American Breeders Magazine: A Journal of Genetics and Eugenics

Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at |http: //books .google .com/I

I

The American Breeders Magazine

Published Qviarterly by the American Breeders Association

FOR THE USE OF ITS MEMBERS

PRICE OF SINGLE COPIES, FIFTY CENTS

Address communications to American Breeders Association, Washington, D. C.

Vol. I. First Quarter, 1910. No. 1.

CONTENTS.

Charles Robert Darwin (portrait) 2

The New Magazi^ie Has a Place. Hon. James Wilson, Sec'y of Agriculture . . 3

Darwin, MefttJel, and Cruikshank (biographical sketches) 6

Gregor Johann Mendel (portrait) 7

Amos Cruikshank (portrait) 11

Increasing Protein and Fat in Com. LouiE H. Smith 15

New Methods of Plant Breeding (illustrated). George W. Ouver 21

The Army Horse. Carlos Guerrero 30

Imperfection of Dominance. C. B. Davenport 39

Legislation Affecting the Raising of Deer and Elk for Profit. D. E. Lantz. . . 42

Value of Wild Animals. C. D. Richardson 48

Experience in Raising Virginia Deer. C. H. RosebERRY 50-

Poultry Breeding in South Australia. D. F. Laurie 52

EDITORIALS:

The New Magazine 61

The American Breeders Association 64

The Relation of the Association to Pure Research 66

Building up an Export Trade in Pedigreed Animals 67

Eugenics, a Subject for Investigation Rather than Instruction 68

Effect of Recent Discoveries on the Art of Breeding 69

ASSOCIATION MATTERS:

The Omaha Meeting 71

The Committees of ihe American Bleeders Association 73

Proposed Change in the Constitution 75

Membership in the American Breeders Association 76

The Annual Report 76

[ Copyright, 1910, by the Amorican Breeders Association. ]

272191

n AM ERIC AX BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES OF THE AMERICAN
BREEDERS ASSOCIATION FOR 1910.

The Association owes much of its strength to the fact that a
large part of the work of investigation, collation of results, suggesting
plans of breeding, promoting cooperation in research . and breeding,
and following up of progress in this and other countries is done by
committees of specialists. In this way each committee deals only with
a certain phase of breeding. Committees on new subjects are ap-
pointed as appears wise and necessary.

The following-named gentlemen, nearly all. of whom were chair-
men last year, have been requested to serve as chairmen of the re-
spective committees during 1910. When completed, the full list of
members of these committees is to be published.

Committee oh Animal Hybrids.

Prof. W. J. Spillmax, Washington, D. C.

Cooperative Work in Animal Breeding.
Hon. W. ]\I. Hays, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Wild Birds.

Dr. T. S. Palmkr, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Carriage Horses.

Mr. George AI. Rommel, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Cotton.

Dr. D. N. Shoemaker, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Corn.

Mr. J. DwiGHT Funk, Bloomington, 111.

Breeding Cereals.

Prof. C. A. Zavitz, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Breeding Fiber Crops.

Dean J. H. Shepperd, Fargo, N. Dak.

Breeding Forage Crops.

Dean Thomas F. Hunt, State College, Pa.

COMMITTEES OF A. B. A. FOR 1910. ni

Breeding Fish.

Prof. B. W. EvERMANN, Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Citrus Fruits.

Mr. W. T. SwiNGLK, Washington, D. C.

Committee on Eugenics.

Dr. David Starr Jordan, Stanford University, CaHf.

[Numerous sub-committees will be made committees if the Con-
stitutional amendment carries.]

Breeding Horse Hybrids.

Prof. F. B. Mum FORD, Columbia, Mo.

Theoretical Research in Heredity.
Dr. H. J. WkbbKR, Ithaca, N. Y.

Breeding Draft Horses.

Prof. W. B. Richards, Fargo, N. Dak.

Breeding Wild Animals.

Mr. D. E. Lantz, Washington, D. C.

Breeding for Meat Production.

Prof. Andrew Boss, St. Anthony Park, St. Paul, Minn.

Nomenclature and Registration.

Mr. H. H. MowRY, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Nut and Forest Trees.

Prof. George B. Sudworth, Washington, D. C.

Committee on Price Competitions^

Prof. P. G. Holden, Ames, Iowa.

Pedagogics of Breeding.

Dean Eugene Davenport, Urbana, 111.

Plant and Animal Introduction.

Mr. David G. Fairchild, Washington, D. C.

Pedigreed Seed and Plant Business.
Mr. Eugene Funk, Shirley, 111.

Breeding Poultry.

Prof. Tamks E. Rick. Ithaca, X. Y.

IV AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Breeding for Dairy Production,

Mr. B. H. Ravvl, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Roses,

Dr. W. Van Fle:et, Little Silver, N. J.

Breeding Sheep and Goats,

Prof. W. C. CoFFKY, Urbana, 111.

Breeding Sugar Crops,

Dr. C. O. TowNSEND, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Szvine,

Prof. D. A. Gaumnitz, St. Anthony Park, St. Paul, Minn.

Breeding Vegetables.

Mr. W. W. Tracy, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Tobacco.

Prof. A. D. Selby, Wooster, Ohio.

Breeding Tea, Coffee, and Tropical Fruits.
Dr. O. F. Cook, Washington, D. C.

Breeding Tree and Vine Fruits.

Prof. S. A. Beach, Ames, Iowa.

Establishing Types and Standardimng Judging at Livestock Shows.
Col. R. B. Ogilvie, Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 111.

Breeding Bees and Other Insects.

Dr. L. O. Howard, Washington, D. C.

New committees were provided for at the last annual meeting,
as follows:

Breeding Drought Resistant Crops.

Dr. W. X. SuDDUTH, BilHngs, Mont.

Exportation of Pedigreed Animals.

Prof. H. W. MuMFORD, Urbana, 111.

Importation of Pedigreed Animals.
Mr. E. B. White, Leesburg, Va.

Committee on Finances,

Hon. Wii^uam George, Aurora, 111.

Charles Robert Darwin.

THE
BREEDERS MAGAZINE

''The organic world as a whole is a perpetual Jinx of changing types y — Francis Galton.

Vol- I. First Quarter, 1910. No. 1.

THE NEW MAGAZINE HAS A PLACE

Six years of successful life have proven that
the American Breeders Association was or-
ganized to meet a need. This Association
has brought animal breeders and plant breed-
ers to realize that they are working under
laws of heredity common alike to animals and
plants. Practical breeders are beginning to
understand that they need the work of the
scientists who study heredity and breeding;
and the scientists have proven to themselves
the wisdom of being in close touch with the
breeders. The annual reports of the Associa-
tion have demonstrated the value of a litera-
ture covering all phases of heredity and
practical breeding. Recent work in heredity
and improved breeding has inaugurated a
new era in research, in improved methods, and
in the demand by growers for improved plants
and animals. As an exponent of the newer
and more scientific phases of this subject the
American Breeders Magazine will have an
important place. 3

/-^ : ' ' y : 'AMnRlCA^\B.RBBDERS MAGAZINE.

Results already secured clearly show that
our plant and animal breeders can greatly
increase the product from most plants and
animals used in agriculture. The experts be-
lieve that breeders can find ways of improving
varieties and breeds which produce at least
five billions out of the eight billions of dollars
worth of our farm products. Judging from
achievements already accomplished, 10 per
cent is a conservative estimate of the increase
which can thus be made.

