The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1912-11-07
GROW LARGER GRAIN
Professor De Vries Tells OF His
Recent Experiments.
Eminent Scientist Plans TO increase
the Size Of the Worlds Food
plants-New Species at
Once.

New York.-Prof. Hugo de Vries. di
rector of the American botanical gar
den and the recognized dean of botan
lists, lectured at the New York botan
ical gardens on his recent observa
tons and experiments In the mutation
of plants. Many scientists attended
the lecture and lauded Professor de
Vries as the successor to Darwin
and a great benefactor to the ma
tons"
Doctor de Vries, a man OF about six
ty years, does not mind being called
successor to Darwin. whose work he
has adopted He would deny, how
ever. that he has gone further than
Darwin In his understanding of plant
life. 1t WAS exactly the divergence be-
tween Darwin's conclusions and his
own conclusions that constituted the
subject matter of Doctor de Vries' lee
ture
Darwin, 1t Is recalled. explained the
origin OF new species by the theory
of gradual variation. Doctor de Vries,
on the other hand. while he admits
that there are no end of gradual vari.
ations In plant life, adds that new
species also come into being by
leaps and bounds" in single day. as
1t were. He explained his theory by
the exhibition OF slides illustrating his
own observations.
The best illustrations of the muta-
ton of plants, Doctor de Vries noted in
such flowers as the foxgloye, daisy
evening primrose and marigold. In
his own experiments, starting with an
ordinary single daisy and keeping all
the seed and planting 1t, he noticed
second year daisies having twice as
many petals as they had the first year
and at the expense OF diminishing
center Continuing the selection of
the seed from the exceptional speci-
mems In each daisy patch he grew
within four years a daisy which had
no center seed pods whatever, and
which had Increased Its petals or ray
flowers during that time from twenty
one to two hundred Needless to say,
the new flower did not resemble the
ordinary daisy at all. and 1t remained
intact as a distinct species of fora.
This illustration was evidence, Pro
fessor de Vries maintained of the ne.
cessity of increasing the yields OF all
plants, 80 that the increasing popula-
ton of the future might not want. His
optimism in the development of plant
life extends to wheat and rice and the
other grains, although he said he was
not yet experimenting In those fields
Doctor de Vries 10 not riyaling our
own Burbank" said DR.. w. A. Murrill.
director of the New York botanical
gardens, after the lecture. He stands
supreme In his own line of endeavor
His experiments are purely theoreti
cal Burbank tries to develop the big
gest plums and the biggest potatoes,
but de Vries tries to make two petals
grow where but one grew before. He
Is paving the way for the bigger Bur
banks of the future.
Our experimental stations. you
know, are practical. and they seek
practical results In the culture of food
stuffs But some day that line OF ex
detrimental work will be exhausted
and scientists will ask for something
new. Then some one will apply, in
practical way, the principles which
Professor de Vries Is now laying down
The secret of the future is to be able
to repeat exactly by agriculture the
mutations as observed now In nature
That Is the work OF science. and that
is where the new and bigger Burbanks
will have their future"