One
side he calls the production of new forms, the other the improvement of
the breed. He dealt with both methods extensively. New forms are
considered as spontaneous variations occurring or originating without
human aid. They have only to be selected and isolated, and their progeny
at once yields a constant and pure race. This race retains its character
as long as it is protected against the admixture of other minor
varieties, either by cross-pollination, or by accidental seeds.
Improvement, on the other hand, is the work of man. New varieties of
course can only be isolated if chance offers them; the improvement is
not incumbent on chance. It does not create really anything new, but
develops characters, which were already existing. It brings [95] the
race above its average, and must guard constantly against the regression
towards this average which usually takes place.
Hays has repeatedly insisted upon the principle of the choice of the
most favorable varieties as the foundation for all experiments in
improving races. He asserts that half the battle is won by choosing the
variety which is to serve as a foundation stock, while the other half
depends upon the selection of parent-plants within the chosen variety.
Thus the choice of the variety is the first principle to be applied in
every single case; the so-called artificial selection takes only a
secondary place.
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