El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-10


plaEts may be modified and lmproNe1
by cultivation and selection 1t is thus
easy to realize how great the changes
must be that are produced by cen
turtles OF such treatment under great
variety of conditions. The process has
thus essentially a natural selection,
mans like or dislike being the critical
factor.
Plant Selection a Recent Science.
Up to the stIme of Darwin, about
the middle of the 18th century, the
dogma Of the cOnstancy of species was
almost universally believed Species
were held to be a special creation, q
theory which effectually answered al
questions as to origin. and stlfled IN
NeSugauOn- But regardless or any
theoretical notions held by philOso-
piers Of that time agriculturlsts real
lied the great Importance Of selection
and crossing in the Improvement OF
animal species Darwin quotes from
Houatt, who, he says, was probaoly
better acquainted with the works OF
agriculture than almost any other IN
dividuaL YOuatt speaks of selection
as that which enables the agrlcul-
turist not only to modify the character
of his flock, but to change II alto
gether. 1t is the nlagiCian's wand by
which he may summon into lie what
ever form and mould ne pleases- he
Of course refers to the art-of animal
breeding, which is OF very ancient or
igin and practice and differs from tine
practice of the early plant ,DreedeIs, III
that naturalization and crossing as
we'll as careful selection, were FOL
lowed by the animal breeders. The sex
uality Of plants. moreover was not
known until comparatively recent
times, and crossing and hybrldlzaJlon
were not therefore Consciously used
in the early development Of our asrl-
cultural plants.
First Systematic Plant Breeder.
Thomas Andrew Knight, an ener-
getic plant psychologist and horucul-
turist in the early 18th century, gave
the first great impulse to breeding as a
method of improving plants he rec
Ognized hybridizaticn and crossing as
the most potent means of inducing var
iatiOns in definite directions, thus put-
pOsely producing changes which be
fore were the result of chance deVel-
Opment, or which did not occur at al,
and he was thus able to bring ABOUT
desired notifications in a very snort
period of time He recognized the
slower method of inducing variation
by cultivation and increased food sup
ply, but realized that the changes
that can be produced by selecting sucn
induced variations are narrow anu
slow compared with what can be Sc
cured through capitalization and cross
ing followed of course. by careful Sc
lection TO fix the desired types
The important bearing of the Work
of knight was not fully appreciated
in his time; but recently there has
been a rapidly growing recognition
of the Importance of hybrid1zauOn ana
crossing In the past, no doubt. tle
facts would show that much Of the
progress made was by chance hybrid
ization and crossing. The best that
is in a variety can be brought out by
selection. but when the plant does NOT
possess desired. characters, they must
be introduced by combining the good
points Of several varieties or species
either cultivated or wild.
Work With Grapes.
a good start has been made in
thus combining the European and ma
tive American grapes The production
OF grapes for general purposes Wnlcn
has been the aim Of practically all
work on grape breeding thus far, has
been accomplished, and even carried
too far. as is so clearly pointed out
in Bailey's excellent work on the eEo-
luton of our native fruits The great
need now as there suggested. IS Tor
varieties suited to special purposes,
special soils and climatic conditions,
and reSiStent TO disease ana insect
pests. These may he produced by COM
bining the desirable qualities of our
wild and cultivated varieties with the
good qualities of the European types
To any one deeply interested IN
this fascinating Work OF ueNelcpl-l7
and improving on any variety OF run,
I recommend this treatise by Proi
Woods in yearbook for 1903, PIP tlo
to 1873. The above paragraphs are ex-
tracts selected TO show how the way
was reasoned out. and fairly devel-
open in less than 10 years later, 1898
to 1913.
do not mean to say that a grape
has been developed to meet. each and
all requirements, but certainly mucn
has been done in adapting varieties
TO this section. which is OF great IN
terest and Importance to US. and done
by a Texas man. Prof Munson, who
might be called the dean Of grape. cul-
turists. The above shows what science
has done and is doing in these lines
and points out the way in which pest
results can be obtained without ser
iOus and costly mistakes
Analyse your climatic conditions
soil fertility, and content Change the
chemical condition of your soil, If nee
essary. Then select or develop 1rult
suited to these conditions. and produce
it in quantities large enough to at
tract attention.
1t is the chief purpose of these ar
tfcles to show how this system may !
most profitably be applied to our own {
local conditions.