The half a billion annually of added pro-
duct which may thus be secured with small
outlay is a great incentive for the breeders
and the scientists who aid them.

Improvements by breeding are unlike those
secured by adding new acres to the cultivated
areas of the country, by deeper plowing, by
more frequently cultivating the crop, by
adding to the soil larger supplies of fertilizers,
or by giving a more expensive ration to farm
animals. These improvements, though they
greatly increase the farmers' profits, are se-
cured at a cost which sometimes equals the
value of the added product. But the cost of
improvements through breeding usually rep-
resents only a small fraction of the added

THE NEW MAGAZINE HAS A PLACE.

values. The increase of product secured by
breeding pays the cost in a short time, and,
since there is no further expense, the annual
increase afterward is clear profit. The farm-
er will be able to retain a part of the larger
production in the form of added profit, and
part will help to reduce the cost of living to
those in our cities. Larger production on the
farm will also give increased business for the
transportation company, the manufacturer,
and the merchant, and will provide the nation
with a larger product with which to hold our
balance of trade.

Many of the scientists, teachers, and ad-
vanced breeders who are to contribute the
scientific matter for the magazine and carry
the burden of the editorial work and manage-
ment are already enlisted. They are ready
to contribute their time in committees, in
research work, in preparing papers, and
in attending the annual meetings of the
Association.

yj^^K^^^vv^^A^ /JdyU^^y^\^^s^

DARWIN, MENDEL, AND CRITIKSHANK.

The lives of the men whose pictures are given on three
previous pages were contemporaneous. The middle of Darwin's life
(1809 to 1882) was 1846; of Mendel's (1822 to 1884) was 1852;
and of Cruikshank's (1808 to 1895) was 1852. Each man, following
his own bent, wrought in a new field and each won the highest
eminence as undisputed leader in his chosen work. Darwin's won-
derful assembling, coordinating, and philosophical use of the bio-
logical data of his time in giving an adequate theory of the evo-
lutionary development of living organisms, placed him at the pinnacle
of fame for the century. Mendel's most brilHant stroke of genius,
which led him to mathematical research concerning the unit charac-
ters of plants and animals, leading to a knowledge of the laws of
segregation, of dominance, and of recombination, made him a great
world benefactor. Cruikshank's achievement in showing how to use
the blood of a valuable mutant, the Shorthorn sire Champion of
England, was likewise the work of a genius. No other achievement
in making use of the blood of a mutant has reached the proportions
of the results attained by Cruikshank's cattle.

The facts wrought out, the achievements in modifying plant
and animal forms, and the theories deduced by these three men form
chief pillars in a structure upon which rests the modern science of
heredity and breeding. The present knowledge of heredity and breed-
ing places a different rating on the fathers of the science of breeding
than did the less definite philosophy of a generation, even a decade,
ago. Another decade may make as great a change in this science
as has the decade since Mendelism was exploited by Mendel's dis-
ciples. As in mechanics and electricity, the development of the
science and use of the knowledge of heredity seems but in its be-
ginning.

Darwin, better in position to understand the importance and
bearing of Mendel's discoveries than any other savant of that time,
unfortunately did not know of Mendel's work. The possession of
the facts of Mendelism would have been a powerful aid to Darwin,
and would probably have given certain phases of Darwin's work a
different aspect.

Gregor Johann Me:

DARWIN, MEN DHL, CRUIKSHANK.

CHARLES BOBEBT DABWIN.
1809 - 1882.

Darwin coming of a family of scientists and naturalists, the lines
of descent favored in many ways the development of the genius
which he possessed. His father, Dr. Robert W. Darwin, was a
physician of note and a man of unusual qualities of heart; known
as a judge of men and an unerring reader of human nature, and withal
of strongly scientific and philosophic trend. Darwin's mother was
a woman of culture and accomplishments, the daughter of Josiah
Wedgwood, the manufacturer of the well-known pottery ware of
that name. The paternal grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a phy-
sician and scientist of note.

Darwin studied at Edinburgh University and later at Cambridge,
taking his degree in 1831. The same year he joined a scientific
expedition around the world on H. M. S. Beagle, returning after
an absence of five years. His studies during this extended voyage
furnished him with much material and really laid the foundation of
his future career as a scientist. It is asserted that the study of
the fauna of the Galapagos Islands suggested the ideas that led to
his theory of evolution.

Simplicity and gentleness of manner, kind disposition, and per-
sonal charm were qualities which made Darwin uiaiversally esteemed.
He was a man of independent means. At his country seat at Down
he pursued his studies in his quiet, orderly, and systematic way.
He possessed marvelous powers of observation; in his experimental
work he was quick, accurate, and painstaking. He was a profound
thinker. It is said of him that he wrote with difficulty, but he worked
at his manuscripts with rare patience, and his writings are clear,
logical, and convincing.

Darwin's book, **The Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for
Life," appeared in 1859, making an epoch in the history of science.
He published considerable in various fields of natural science, but
nearly all his publications were elaborations and additions to his theory
of evolution.

No other man of modern times has so profoundly influenced
the world of science. His followers have made many deductions

10 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

which Darwin would not make. The greatness of his mind was best
shown by the sane and safe point of view to which he adhered during
his last years, when biological and theological discussion aroused
by his writings was intemperate and controversial to a high degree.
Those of his disciples who were over-radical now appear at a disad-
vantage beside his calm utterances, as do also the statements of those
then most radically differing with his views.

QBEOOB JOHANN MENDEL.
1822 - 1884.

Gregor Johann Mendel, the discoverer of what is now known
as "Mendel's Law," and what is ranked as one of the greatest and
most important discoveries in biology, was born in Silesia, Austria.
His parents were farmers in fair circumstances After having been
ordained a priest in 1847, he studied the natural sciences at the Uni-
versity of Vienna. The love of nature which came to him through
a long line of farmer ancestors asserted itself in his tastes and studies.

He found time from his duties as priest in the Cloister at Bruenn
to follow his bent. Here he did much highly scientific work in breeding
and hybridizing plants, using chiefly the varieties of the table pea,
but including other species as lychnis and thistles.

It seems that the biological thought of Mendel's day did not
realize the bearing and importance of his work. His writings reposed
apparently forgotten in an obscure publication until 1900, when
DeVries, Bateson, Tschermak, Correns, and Spillman rediscovered
the facts of Mendel's Law and confirmed them, Correns at the same
time discovering Mendel's manuscript.

^lendel was a man of numerous attainments. He taught at
the High School at Bruenn, and at one time managed a bank. He
was versed in meteorology, on which subject he wrote several papers;
but on the whole he published little.

The painstaking character of the work which led to his now
famous discoveries are an inspiration to students of biological pro-
cesses to plan clearly and to execute faithfully all details. But his
results, which, though so astounding, were so little appreciated by

DARWIN, MENDEL, CRUIKSHANK. 13

the biologists of his time as to receive no notice in concurrent litera-
ture, have given a new point of view and a new inspiration to bio-
logical thought and research. He has brought into the clear light
the fact that unit characters are projected with mighty power through
successive generations; and that the definite forces which carry these
characters forward in heredity often preserve their identity when in
conflict with opposing characters, retaining their unitjr as organic
entities through a long series of generations. He showed that gametic-
ally pure heredity carriers can crowd their opposing characters out
of one-fourth of the progeny, and that recombination of pure char-
acteristics from two or more parent varieties or breeds can be effected,
thus enabling the breeder to produce improved varieties and breeds
in which two or more recombined characters are retained pure, and
with their full power of projected efficiency in the new variety or
breed.

