As an example we may take one of the varieties of wheat originated by
the Minnesota Experiment Station. Hays described it as follows. It was
originated from a single plant. From among 400 plants of "Blue stem"
several of the best were chosen, each growing separately, a foot apart
in every direction. Each of the selected plants yielded 500 or more
grains of wheat, weighing 10 or more grams. The seeds from these
selected plants were raised for a few years until sufficient was
obtained to sow a plot. Then for several years the new strains were
grown in a field beside the parent-variety. One of them was so much
superior that all others were discarded. It was the one named "Minnesota
No. 169." For a large area of Minnesota this wheat seems capable of
yielding at least 1 or 2 bushels more grain per acre than its parent
variety, which is the best kind commonly and almost universally found on
the farms in southern and central Minnesota.
It would be quite superfluous for our present purpose to give more
instances. The fact of [118] the compound nature of so-called species of
cultivated plants seems to be beyond all doubt, and its practical
importance is quite obvious.
Acclimatization is another process, which is largely dependent on the
choice of adequate varieties. This is shown on a large scale by the slow
and gradual dispersion of the varieties of corn in this country.
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