SINGLE SEED SELECTION. 



3 



It is this point which I have steadily maintained during the last 

 twenty years. 



For a very long time the various evolutionary stages of Weismann- 

 ism made it impossible to give my opinions, but I am thankful to say 

 that now there is plenty of good authority for the inheritance of adap- 

 tive characters. 



Many authors still feel obliged to go through a sort of formula to 

 the effect that * * all acquired characters must affect the germ before they 

 can be inherited." 



I myself have never felt the necessity of reciting this formula, for 

 I do not know how you can grow a plant from seed without a germ-cell. 



The reason for my objection to Weismannism is the unfortunate 

 result of that theory in discouraging and making unfashionable a line 

 of research that has in the past proved of the greatest value and which 

 is now at last again being taken up and with excellent promise. 



In one respect we have every reason to be proud of our national 

 contribution to the science of plant-breeding. 



Neither the scientific training of Germany nor the elaborate organi- 

 zation of Denmark has enabled those countries to show so good a har- 

 vest from the acre as is the case almost every year in Britain. The 

 all-over average of our returns of wheat, oats, and other crops from 

 each acre of land is in this country almost always greater than any- 

 where else in the world. Almost every Annual Eeturn of the Board 

 of Agriculture brings out this gratifying fact. 



Is this due to any specially favourable conditions as regards soil or 

 climate ? No one would seriously uphold such a proposition. 



Is it due to any advantage in scientific education or botanical skill ? 

 I am afraid not ! 



It seems probable that our land system, and especially the unfor- 

 tunate proprietors of land, have largely contributed to the success of 

 British agriculture in this respect, but the credit is due chiefly to four 

 or five men who were never recognized as scientists. 



Pateick Shieeeff of Haddington, Leconteue of Jersey, and 

 Hallett of Brighton are those who seem to have been the pioneers in 

 plant-breeding. It is quite unnecessary for me to describe their 

 achievements in detail, for they are carefully described in De Yeies' 

 Plant Breeding and elsewhere. 



Their methods were the simplest possible. They just selected , the 

 very best seed of the most vigorous plant, and the results achieved by 

 them and their adherents antedated by many years the modern science 

 of plant-breeding. 



Fortunately this line of research has never been abandoned alto- 

 gether. I, 



One of the most interesting papers which I have come across is that 

 describing certain experiments with maize, carried on by Louie H. 

 Smith for the ten years from 1896 to 1906. 



Indian corn is a very important crop in the United States, where 

 many varieties are in cultivation. The object of these experiments was 



B 2 



