The suburban citizen., 1902-10-11

~~ general, VIII De pr0ml-
NO " nently brought before
n the public by the Inter-
Mnmmfe NxNEnA national Conference on
Plant Breeding and Hy-
bridization.
AS pointed out by an expert on the
subject, all our most familiar flowers,
fruits, vegetables and cereals are the
results of unconscious plant breeding,
sometimes dating so far back that the
original types are unknown, as In the
Instances of wheat and Indian corn
All systematic work In this line, how
ever, has been done in the last fifty
years, and the greater part In the last
twenty years, while the last five years
have been more productive of varia-
BILE results than the whole foregoing
period. In paper by Mr.. Barron lie
emphasizes the fact that the history
Of gardening as an advanced art
did not begin till about $50 years ago,
while Linnaeus was building up his re-
narkable system of plant classification.
AhaN tAAlAO until ACNGhl JNhIh lnG
world was ransacked for new plants,
until native horas were practically ex.
hausted. The new plant Of to-day is
generally recognized as an artificial
production. the result Of hybridization
A clear understanding of sexuallty in
plants was first recorded in 1876, and In
1901 Camerarius published results of
Investigations he had made of the ster-
tity of a mulberry tree. The first
actual, intentional hybrid produced
between two distinct species was
"Fairchild's sweet-william," the
achievement of Thomas Fairchlld. q
London nurseryman, who died in 1929.
The progress Of hybridization was slow
for many years afterwards, the effect
Of the process often being very slight
In the first generation, so that first re-
suits were frequently disappointing,
md early experimenters, who trusted
to chance, were apt to become dis
eouraged. After more scientific and
persistent lines of investigation were
adopted, the pioneers were opposed by
popular prejudice, objection being
raised to their work on the ground that
II was an impious interference with
the laws Of nature. So strong was
this prejudice in England that in mod.
ern times a noted firm OF nurserymen
near London concealed the fact that
they We're manufacturing their novel.
ties, and placed on the market a large
number Of artificial hybridS, produced
In their nurseries, as original species
from the Cape of Good Hope.
IMPROVEMENT BY SELECTION.
Wonderful results have been accom-
plished in plant-breeding by the process
of selection alone. The sugar in sugar
beets has been increased more than 100
per cent. in the last century by means
Of rigid selection. systema tically and
scientifically carried out on a large
scale by French and German seed
growers. In every generation Of beets
the best roots, with the highest per-
centage OF pure sugar, have been Sc.
lected as the parents of q new genera
ton. Most valuable results have been
obtained IN thiS country by the work
OF the State and the United States
Agricultural Experiment Stations. In
report by Willet NJ. Hays, of the Min.
nesota Agricultural Experiment Sta
hon, which was published In 1901, he
says; "The ten leading field crops In
the United States annually Yield near
~ $2,0O0,0O0,000 worth of plant prod
ucts. BY means Of live stock and by
manufacturing processes the value OF
these is so Increased before they are
consumed that 1t is very nearly
doubled. Experiments have demon.
strated that by breeding alone these
crops may be so improved in their in
herited tendencies as to yield five per
cent, more, even with the cultivation
remaining unimproved" He adds that
the Minnesota Station by six years of
selection produced varieties of fax
thirty-two inches tall from varieties
only twenty-six inches tall. increasing
the length Of the fibre more than TWEEN.
ty per cent. This experiment demon
strates the possibilities of breeding
hax which will grow as long fibre In
dry climate as is produced from the
common flax in Belgium, Ireland, and
other moist countries where most of
the long fibre is now produced. BY the
process OF selection In wheat breed
ing at the same station, two new vari-
cites have been produced and distri-
buted, which will, 1t is estimated, re-
pay the State in few years for all
the money it has expended to date in
agricultural experiments.
In paper read by George Lee, gar-
dener, before meeting Of gardeners
association, at Exeter, England, last
spring, he said that nothing in scientific
agriculture had attracted more atten-
uon throughout the world In the last
Ten years than the raising of new
Dreeds OF wheat in America and other
wheat growing countries. 1t had been |
demonstrated that these new wheats
would increase the present yield in
the regions to which these particular
Wheats were adanted IN, g. h,,.L.I