Without going into further details, he at
once chose this specimen as the starting point of a new race. He
destroyed the surrounding plants so as to give it more space, applied
manure to its roots, and tended it with special care. It yielded 63
heads and nearly [111] 2500 grains. All of these were sown the
following fall, and likewise in the succeeding years the whole harvest
was sown in separate lots. After two years of rapid multiplication it
proved to be a good new variety and was brought into commerce. It has
become one of the prominent varieties of wheat in East Lothian, that
county of Scotland of which Haddington is the principal borough.
The grains of "Mungoswell's wheat" are whiter than those of the allied
"Hunter's wheat," more rounded but otherwise of the same size acid
weight. The straw is taller and stronger, and each plant produces more
culms and more heads.
Shirreff assumed, that the original plant of this variety was a sport
from the race in which he had found it, and that it was the only
instance of this sport. He gives no details about this most interesting
side of the question, omitting even to tell the name of the parent
variety. He only asserts that it was seen to be better, and afterwards
proved so by the appreciation of other breeders and its success in
trade.
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