The Advocate and news., 1898-12-07
Cross Breeding Corn.

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and In many cases with wonderful sue
cess. For several years Guilford Dudley,
Of Topeka, who is banker, but also a
farmer and q student of nature, has been
experimenting with the cross-breeding
Of corn, and he describes his theory and
methods as follows:
THE cross-breeding Of plants is not a
new discovery Il Is simply one that is
not generally known, and not practically
applied. Since the discoveries Of Charles
Darwin and the publication Of his works,
in 1859, the evolution of plants as a
matter Of fact has been generally con-
ceded, but practical application has been
wanting. In truth, the inteF-marriage
OF plant life as well as Of animal life has
been theory.
"The division Of science into zoology
and botany is simply matter of con-
venience. The inter-marriage Of vege-
tables is practical and it can and will
work a revolution in growing. The
methods are so simple and the reasons
can be stated 80 plainly that any farmer,
be he scientifically inclined or not, can
easily work out the evolution. Aside
from proving interesting to him, he will
find that the cross-breeding of crops will
yield to his financial stores immensely
in very short time. Constant straight
breeding results In degeneration in ami
NAL life, and 1t Is necessary to mix fami-
lies even in the human. How essential
1t is that our corn and beans and other
vegetables are not allowed to degenerate
slowly but surely by straight planting
"Many farmers are opposed to the ap-
plication Of science to farming, holding
that it is but an excuse to spend money
without getting adequate returns. Time
is proving such theories to be false. The
biologists tell us that when they exam
Inc the physical organization Of man
they resolve him into the finest particles
into which the microscope will enable
them to break him up; then they take a
sort of an anatomical record Of devel-
opments, functions and activities and
study his environments as he appears on
the surface to the world. They then take
up the other animals most convenient
the bird, the dog, for instance find
that their bodies are resOlvable into the
same elements as that Of man-and so
OF all the other animals. Then they pUr-
sue their Investigations into the vegeta-
BILE world and they can In the same way
follow out the structure Of the plant
from the most intricate flower, grass or
shrub up to the largest tree. And so with
their seeds, the storehouses OF oil, starch,
fiber and gluten, which either In normal
state or in their concentrated form, com"
prise the whole menu Of animal food.
Oxygen is required by the animal;
carbonic acid Is essential to the plant.
Protein is manufactured from the ele-
ments by the plant; animal jelly is man
ufactured from the same elements by
the animal. Under microscopic investi-
cation the most industrious student, the
most profoundly learned, cannot sepa-
rate nor tell the difference between the
vegetable and animal jelly. Thus, BIZ
ologists have arrived at the conclusion
that fundamental uniformity Of struc-
ture pervades the animal and the yege-
table worlds and that plants and animals
differ from each other simply as adverse
notifications Of the same general plan.
"This, then, is the foundation on which
cross-breed vegetables. Who would
think Of improving the desirable quail
tiles of his dairy herd, his chickens, his
ducks, his swine, by long, close lnbreed-
ing? Darwin says: Nature abhors con-
tinuous inbreeding.' II the same general
laws control plant evolution, why not
cross-breed the corn, wheat, oats, pota-
toes, garden products and fruits? Why
simply hunt for natural variations in the
genealogy world and study scientific ge-
nealOgy only in animal life?
"The cost of an enterprise often at
fects the amount Of care and attention 1t
shall receive. Experiments in cross
breeding of vegetable life do not require
that the present implements and condi-
tions be cast away and great sums OF