From this he produced the "Hopetown wheat."
After careful separation from the kernels this original ear was
preserved, and was afterwards exhibited at the Stirling Agricultural
[113] Museum. The "Hopetown wheat" has proved to be a constant variety,
excelling the ordinary "Hunter's wheat" by larger grains and longer
heads; it yields likewise a straw of superior quality and has become
quite popular in large districts of England and Scotland, where it is
known by the name of "White Hunter's" from its origin and the brilliant
whiteness of its heads.
In the same way Shirreff's oats were discovered in a single plant in a
field where it was isolated in order to be brought into commerce after
multiplication. It has won the surname of "Make-him-rich." Nothing is on
record about the details of its origin.
Four valuable new varieties of wheat and oats were obtained in this way
in less than forty years. Then Shirreff changed his ideas and his method
of working. Striking specimens appeared to be too rare, and the
expectation of a profitable result too small. Therefore he began work on
a larger scale. He sought and selected during the summer of 1857 seventy
heads of wheat, each from a single plant showing some marked and
presumably favorable peculiarity. These were not gathered on one field,
but were brought together from all the fields to which he had access in
his vicinity.
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