Nebraska advertiser., 1869-08-05
Crossing different Varieties Of
wheat.

In the first place let us select for the
two parents, two varieties of wheat
that possess between them the good
qualities that we desire to transmit to
theirOffspring, viz: hardness TO stand
the winter, strength Of straw, resist
ing the nudge, and a good quality Of
white wheat; all these qualities should
be possessed by one OT the other Of the
parents. Having selected the parent
plants, the next thing Is to keep them
healthy, and have them completely
under control; to retard the one, and
to forward the other if necessary, so
that both plants shall come into flower
exactly at the same time.
Surprising that the plants have now
arrived at the proper stage for Operat-
ing, and that the operator is well pro-
Yided with a powerful magnifying
glass and a very delicate sharp
pointed instrument, let the owe
ing to the embryo fruit be forced
open and the male organs carefully
cut out from the female parent plant.
The operator should here use the
greatest caution and be surethat every
anther is destroyed, and should not
allow one to burst in the operation ;
and in every case, where the little tube
containing the pollen shall have burst,
either naturally or by the instrument
of the operator, this grain should be
Immediately destroyed, as the pistil
will in all probability have become
impregnated by its own pollen. Hav-
ing now removed all the anther from
the female plant, let US proceed to take
g., A., -no1n ~oHomN fhn wfnn nnNEnu
and carefully place it upon the pistil
Of the female plant, closing the chaf
with great care, and the work is com
plete. The grains when ripe will Of
course resemble the mother, and In all
probability by far the greater portion
Of the offspring will. But, most as
suredly, if the work is properly done,
some few will show q marked differ
ence.
And now having given a few brief
hints upon this interesting and inn
pOrtant subject, destined in my Opin-
ion to revOlutiOniZe Agriculture and
Horticulture, permit me to say that,
although I have been many years en-
gagged IN crossing different varieties of
fruit, and have been very successful
with the grape and the raspberry, the
crossing of wheat is the most delicate
and difficult of anything that I have
ever attempted; and my advice would
be, let no person attempt it unless he
has had considerable experience in
crossing some large Towering species
of plants, such as the apple. the straw
berry, &C., &c. But should any one
be induced by these few simple state
ments TO attempt to cross wheat, let
him persevere and do it thoroughly,
and not conclude that because he has
been interfering with the natural pro-
cess of qualification, some valuable
crOss-breedswiI be theresult, however
.imperfectly the attempt at crossing
may have been performed. Remem-
Der, the work must be done exactly at
the right time, and that time must be
carefully watched, even, I believe, to
a minute. And, now, If in addition
to all his labOrs and fpainstaking, the
operator is prepared to be called a fool
for his pains, by all his neighbOrs, and
TO abandon whatever previous engage
ments he may have made that shall
occur about the time the wheat shall
be coming into flower, / say, il he Is
prepared for all this, I will him
good speed, and when the desired re-
are obtained, will travel five
hundred hiles, If need be, to shake
hands with him.-C. A., Paris, Ont,
in Erp. Farm journal