372 
On Pedigree'" in Wheat 
p^round, it commences to throw out new and distinct stems, 
upon the first appearance of each of which a corresponding 
root-bud is developed for its support, and while the new stems 
"tiller" out flat over the surface, their respective roots assume 
a corresponding development beneath it. This process will 
continue until the season arrives for the stems to assume an 
upright growth, when tillering ceases, and the whole vital power 
of the plant is concentrated upon the production of the ears. 
These will be the finest it is capable of producing, unless the 
growth of its roots have l)een in any way interfered with, as by 
having been cramped or crowded by those of other plants, when 
the size of the ears will be proportionately diminished. I wish 
to avoid scientific terms as much as possible, but as a convenient 
mode of expression I shall henceforth speak of the " tillering " 
process accompanied by the corresponding growth of the roots as 
the "horizontal," and of the comparative length and contents of 
the ears produced as the " vertical " development or growth of 
the plant. I shall also, for like reason, designate as the "natural" 
mode of cultivating wheat that which gives free play to its 
nature. 
The extent to which horizontal development may take place is 
seen in the fact that the stems produced from a single grain 
having perfect freedom of growth will, in the spring, while lying 
flat upon the surface, extend over a circle 3 feet in diameter, pro- 
ducing at harvest from 50 to 60 ears. 
That vertical development is dependent upon the horizontal 
growth being unimpeded, has been abundantly shown to me in 
the observations I have made upon the growth of wheat under 
different conditions. It is generally illustrated in the experience 
before alluded to, that a thinned crop produces fine ears ; and a 
more particular illustration of this principle will be presently 
seen in the case of the original ears with which I commenced. 
These had been grown in the usual way in a field seeded with 
two bushels per acre, but by simply planting their grains sepa- 
rately, so as to admit of the full horizontal growth of the plants, 
the vertical development was in the following harvest nearly 
doubled. 
This fact is pregnant with practical inferences bearing upon 
the present mode of culture, which, by the use of superfluous seed, 
crowds the plants and produces ears of only one-half the natural 
size. 
Having thus illustrated the nature of the Avheat-plant under 
a system of cultivation which permits its perfect growth, let us 
proceed to incjuire how we may improve it by the repeated selec- 
tion of the seed. 
It has for the past twelve vcars been my conviction that a 