Mendel's discoveries are leading to a clearer knowledge of
heredity and breeding. The application of his principles in hybrid
breeding for practical purposes has gone forward somewhat more
slowly than those who have done most to bring them before the
public predicted. On the other hand, the study of heredity has been
accelerated beyond the dreams of those most optimistic a decade ago.

AMOS OBUIKSHANK.

1808 - 1895.

Amos Cruikshank stands out as probably our greatest example
of a master breeder of animals. Personally, he was a man of sterling
worth, simple in his tastes and of lofty character. He was greatly
beloved by all who knew him. He came of a Quaker family and
was a man of deep religious convictions.

Amos Cruikshank was born on a farm at Kinmuir, near Inver-
ness, Scotland. In 1837, together with his brother Anthony, he
leased Sittyton, a farm of about 250 acres, 12 miles from Aberdeen,
and began the breeding of Shorthorn cattle. Amos had entire charge
of the farm and the breeding herd. Anthony during the first period
furnished the financial backing. Their holdings were eventually in-

14 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

creased until the farm comprised a thousand acres, which during
the period of greatest activity carried about 300 head of cattle.

The management of this large breeding farm was of the plain and
practical sort. No attempts were made at ostentation, nor was the
stock pampered or artificially forced. Cruikshank was impartial to
color. True, there was a predominance of red in his herd. The
reason was that he endeavored to meet the demands of purchasing
breeders who came from the United States and Canada. But that
in his mind quality was uppermost is shown by the fact that the
great bull. Champion of England, was a roan.

Sittyton and its master first came into prominent public notice
when a bull of his breeding, Marshal of Windsor (then belonging to
WilHam Duthie), was chosen to head the royal herd at Windsor.

First among the forces leading to Mr. Cruikshank's success was
his acquisition of an animal. Champion of England, the blood of
which was projected with such high efficiency into his progeny, and
this blood so well endured rather narrow inbreeding that it was
capable of serving as the basis of a prepotent sub-breed of Shorthorn
cattle of the type in demand in England, America, and other countries.

Second may be placed Mr. Cruikshank's analysis of his own
work, and the judgment he adhered to, in spite of advisers to the
contrary, to breed his bull's blood sufficiently narrow not to dissipate
its prepotency, that he might supply that blood in relative purity in
quantity to many breeders.

The blood from Mr. Cruikshank's stock, commonly called Scotch
Shorthorns, may be found in nearly every herd of Shorthorns in
existence. He devoted his life to the building of a strain of Short-
horn blood which practically revolutionized that breed. The progeny
of Champion of England met the need and demand of the time for
a blocky, easy feeding, early maturing, beefy type of cattle, in which
milk-giving was not a prominent characteristic, and especially strong
in the show-ring, at a time when outward appearance rather dominated
live-stock philosophy.

INCREASINO PROTEIN AND FAT IN CORN.

Louie H. Smith, University of Illinois.

PROGRESS OF EXPERIMENTS IN BREEDING CORN TO INFLUENCE

SPECIAL CHARACTERS.

The purpose in presenting at this time a matter which may
not be altogether new to most of our members is to bring before
this Association the latest results of what are probably the oldest
corn-breeding experiments in existence.

Some of the records now cover thirteen generations, and to
those who have been watching the progress of the work, the interest
naturally grows more intense as the years go by. The records be-
come more and more valuable as they accumulate as throwing light,
not alone upon those questions connected specifically with corn im-
provement, but also upon some of the broader general problems of
heredity.

In 1896 the Illinois Experiment Station took up the proposition
to influence the chemical composition of the corn kernel by selection
of the seed. It will scarcely be necessary to give here more than
a mere outline of the general plan of the work. The history and
results of these experiments for the first ten generations are given
in detail in Bulletin 128 of the Illinois Experiment Station.

The plan proposed was to breed for four diflferent purposes,
namely, (1) increase of protein; (2) decrease of protein; (3) in-
crease of oil; (4) decrease of oil; the selection being based upon
the analysis of individual ears of a single variety. The ears thus
selected for the several purposes were planted together in isolated
breeding plots by the well known ear-to-row method. From each of
these plots selection has always been kept up in the same general
manner by analysis of individual ears.

BREEDING TO INFLUENCE THE PROTEIN CONTENT.

An outline of the results obtained in the breeding for increase
and decrease of protein content may be seen in Table 1.

Table 1 gives the average protein content of the crop pro-
duced on each plot each generation, thus giving a good general
view of the progress of the work.

16

AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

A glance at the figures shows that there has been great response
to the selection in both directions, so that the general effect has
been such that we have been able to produce, out of a single variety,
two strains of corn, one of which contains more than half again
as. much protein as the other.

Table 1. — Increase and decrease of protein.

Year.

High protein
plot aver-
age in crop
harvested.

Per cent.

Low protein
plot aver-
age in crop
harvested.

Differences

between

cropw.

Per cent.

Per cent.

1896

10.92

10.02

0.00

1897

11.10

10.55

0.55

1898

11.05

10.55

0.50

1899

11.46

9.86

1.60

1900

12.32

9.34

2.98

1901

14.12

10.04

4.08

1902

12.34

8.22

4.12

1903

13.04

8.62

4.42

1904

15.03

9.27

5.76

1905

14.72

8.57

6.15

' 1906

14.26

8.64

5.62

1907

13.89

7.32

6.57

1908

13.94

8.96

4.98

It is important to notice in passing that there has been at times
a very pronounced seasonal influence upon the protein content. For
example, the high protein tendencies are brought out very distinctly
in the results for the years 1901 and 1904. On the other hand,
1900 and 1907 were years favorable to low protein.

BREEDING TO INFI.UENCE THE OIL CONTENT.

Even more striking are the results obtained in the breeding to
influence the oil content as shown in the more regular and uniform
response to the selection and in the greater proportionate changes
produced.

Table 2 gives the record of this work. Here it is shown
that the general eflfect has been to produce out of this same variety
two other strains of corn, one of which is now practically three times
as rich in oil as the other.

It is of especial interest to observe that both in the oil and in
the protein breeding the limits appear to have been reached. In
the case of the high protein the high percentage in the crop of 1904

INCREASING PROTEIN AND FAT IN CORN.

17

has never since been attained. In the low-protein plot the minimum
percentage thus far obtained was in the crop of 1907. In the high-
oil strain, there was a drop in the percentage of the last year's result,
but in the case of the low oil the extreme point is represented in the
last year. On the whole, however, if we consider the last four or
five generations, the results appear to be fluctuating around certain
points, varying back and forth with the season and soil conditions.

Table 2. — Increase and decrease of oil.

Year.

High oil plot
! average in
crop
harvested.

Low oil plot

average in

crop

harvested. '

1

1

DifiFerencc
between
crops.

1

Per cent.

Per cent.

Per cent.

