Plant Breeding. 



521 



of age, and from 15 hands to 16 hands 2 inches high will be 

 registered. 



4. Officers appointed by the Secretary of State will inspect 

 the class of horse owners propose to register, on their 

 premises, at least once a year, after which the final agree- 

 ment will be made, as to prices, with the proprietors. 



5. The Government are prepared to agree to pay in case 

 of taking the animals, a price which would represent, (a) 

 what it would cost to replace them, [b) the estimated loss 

 which might accrue pending their being replaced ; which 

 price would be agreed on between the parties. 



6. As it is evident that the amount of [a) and [b) above 

 would vary in proportion to the number of horses required 

 by Government, the prices to be agreed upon should, it is 

 considered, be based on a sliding scale. 



Plant Breeding. 



The United States Department of Agriculture have re- 

 cently issued a Bulletin from the pen of Professor W. M. 

 Hays on plant breeding which contains a good account of 

 the technique of the subject and some stimulating sugges- 

 tions. Many look to the production of improved varieties of 

 cultivated plants as a sure way of increasing the yield and 

 quality, and already results have been achieved sufficiently 

 remarkable to encourage much hope for the future. One 

 of the most striking instances is furnished by the sugar beet, 

 which, in Germany, in 1836, contained only 5 per cent, of 

 sugar, and now furnishes not much short of 15 per cent. 

 During the same time the gross yield of roots per acre has 

 increased by about 50 per cent., so that the out-put of sugar 

 per acre is now over four times as great as 70 years ago, a 

 result for which careful breeding is chiefly accountable. 



In this and other countries much has been accomplished 

 in the matter of plant improvement, but much undoubtedly 

 remains to be done. It is work that makes no exceptional 

 demands on capital or skill, as is proved by the fact that 

 many of our best varieties of plants, especially vegetables, 

 flowers, and fruits, have been raised by amateurs, in not a 



