

 production and thereby lessening our dependence on the 

 foreigner, is a national asset." The story of plant breeding is a 

 romance, but it is also a recipe-book for getting rich. Take one 

 of the least sensational inquiries, the Welsh study of the kinds 

 of oats suited for different altitudes. There are varieties in 

 common use among the farmers, but these turn out to be mix- 

 tures of different strains, and therefore apt to be disappointing. 

 What the Aberystwyth Station is doing is separating out these 

 strains and selecting the best, which will then form the material 

 for further improvement by breeding. When this is done each 

 farm will be able to secure the seed best suited to the local con- 

 ditions. The same thing is being done with the more intricate 

 problem of pasture grasses. 



With a better understanding of the soil is associated a 

 better understanding of the living plant, and botany comes 

 to the farm, inquiring into the factors influencing crop 

 yield, the meaning of the mysterious quality of immunity to 

 fungoid disease, the possibility of stimulating cereals with elec- 

 tricity, and so on down to details like the cause and cure of 

 the 19 mealiness " which develops in apples and p?ars that have 

 been stored too long. It is safe to predict that in years to come 

 the farmer and the physiological botanist will be close friends, 

 with much to say to one another. There is the plant-pathologist 

 too, with his advice on " finger-and-too." potato " scab." 

 H bunt " in wheat, and all the terrible list of plant-diseases, 

 including, of course, those like " big laid " which are due to 

 animals. Progress towards eradication and prevention seems to 

 be very slow ; hut the life-histories of many pests are being on- 

 ravelled and control is bound to follow. What has been achieved 

 (we do not think the word too strong) of recent years is out- 

 lined in Mr. Wilkins' report; we wish to emphasise the fact 