1896

4.70

4.70

0.00

1897

4.73

4.06

0.67

1898

5.15

3.99

1.16

1899

5.6t

3.82

1.82

1900

6.12

3.57

2.55

1901

6.09

3.43

2.66

1902

6.41

3.02

3.39

1903

6.50

2.97

3.53

1904

6.97

2.89

4.08

1905

7.29

2.58

4.71

1906

7.37

2.66

4.71

1907

7.43

2.59

4.84

i 1908

7.19

2.39

4.80

\ _

__

On account of these environmental influences, it cannot be de-
cided yet whether there may not still be further advance possible
in some of these directions, and there is still as much interest as ever,
if not more, in the continuation of these experiments along the
same lines.

the: question of reversion.

The question that this work most frequently calls out is in re-
gard to the permanency of these characters. Will it require constant
selection to retain these qualities or will they revert to the original
condition if left without special selection? Some interesting data
bearing upon this point have been obtained in connection with the
high-oil corn.

In 1903, after the high-oil strain had been selected for six
generations and the oil content had been increased up to 6.50 per
cent, two selections of ears from this plot were made for other pur-
poses quite independent of oil content, namely, for erect ears and for

18 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

declining ears. These two new strains have been bred in separate
plots since that time, with no attention whatever given to percentage
of oil in the selection of seed. Incidentally we have, however, an-
alyzed the crops harvested and the resiiHs of these analyses are given
in Table 3.

Table 3. — Composition of erect ear and declining ear plots.

Year and strain Oil.

I

Per cent.

1896— Original corn ... 4 . 70

1903— High oil I 6.50

1905 — Erect ear 6.90

Declining ear . . | 6 . 60

1907— Erect ear i 6.65

Declining ear . . 6.23

I
1908— Erect ear j 6.37

Declining ear . . ' 6 . 02

From these results it appears that in 1905 after two generations
of non-selection there was an actual increase of oil; in 1907 after
four generations the percentage was about the same as at the be-
ginning of the new plots. In 1908 there was a decrease apparent
which may quite possibly be the effect of a "low-oil season."

On the whole, we may say that after five generations of non-
selection, there is certainly no great decrease of oil content, but in
view of the fluctuations due to environment, it is too early to draw
final conclusions in regard to this point.

A theoretical discussion of great interest is involved in these
data, but it is the present purpose simply to put on record here these
facts as they have been found, hoping to have the opportunity at some
later date to present for more thorough discussion this phase of the
experiments.

EFFECT OF SEI.ECTION UPON PHYSICAL CHARACTERS OF THE PEANT.

Some other interesting examples of what may be accomplished
by continuous selection for special purposes are furnished by some
experiments designed to influence certain physical characters of the
plant, namely, the height of the ear on the stalk and the position
of the ear at maturity, with reference to the angle at which it hangs.

INCREASING PROTEIN AND FAT IN CORN. 19

S^IvECTlON TO INirivU^NCK HEIGHT OF EAR.

Seven years ago two lots of ears were selected from an ordinary
corn field, one of these lots representing ears growing high on the
stalk and the other those borne low down on the stalk. These
two sets of ears were planted in separate breeding plots, and selection
for high ears and for low ears from the respective plots has been
made each year since.

The general results of this work are shown in Table 4.

Table 4. — Breeding for high ears and low ears.

[Average height in inches.]

Vear.

High ear
plot.

Low ear
plot.

Differen

i

1903 1

56.4

1
42.8 1

13.6

1904

50.3

38.3 :

12.0

1905 ;

63.3

41.6

21.7

1906

56.6

25.5

31.1

1907 {

72.4

33.2

39.2

1908 j

57.3

.23.1

34.2

1909 !

64.3

25.3

1

i

39.0

Here again as in the case of the selection for composition of
grain, there has been a gradual response so that by breeding this
variety in opposite directions two strains of corn have been produced
in one of which the ears are now borne about three feet higher on
the stalk than in the other strain.

Incidentally it is of interest to notice in this connection the
correlation existing between the height of ear and the total length
of plants, the total number of internodes, and the average length
of internodes. Selection for high ears has produced a taller,
later maturing plant than that resulting from low-ear selection ; and
interesting enough from the practical standpoint, the yields from these
two strains are thus far about equal.

SEIvECTlON TO INFLUENCE DECLINATION OF KAR.

Another character that has likewise responded in a striking
manner to seed selection is the declination of the ear at the time of
maturity. The details of the plans and the early results of this
work, together with those of the preceding experiments will be found
in Bulletin 132 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station.

20 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

The results now cover six generations, and they appear in out-
line in Table 5.

Table 5. — Breeding for erect ears and declining ears.
[Average angle of decimation from stalk, j

_, Erect ear 1 Declining _^._

Year. | pi^t I ear plot. Difference.

Degrees.

Degrees.

1904

42.0

45

1905

62.2

117.1

1906

49.5

76.2

1907

42.3

81.6

1908

46.0

88.5

1909

31.2

110.7

Degrees.

3.0
54.9
26.7
39.3
42.5
79.5

We observe from these results that, with the exception of 1905,
which appears in this respect to be an abnormal season, there has
been a steady progressive response to the selection, until finally after
six generations the average difference in the angle amounts to almost
80 degrees.

CONCIvUSION.

Aside from their practical significance, there is a peculiar interest
attached to these results as representing in every instance what
has been accomplished by the method of breeding, sometimes desig-
nated as "continuous selection," a method in which some investigators
would appear to have little faith. It should of course be recognized
in this connection that we are dealing here with an open-fertilized
plant. It would be interesting to have on actual record the results
of parallel experiments with some self-fertilized plant such as wheat.

r Professor Smith's article splendidly represents those well-con-
ceived experiments in heredity and breeding which are placing these
subjects on a scientific basis and are showing that large economic
results may be secured. Though this particular experiment was not
begun with suc'h a thought in mind, it may be that strains of corn
thus made highly efficient and pure-bred in specific Hues may be
found useful as the basis of hybrid breeding. In other words, the
characters thus highly intensified and made pure-bred may be re-
combined in first-year hybrids, or in fixed hybrids, which have the
desired very large value per acre. This also is an illustration of the

INCREASING PROTEIN AND FAT IN CORN. 21

fact that scientific work which is prosecuted primarily for science's
sake often leads to economic results of large value. Here not only
is the scientific proof secured that profound changes in the heredity
of corn may be made, but that varieties which were not bred for all
round per acre value may prove useful as the constituent units of
new varieties. Corn breeding under the ear-to-row centgener plan
was begun by the Minnesota Experiment Station in the early nineties ;
and the resulting now widely used "Minn. No. 13" Corn was widely
distributed in the late nineties. — W. M. H.]

NEW METHODS OF PLANT BREEDING.

George W. Ouver, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

During the past few years the writer has spent considerable time
in crossing certain vegetables and field crops, including some composites
and legumes whose flowers, owing to their small size and very minute
sexual organs, have been considered very difficult or impossible to
manipulate in order to make desired crosses. Among the number
of plants dealt with were the lettuce and alfalfa, and an account
of how to prepare their flowers will be sufficient to give the be-
ginner a few hints as to the best way to proceed to cross flowers
having minute sexual organs and arranged in such a manner as to
preclude the use of ordinary methods.

CROSSING DISTINCT VARIETIES OF LETTUCE.

