82 
Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 
variety, with level straw. In spite of its sobriquet oi " Make- 
him-rich," this variety is now rarely found in its original district, 
though it is still popular elsewhere, and comes to Kelso market 
dubbed by the name just mentioned. After resting on his 
honours, Mr. Shirreff resumed a work which has proved of 
national benefit, and in 1856 a continued and systematic 
searching of the wheat-fields recommenced. Friends on both 
sides of the Tweed sent him specimens of ears differing from 
the general crop, and his trial-ground in 1857 contained plants 
from the seed of seventy selected ears. From these three kinds 
were selected, Shirreff's Bearded Red (a type of the Old Red 
Lammas), with long, slender, wiry straw ; Pringle's wheat, with 
long stout straw ; and Shirreff's Bearded White. Each of 
these had marked peculiarities in the grain as well as straw. 
Mr. Shirreff has carefully described his arrangements for the 
protection and separation of his trial-plots, and he found that 
the time occupied in sowing, harvesting, dressing, and weighing, 
compelled him to limit the size of his plots or the number of 
the trials, and that success was not likely to be attained with- 
out strict personal superintendence. The sorts were grown in 
parallel rows ; and cross-breeding, under these circumstances, 
did not occur — an observation of great importance, agreeing 
Avith the general experience, and opposed to Mr. Knight's 
extraordinary assertion that, by sowing several sorts of wheat 
together, he obtained as many new varieties as he pleased. 
Cross-bred grains would, no doubt, yield a very mixed produce, 
and probably an expert would detect many different forms even 
in a field of pedigree-wheat ; but these are not new varieties 
such as Mr. Knight had in view. The florets of wheat must, 
under ordinary circumstances, be self-fertilised, " for," if I may 
quote a written record of my personal observation in the 
field some years since, "the stamens are fully developed, and 
the pollen begins to shed before the florets expand, and their 
task is accomplished before they make their appearance outside 
the ear." The clouds of pollen therefore in a wheat-field are, 
like many other provisions for the security of reproduction, in 
excess of the customary requirements. They make assurance 
doubly sure, however, and they secure the occasional occurrence 
of crosses between neighbouring plants, which are probably not 
infrequent. 
Among his selections Mr. Shirreff produced three oats, which 
he called the " Fellow Family," and they were as various in 
size, height, character, and constitution as any three members of 
any human family. " Long Fellow " has straw fine in quality, 
firm in texture, free of leaf; and it has a habit of slow growth 
in the early part of the season, until the appearance of the 
