No. 602] THE SELECTION PROBLEM 



11 



absolutely inappreciable by an uneducated eye." Men 

 in whose breeding operations selection in this sense 

 demonstrably plays no significant part whatever, attribute 

 to its magic power all improvement in their animals and 

 plants. This is harmless so long as one understands that 

 the selection" is verbal and not biological. But unfor- 

 tunately it has not always been so understood. Conse- 

 quently we find the literature of evolution cluttered with 

 a lot of utterly preposterous statements about domestic 

 animals and plants, masquerading as valid evidence for 

 the selection doctrine. 



So fixed in the minds of most biologists not acquainted 

 with agricultural matters at first hand is the idea that the 

 vast majority of improved varieties of plants and animals 

 owe their origin, or their improvement, or both, to cumu- 

 lative selection of slight differences, that it appears de- 

 sirable to review briefly a few of the actual facts. One 

 can not hope to do more than touch here and there in a 

 great body of evidence, but at least representative cases 

 may serve to indicate the general tenor of the whole. 



"We may consider first the cultivated grape, of which 

 there are over 1,300 recognized varieties grown in this 

 country. Hedrick^^ and his assistants have made a very 

 careful and systematic study of the origin of these forms. 

 After discussing the early history of the vine in this coun- 

 try he says (p. 52) : 



We have found that the wild grapes of the countiy, vakied but uncul- 

 tivated for two hundred years, became through mere transplanting from 

 the woods into the vineyards ... one of our most important fruits. 



Again in commenting upon the growth of the grape- 

 growing industry he says (p. 62) : 



The results achieved seem all the greater when one considers that 

 many of the best varieties now grown are the first, and scarcely any are 

 further removed than the second generation from wild plants. 



But we should not be content with these general state- 

 ments. Let us examine specifically the history of a well- 



28Hedrick, TJ. P., "The Grapes of New York." Albany, 1908. 