In crossing two lettuce plants belonging to different varieties
the work is rendered easy of accomplishment if the seed of both
parents is sown early in the spring so that the plants will bloom in
moderately warm weather and preferably indoors. In the cold months
flowers are not easily produced indoors, and this is especially true of
the heading varieties. Lettuce plants usually begin blooming only
one flower the first day, the number increasing gradually; therefore
the seed of the proposed pollen-bearing parent may be sown in the
greenhouse and the seedlings planted a week or two in advance of

22 AMERICAS BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

those of the proposed seed bearer, so that abundance of pollen will
be available when the first flowers of the female parent open.

The early maturing flowers should be used in crossing as they
usually are the strongest and it is natural to suppose that the resulting
seed will be vxW developed.

The ligules of the lettuce flower head begin to expand early in
the morning but the pistils do not mature until after the ligules are
fully expanded, say, from 8 to 10 A, M,, according to whether the
weather be warm or cold.

NBIV METHODS Of PLANT BRBBDING. 28

The lettuce flowers are self -pollinating, and the pollen being
slightly adhesive it is not carried from flower to flower by atmo-
spheric disturbance. Insects are but seldom observed on the open
flowers, nectar is probably absent and the flavor of the pollen grains
is distasteful to pollen-eating insects. There is little doubt that
the pollen from one head of florets seldom reaches that of another
through the agencies of wind or insect interference.

The lettuce flower heads do not have both ray and disk florets
like most other genera of the composite family such as the chrysan-
themum, dahlia, and helianthus. All of the florets in each flower
head of the lettuce are alike. Each one consists of a single ligule
or strap-shaped corolla, stamens and pistil. In the other genera men-
tioned the outer or ray florets have each a single ligule either broad
or narrow, some of the species have neither stamens nor pistils in the
ligules or ray florets, others have the pistils developed. The disk
florets in the central part of the flower head have both pistils and
stamens present and the corolla of each one is regular. (Fig. 2,
V>. C, D.)

With a low-power magnifying glass examine the flowers of the
lettuce as soon as the ligules are developed and note the development
of the pistils. As soon as the two lobed stigmas are expanded each
one will be found to be covered with the pollen from the stamens of
its own floret. It is now too late to think of emasculation, and even
during the earlier stages emasculation is out of the question because
of the minute size and position of the stamens. Before the top of
the pistil is exposed to view the anthers have already dehisced and
the lengthening pistil aided by the minute hairs along the style force
the pollen out of the top of the tube formed by the union of the
anthers. (Fig. 1, A, B, C.) During the period before the length-
ening of the ligule and before the stamens dehisce the small size and
peculiar arrangement of the stamens will not permit of emasculation
without injury to the pistil.

When the pistil is fully developed the pollen grains resting along
the stigmatic surface (Fig. 1, A, B, C) have not yet sent their tiny
tubes into the tissue of the stigma, therefore the removal of the
pollen before this takes place, which we may call depollination.
eflPectively takes the place of emasculation.

To depollinate the flower thoroughly so that every grain of pollen
may be removed not only from the stigmas but also from the ligules

24 AMERICAN BREIiDEliS MAGAZISF..

and to become thoroughly familiar with the details of the operation,
remove a fully developed head from a plant, take the pedicel of the
flower between the thumb and forefinger of one hand with the ends
of these two fingers close up to the ligiiles ; then train a tiny jet of water
from a chip blower (Fig. 5, A, B) on to the stigmas perpendicularly

Fia. 2.— Disk Flobbts of Helianthcs (enlarged live dlBmeters).
; bud stage. B, Pollen Is being pushed out of the Btamlnal tube by the

for a few seconds to remove the pollen grains. With a small piece
of blotting paper applied edgewise to the various parts of the flower
liead enough of the water covering the Horal parts will be removed.

NBIV METHODS OF PLANT BREEDING. 25

The flower head should now be examined through a hand lens
to ascertain if the time allowed for the jet of water to play on the
stigmas was sufficient for depollination ; this will give a pretty
exact idea of the time required for depollination. AX the same time
if the jet of water was not too strong it will be seen that the pistils
have been left absolutely uninjured. (Fig. 1, D.)

In order to acquire practice in the simple act of pollinating the
stigmas after they have been successfully depollinated, lay the de-
pollinated flower to one side, then pick a flower from the proposed
male parent, examine with a lens and if the stigmas are covered with
pollen apply them with a slight circular motion to those of the flower
which has been depollinated, then examine the pollinated flower with
the lens. If the pollen was plentiful on the stigmas of the pro-
posed male, every stigma of the proposed seed bearer will have several
grains on its surface.

The method described above has been successfully applied to the
flowers of several genera of the compositae and when it is possible
for two plants to intercross, the merely mechanical part of the work
is by its use made extremely simple. Flowers of many plants of the
other orders have also been successfully dealt with by modifying
the method according to the structure of the flowers.

CROSSING AIv^AIvI^A.

It is perhaps in the crossing of a few of the desirable forms of
Medicago sativa with the species of alfalfa recently introduced from
Siberia that this method will be instrumental in securing the desired
strains possessing hardiness for those large areas having very severe
winters with but little snow protection. The methods hitherto used in
crossing this tiny flower have not produced satisfactory results.
They have been of a slipshod nature, such as inserting a pointed
piece of wood, on which grains of pollen have been dusted, into the
suture formed by the outer edges of the keel and pressing against
the sexual column until it trips, the idea being that when the sexual
column is sprung the stigma will press against the pollen grains and
imbed some of them in the soft surface of the stigma. The flower
buds are sometimes emasculated at a very early stage ; this is necessary
because the anthers dehisce while enclosed in the unopened bud (Fig.
4, A, B), but the pollen remains inoperative while the sexual column

26 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

remains unsprung. Emasculation in the bud stage, however, is almost
certain to injure the pistil sufficiently to insure its collapse.

Since the discovery of the method described below there is no
necessity for failure in crossing alfalfa flowers if the details are
faithfully carried out.

Pio. 3. — PLOwens of Alfalpa, Showijig Method of D

A, TJntrlpped flower o[ alfaita. B, Tripped flowpr, C. Sexual columQ tripped on piece
ot pLn. D, StlgniB depolUnated by water. B. Stigma pollinated while sexual
column is resting on pin, V. rla wlttidrawn. allowing pollinated stigma to prMis
against banner.

The beginner should examine the treated flowers with a hand
lens at first to ascertain for future guidance just how much of the
treatment is necessary in depollinating.

It is desirable to work with strong plants in pots in the greenhouse
and if all the species and varieties necessary can be grown to flower
early in the season then protection from insects is unnecessary. Select

XEIV METHODS OF PLAXT BRUEDING. 27

strong racemes of flowers, cut off all the old flowers and buds, having
three or four open flowers just below the largest buds, as these open
flowers are more likely to respond to artificial pollination than un-
opened flowers and those at the lower part of the raceme.

Fig. 4. — Sexual Columns of Alpalpi Flowebs ik Ditsbbbint Stahes.

A, B. Seiual columnB Irom Hower buds before the stamens have dehiscpd. C I),
Seiuai columns from flower buda, wltb stamens dehisced. B, F. Sexuftl columns
from which the pollen has been removed by water.

