The double meaning of the word selection still prevailed when Darwin
published his "Origin of Species." This was in the year 1859, and at
that time Shirreff was the highest authority and the most successful
breeder of cereals. Vilmorin's method had been applied only to beets,
and Hallett had commenced his pedigree-cultures only a few years before
and his first publication of the "Pedigree-wheat" [110] appeared some
years later at the International Exhibition of London in 1862. Hence,
whenever Darwin speaks of selection, Shirreff's use of the word may as
well be meant as that of Vilmorin.
However, before going deeper into such theoretical questions, we will
first consider the facts, as given by Shirreff himself.
During the best part of his life, in fact during the largest part of the
first half of the nineteenth century, Shirreff worked according to a
very simple principle. When quite young he had noticed that sometimes
single plants having better qualities than the average were seen in the
fields. He saved the grains, or sometimes the whole heads of such plants
separately, and tried to multiply them in such manner as to avoid
intermixtures.
His first result was the "Mungoswell's wheat." In the spring of 1819 he
observed quite accidentally in a field of the farm of that name, a
single plant which attracted his attention by a deeper green and by
being more heavily headed out.
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