336 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1898. 
and miller. Professor A. E. Blunt, who has given considerable attention to 
the cross-breeding of wheat, considers the whole operation very similar to 
breeding stock, and in regard to this point says: ‘The objects attained by 
crossing wheats, or hybridisation, as it is improperly called, are manifold. It 
improves the plant in various ways. It makes it more vigorous, less liable to 
the attacks of vegetable parasites; the straw is stiffer, better glazed, and more 
healthy ; the leaves better feeders, as well as the roots; the glumes are more 
compact, and better filled ; the heads longer, and fertilisation takes place more 
surely and successfully. Secondly, it improves the grain—makes it more 
plump, heavier, harder; consequently better suited to milling purposes; the 
bran is made thinner, more free from fluff and cellulose, the two obstacles 
which interfere so materially with milling; the grain is entirely transformed, 
being made to contain more or less gluten, starch, and other elements that 
make good flour.” Sometimes the experimenter is compelled to cross and 
recross in order to fix type, and make a wheat that will suit both farmer and 
miller. 
The writer has had the opportunity of assisting at the carrying out on an 
extensive scale of experiments in the cross-breeding of wheats, and some very 
remarkable results were obtained. The cross-breeding of wheat entails a great 
amount of increasing personal attention, owing to the very short period during 
which the work can be successfully accomplished, great care, and indefatigable 
patience ; and, in the experiments at which the writer assisted, entirely new 
sorts of wheat were developed. ‘To give your readers some idea of the exceed- 
ingly difficult and slow nature of the work involved in the process of “ cross- 
ing” wheats, it may be as well to offer a short account of how the operation 
is effected. As we already know, the reproduction organs in the floret are so 
well guarded that they are practically shut out from any other crossing, and 
the only way in which an artificial cross can be obtained is to open the case of 
the floret protecting the flower, which is a very delicate operation, requiring 
considerable perseverance and skill. A fine judgment must also’ be exercised 
to catch the ears of wheat just at the right time in relation to temperature, and 
it is a remarkable feature in all wheats that it is only at a proper temperature 
o* the atmosphere—namely, about 70 degrees F.—that the flower will afford the 
uecessary oupportunity for fertilisation. Having selected a well-developed 
spikelet in an ear of wheat, the outer awns of the outer floret are taken fast 
hold of between the index finger placed beneath and the thumb above; then 
pressing with the cushion of the middle finger upon the base of the spikelet in 
such a way as to impress a slight see-sawing motion, which allows at the 
same time of fixing the floret firmly between this finger and the index finger. 
By this movement the external glume of the floret is curved outwards, and 
should the lodicules be swollen out, as artificial fertilisation cannot be effected 
until this stage in the growth of the flower is reached, the floret will easily be 
opened with the slight persuasion of a needle. Their production organs are 
divided into the pistil or female portion of the flower and the stamen or male, 
The pistil consists of the ovary, the style, and the stigma, and the stamen com- 
prises the filaments, anthers, and pollen. After having opened the floret, a very 
fine pair of forceps is necessary to remove to one side the curtains attached to 
the outside edge of the inner glume in order to remove the three stamens, which 
is done by extracting them one by one by seizing hold of the filaments a little 
below the anthers. The stamens are removed, while still green, although near 
maturity, and on the following day the pollen from the anthers of another 
variety, which it is intended to use as the male parent, is poured gently on the 
feathery stigma. The envelopes or glumes of the floret are then gently pressed 
together again and carefully watched, so that some few weeks after, when 
matured, they can be carefully gathered, thus preventing any possible accident 
happening. 
PPthe resulta, however, of each operation involve a succession of further 
operations, for in practice we find that the products of cross-fertilisation with 
the same ear of wheat in each “ breed’ selected do not come alike, nor haye 