The necessary tools are as follows : two pairs of scissors, those
shown in Fig. 6, A, are most convenient for removing the banners
of flowers when securing pollen ; those shown in Fig. 6, D. are used
in removing flowers and buds not wanted on the raceme used as the
seed bearer.

The self-closing forceps (Fig. 6, B) are very useful in holding
the sexual column of the male in pollinating. The forceps shown in
Fig. 6, C, are necessary in tripping the flower of the male when the
pollen is applied direct from the sexual column. The chip blowers
and other devices seen in Fig. 5, .\ and B, are used in applying water
in depolHnation. Some small pins cut in half, a few pieces of blotting
paper, watch glass, and camel's hair brushes complete the outfit.

2ti AMERICAX BREIiDERS MACAZlSll

III beginning the work of cross pollinating alfalfa by tlie method
here described, one must bear in mind that no part of the flower of
the seed bearer is to be mutilated. It should therefore be understood
that in the open flowers while the sexual column is still unsprung from
its place within the keel (see Fig. 3, A), the anthers have dehisced
and the pollen is packed in masses around the stigma ( Fig. 4, C and D)

Fra. B. — Devices Used in Depof.j.inatinq Flowebs.

but seldom touching it, but even while the pollen touches the stigma
while the sexual column is unsprung it is incompetent to perform the
processes of pollination and fertilization, because in order to perform
these missions the pollen must first be imbedded in the pulpy tissue
of the stigma. Therefore the operator must strive to remove the
l»llen from and around the exploded anthers, and in some cases, from

NE^V METHODS OF PLANT BREEDING. 29

and around and over the stigma without injuring any part of the pistil.
This seems impossible, but by a little delicate yet withal easy manipula-
tion every grain of pollen can be removed without injuring any part
of the delicate organisms of the flower in the very least.

Fio. 6. — TooLB tiBBD IN CsoaaiKo Flowers.

The first part of the operation consists in springing or tripping
the sexual column, but instead of allowing it to trip on the banner,
as shown in Fig. 3, B, allow it to trip very gradually on the pointed
half of an ordinary small pin (Fig, 3, C) half an inch or more in
length. The tripping can be accomplished very readily by placing

30 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

the piece of pin at the base of keel immediately opposite the base of
the banner. Be certain that in placing the pin the blunt end is held'
by the fingers as this will facilitate withdrawal after pollination.
Press the piece of pin against the suture of the keel, drawing it gently
upward until the sexual column appears, it is thus intercepted in its
ascent on the awaiting banner. Gradually allow the pin supporting
the sexual column to come toward the banner and ultimately to rest
upon it. (Fig. 3, C.) It will then be seen that the end of the
column consisting of anther cases, pollen, and stigma is entirely free
from contact with the banner. This provides the opportunity for
depollination, which is accomplished with the aid of a tiny jet of
water playing on and around the stigma for a few seconds. Every
grain of pollen may be washed from and around the stigma in eight
or ten seconds. (Fig. 4, E, F, and Fig. 3, D.) After this operation
the moisture around the stigma is removed with a small piece of
blotting paper applied edgewise.

While the sexual column is still resting on the pin supported in
this position by the banner, the stigma must be pollinated (Fig. 3, E).
If the pollen is not very plentiful it may be applied to the stigma
with the aid of the flattened pin shown in Fig. 6, C, but if there
is an abundance of pollen the sexual columns of the flowers of the
male parent should be tripped into a watch glass and the pollen applied
copiously to the stigma with the aid of a cameFs hair brush moistened
in a weak syrup of sugar and water, just thick enough to cause the
hairs to stick together when drawn between the thumb and forefinger.
When pollinated the flower is held gently but firmly between the
thumb and forefinger and the pin withdrawn allowing the sexual
column with the pollinated stigma to assume its natural position on
the banner. (Fig. 3, F.) This action will cause the pollen grains
to become imbedded in the soft tissue of the stigma.

THE ARMY HORSE.

Carlos Guerrero.
[Published also by the Agricultural Association {Liga Agrarid) of Buenos Aires.]

Through the courtesy of the Minister of Agriculture of Ger-
many, I was enabled to make an advantageous visit to the Imperial
Stud-farm of Trakehnen, where I was cordially received by Baron

THE ARMY HORSE. 31

von Oettingen, the head manager, and his distinguished wife. The
Baron himself accompanied me on my visit to the different premises
of the stud-farm.

Trakehnen is situated in the northern part of the German Em-
pire, near Russia, where the winters are cold and severe. On 'my
way thither, the fields I could see from the car window were barren
and sandy, but, nevertheless, one admires the constant efforts of
man in laboring to make thern productive. The Trakehnen stud-farm
is, of itself, a village of considerable size, having a hotel for visitors,
six schools, a pharmacy, an infirmary, and well built houses occupied
by the employees of the stud-farm and their families. Commodious
stables have been erected.

The Trakehnen stud-farm, which comprises a tract of land of
about 10,855 acres, was founded in 1732. In winter this area is
covered with snow. About half of it is used for the cultivation
of hay-producing grasses, including alfalfa, which, notwithstanding
the cold, grows luxuriantly. The other half of the property contains
the buildings, and fields in which to pasture the horses in summer
during the day, although at night they are always housed in stables,
where they are fed alfalfa and oats. The farm is divided into twelve
lots.

Under the management of Baron von Oettingen, are the follo>\'^
ing employees: A head veterinarian, with 2 assistants; a director of
cultivation, with 4 inspectors; a cashier; a secretary; 3 clerks; a
store superintendent; an architect; a physician, with a nurse and an
apothecary; 11 school teachers; 11 overseers, with 12 assistants; 100
stable grooms, with 50 boy groom apprentices; 30 workmen; 16 store
workmen ; 3 wood choppers ; 12 laborers ; 55 plowmen ; 12 night
watchmen; from 15 to 70 day laborers; and 477 persons engaged in
gardening and other .occupations. These employees, together with
their families, make a population of 2,600 souls. All live comfort-
ably, each group of houses having its private orchard for the culti-
vation of fruits and vegetables for the use of the employees.

The duty of this large force is to care for 1,747 head of horses —
the total number now at the Trakehnen stud-farm — and the oxen
required for the work connected therewith. One can easily imagine
the great cost to Germany of each horse raised on this stud-farm.

The aim of this large station is the improvement and breeding
of military horses, and to supply horses for the Imperial House.

32 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

From Trakehnen, also, are chosen annually 70 stallions without de-
fects, for service at the different breeding stations of Germany. If
the commission which inspects the stallions finds defective ones, these
are castrated, and in April and September of each year, are sold on
the premises at Trakehnen for sums varying from 1,000 to 4,000
marks ($250 to $1,000). The mares are treated in the same man-
ner as the horses.

The Trakehnen stud-farm has 21 stallions, 13 of which are
thoroughbred, 1 an Anglo-Arab, and 7 half bloods born in Trakehnen,
but the latter, after undergoing continual cross-breeding with tho-
roughbreds, may be practically considered pure race horses.

The best thoroughbred stallion is **Red Prince," 20 years old,
of a chestnut color, and born in Ireland. The thoroughbred stallion
"Shilfa" has recently been purchased. Among the other race horses,
I saw the stallion "Americus," a bay horse born in the United States,
in 1892, and sired by the Emperor of Norfolk; "Aghan,'* a chestnut-
colored horse, born in France in 1-892, and sired by Flying Fox;
"Pomp," born in Graditz in 1897, and sired by Chamont; and "Gor-
don," a bay horse, born in Russia in 1901, and sired by Gayarre.

