Le Couteur and Sheriff succeeded in the solution of the problem, because
they had discovered the importance of isolation. The combination of a
careful choice with subsequent isolation was all they knew about it, and
it was one of the great achievements to which modern agriculture owes
its success.
The other great principle was that of Vilmorin. It was the improvement
within the race, or the "amelioration of the race" as it was termed by
him. It was introduced into [109] England by F.F. Hallett of Brighton in
Sussex, who at once called it "pedigree-culture," and produced his first
new variety under the very name of "Pedigree-wheat." This principle,
which yields improved strains, that are not constant but dependent on
the continued and careful choice of the best plants in each succeeding
generation, is now generally called "selection." But it should always be
remembered that according to the historic evolution of the idea, the
word has the double significance of the distinction and isolation of
constant races from mixtures, and that of the choice of the best
representatives of a race during all the years of its existence. Even
sugar-beets, the oldest "selected" agricultural plants, are far from
having freed themselves from the necessity of continuous improvement.
Without this they would not remain constant, but would retrograde with
great rapidity.
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