Of the half bloods, the preference is given to the beautiful
chestnut-colored stallion "Morgenstrahl," born in Trakehnen in 1896,
and sired by Bue Bood, the favorite horse of the Kaiser, who always
inquires concerning it. Another good -horse is "Polarsbrum," of a
black color, born in Trakehnen in 1900 and gotten by Optimus.
I saw only one Anglo-Arab stallion, named "Nana Sakit," born in
France from Rosteted and Mamir, the latter sired by Alger. The
colts gotten by "Nana Sakit" are the handsomest on the stud-farm.

The brood mares are distributed into five lots of from 60 to 90
each. The group I liked best consisted of bay mares, and after that
the chestnut-colored mares, some of which are very beautiful. There
is a collection of black mares from which the horses for the carriage
of the Kaiser are taken, but this group is not so good, as it is
extremely difficult to find a thoroughbred black stallion without white
marks.

When a year old the colts are separated from the mares, and
treated like the rest of the horses, grazing in the pastures in summer
during the day, and housed at night in the stables where they are
given alfalfa and six pounds of oats.

THE ARMY HORSB. 33

Each lot of three stallions has its attractive pavilion, separated
by paddocks in such a way that they can see each other without
fighting.

The horses raised at Trakehnen are of the type of the early
hunter. They are large horses with good-sized bones and strong
muscles, capable of carrying considerable weight, and are handsome,
impetuous, fast runners, and excellent for the steeple chase. They
make a nice display in official parades, but are delicate and require
much attention.

These horses, methodically fed on selected grains and grasses,
brought up under shelter with great care, reared on soil prepared with
loose sand so as to be soft to the tread, and unaccustomed to being
galloped over bad roads, are these the horses required to withstand
the hardships of a cruel war? The nation never knows where its
military horses will be sent, whether over the well-kept roads of
Europe, the rough steppes of Russia, the hot, dry and sandy deserts
of Africa, into marshes or over rocky mountains, and perhaps to places
where they will suffer thirst, be compelled to search for their own
food, to obtain sustenance and strength from coarse and slightly
nutritious grasses, and be compelled to endure all kinds of weather.

In Europe the test of the endurance of horses is made on good
roads, and at the relay stations grooms are in waiting to refresh and
feed them. They are never taken over rough or hard roads, nor are .
they permitted to suffer privations. Military horses should be pre-
pared for war, brought up accustomed to harships, and of sufficient
resisting force to stand long journeys.

With the exception of Russia, Hungary, and European Turkey,
none of the countries of Europe, I think, can produce genuine military
horses, and should, therefore, have breeding stations in North or
South America, Asia, South Africa, or Australia, where horses of the
kind required may be raised at a low cost. Countries like the United
States, South Africa, Argentina, and Canada, that could raise an ideal
type of military horses, having in view a quick transformation and
despising the herds of horses already acclimatized, have spoiled them
with heterogeneous crosses. The United States, for instance, is losing
its good American Morgan breed, and the Government has done
nothing to improve the bronco pony. The countries just mentioned
have attempted to evolve military horses by means of race horses —
a breed that is degenerating, because such horses are run too young.

34 AMERICAN BRBHDBRS MAGAZINE.

before the skeleton has solidified; because, for gambling purposes,
gre^t velocity for short distances is the great object sought; and
because they are pampered, ignoring the fact that military horses
can not be treated in this way. The only thoroughbreds that might
sometimes be useful in improving our light-weight horses are those
with good lungs, strong, able to endure long journeys, and solidly
built like "Red Prince/' for instance, but such horses are scarce.

At Bloemfontein last June, the Governor of the Colony sent a
number of well known experts to buy fine horses to the amount of
ilO,000, which parliament had provided for that purpose. Mr.
Morgan, one of the experts for the purchase of the horses, bought
12 stallions and 6 mares, which he has already sent to Durban.
Eight of the stallions are thoroughbreds, and four are coach horses,
one of which is from Oldenburg, Germany. How soon the Boers
have forgotten the good services their hardy basuto ponies rendered
during the last war ! The Japanese Government is also buying horses
in England and paying very high prices for* them.

In Argentina, with few exceptions, we have neglected the
Argentine Creole, or native horse — an excellent basis on which to
found the military horse, and out of which, with but little trouble,
a useful horse could have been developed, suitable for travel through
marshes and over rough roads, having good health, hardihood, and
endurance, acquired by several centuries of exposure to inclement
weather. Nearly all these qualities have been lost, owing to the
influence of sport, and the desire to secure beauty of form and action.
The best mares from Montes Grandes were converted into oil in the
factories, and the remainder of the Argentine herds have acquired
many of the faults of the European breeds. A proof of the faults
of European horses is shown at Trakehnen, where, in spite of the
yearly selection of horses and* mares, hereditary defects resulting
from artificial breeding can not be eliminated.

When this happens in Germany, where so much 'care is taken,
what will be the result in other countries where less attention is
given to breeding, and where so many defective stallions have been
imported for profit and commercial purposes only, the Government
having had no control nor taken any steps to avoid the reproduction
of these defects?

The Minister of Agriculture of Argentina should look after this
branch of natural wealth, and endeavor to improve what is left of the

THB ARMY HORSB. 35

Creole or native breed, doing all in his power to revive and preserve
the good qualities of these excellent horses, so necessary for the
defense of the country in time of war. As a. matter of patriotism,
the ranchmen of the Republic ought to cooperate to this end, never
using stallions that have not been examined and certified to by a
veterinarian as being in proper condition. Expert zoologists should
also be consulted as to the formation of the breeds, such experts to
be provided h^ the Government to horse-breeders who require their
services.

The Barbary tribes, known from time immemorial as thieves and
adventurers, and whose existence depends on their excellent horses,
have maintained a pure breed, free from admixtures of foreign blood.
Turkey, which has but slightly mixed its horses with those of other
nations, has at its command fine military horses, like those of the
Barbary tribes, who have European cavalry and horses for the artillery
stationed in the province of Vilayet

The artificial European horse is the product of an advanced
civilization, unsuited to the hardships and cruelties of war, and the
savagery and barbarity of warlike peoples; but war requires a horse
that appears to be rough and savage like war itself.

In our country (Argentina) are encountered the most expert
horsemen in the world, the best fields, excellent stud-farms on which
to breed the most desirable military horses, as efficient in charges
of cavalry as they are in cutting off the retreat of an enemy. More-
over, we have a fine military school, and all these elements contribute
to the gaining of the victory.

If the earlier ranchmen of our country neglected the improvement
of the native stud-farms, it was because of former continual civil
wars and the disturbed condition of the country in epochs that have
happily passed forever; but the Government as well as the revolu-
tionists had at their disposal the best of horses. In the revolution of
1874, from the ranch called "Laguna de Juancho,'' which was then
under my charge, the revolutionists took 1500 horses of the noted
breed known as "Los Montes Grandes," the property of my father.
The stud-farm of "Los Montes Grandes," which embraced the district
of Twyu and part of that of Ajo, owing to the excellent quality of
its fields and the shelter of its woods, without doubt contained the best
native horses in America, stout, well proportioned, and spirited.

36 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

In I'STS I began on the "Laguna de Juancho" ranch, to improve
the Creole or native horses by selecting the best mares from a herd
of 12,000 belonging to that ranch, but owing to circumstances beyond
my control — I being at the time in Europe — all of the horses were
sold, and the result of twelve years of improvement was lost thereby,
a fact which I very, much deplore. At the same time, on another
ranch belonging to my father, I made, like many stockmen of that
day, many errors in the breeding of horses, by interbreeding with
Clydesdales and crossing the native mares with race horses; but I
learned, in time, that for saddle and carriage horses I ought to avoid
crossing with heavy draft animals.

MAKING AN ARGENTINA MORGAN BREED.

I separated the mares that had only been crossed with race horses,
quadroons, half bloods, and some native mares, and crossed them —
about 25 years ago — with a Morgan and Arab stallion, obtained from
Mr. Vincente L. Casares, called Huilibi, and whose sire was pure
Morgan and was called "Lion," imported from the United States,
and whose dam was the half-blood hunter mare "Victoria," sired by
a beautiful Arab stallion from the Chiarini circus. Upon this basis I
continued crossing in and in, obtaining uniformity in breeds and an
excellent horse for service. It may be said that I have formed a new
breed of horses in the country, different from other saddle and carriage
horses, and of a type and condition similar to the Morgan.

Acknowledgment must be made to Mr. Casares, who by importing
a Morgan stallion, rendered a great service to his country, inasmuch
as "Lion" was the stallion used in founding the best breed of horses
for general use.

The native or creole horses of America were not the originators
of a pure type of Arab or Barbary horses, like those possessed by the
Moors. These came, undoubtedly, from the Spanish horse, which had
already commenced the crossing process at the time of the discovery
of America. The Spaniards of that age, after the expulsion of the
Moors, endeavored to destroy all signs of Mussulman dominion.
Because of the weighty armor of horse and rider, heavier and broader
horses were required, and a cross was made with the German horse.
If anything is still left of the Moorish horse in Europe, it may be
found in Portugal, especially on the royal stud- farms of the House
of Braganza.

THE ARMY HORSE. 37

The history of the crossing of the Spanish horse and its change
of race, may be studied in the Museum of Paintings at Madrid,
from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, on the pictures of Ber-
rugete, Rizzi, Bartolome, Gonzalez, Paret, and Goya.

I have observed that the equestrian pictures painted by Bartolome
Gonzalez, such as the horse of Isabel of Bourbon, that of Margaret
of Austria, compared with the vicious-faced, chestnut-colored horse,
with four w'hite legs, of Prince Baltazar, and that of the Count and
Duke of Olivares, and other horses painted by Velasquez, resemble each
other greatly, inasmuch as they have long manes, are corpulent, have
broad breasts and rumps, large heads, bright eyes, short and strong
necks, and short fore and hind legs. These horses, especially the
chestnut-blossom horse of Isabel of Bourbon, with its noble mien,
makes me think of the type of horse of "Montes Grandes."

Horses on later paintings, that is to say, the horse of the royal
consorts of Paret, like the horse of Francisco de Palafrox and Soler,
Duke of Zaragoza, that of Charles IV, and other paintings by Goya, are
horses with oval sheep-shaped heads represented by two painters, and
proof that at the end of the eighteenth century, the type of the
Andalusian horse was of the Germanic race, all of which is well
established. I presume that the Emperor, Charles V, of Germany,
and Charles I of Spain, and the Emperors of the House of Austria
who succeeded him, influenced the change of race of the Spanish horse.
It is a human weakness never to be satisfied with the good that one has.
For some years I have had on one of my ranches a herd of
thoroughbred mares, running with a stallion of pure blood in com-
plete liberty, and in good pasturage throughout the entire year, for
the purpose of determining the result of their progeny begotten under
natural conditions, without other feed than the grass they are able
to obtain in the inclosure.

The virgin fields of Argentina have been plowed by our native
horses which opened the furrows for the production of our wonderful
riches of cereal wealth. With solely these rough and strong native
horses have the fields, scant in nutritious grasses, been transformed
into meadows of alfalfa and pastures of succulent .and tender
graminaceous plants, suitable for feed for all kinds of stock, and
capable of fattening it to such an extarordinary degree as to preclude
the fear of competition from any part of the world.

38 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

The Indian chiefs commanding the troops that invaded Buenos
Aires had excellent native horses for use in their murderous incursions
and continual wars of plunder and rapine waged against the Chris-
tians. Sometimes, during these invasions, the officers who guarded
the frontiers were accustomed to report to the Government that,
owing to the superiority of the Indian mounts, they could not overtake
the Indian bands and wrest from them the fruits of their raids.
These savages, whose principal element of strength consisted in their
steeds, had excellent horses at their command, since, with their
habitual savagery, they inured their horses to numerous tests of
brutal resistance. The Indians, in determining whether the horses
which they stole from the Christians were good or not, used to race
them over rough and marshy fields, urging them on by pricking them
with the lance and shouting at the top of their voices. The horses
that showed sufficient spirit and resistance in this barbarous test
^ere retained captive, the weak and spiritless ones being set free
or despatched with the lance.

How different are the delicate and humane tests of resistance
now employed by civilized nations in time of peace for selecting
the best military horses, in comparison with the test just described,
not taking into consideration the cruelty of actual war. If the different
methods are compared — those of civilization with those of the bar-
barous Indians — some deductions unfavorable to the former may be
drawn when it is remembered that the soldier and his horse, in time
of war, form together an instrument of destruction and death.

The Ohio Corn Breeders Association is rapidly organizing branch
associations in every county in that State. If in ten years this asso-
ciation can prove that under the leadership of Messrs. Williams and
Goddard they shall have increased the production of corn from five
to ten bushjels per acre throughout the entire State, all States and
counties in the Union will want to follow their methods. These two
men mentioned have followed up the courage of their convictions in
a masterful way. Corn, the great national crop, has as much right
to be the subject of brilliant achievements as politics or war.

mPERFECTION OF DOMINANCE.

C. B. Davenport, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

The opposition to mendelian principles of heredity is gradually
vanishing in the face of facts. The principle of segregation of char-
acters, according to which dissimilar parental characters do not blend
in the progeny but come out intact as in the grandparents, is recog-
nized as widespread if not universal. But concerning dominance
there still remains much skepticism without and much confusion
within the fold.

What is dominance? Bateson, in his first statements of Mendel's
doctrine (in 1902), says (page 9): "In the case of each pair of
characters there is thus one which in the first cross prevails to the
exclusion of the other. This prevailing character Mendel calls the
dominant character." We have progressed far in the last seven years
and now we think of dominance as occurring when one parent has a
characteristic that the other lacks. Under these circumstances the
offspring possess the character — that is the whole story and it seems
simple enough.

Two complications must, however, be considered. It appears
that in certain characters which show a great variety of grades, as
pigment does in human hair, the more advanced grade, e. g. the heavier
pigmentation, dominates over the lesser grade. This would seem to
indicate either that a low grade of a character may act toward a
high grade as absence towards presence,' or else that hair, despite its
apparent continuity, really consists of a multitude of discontinuous
units ; and that a lower grade means absence of a unit present in a
higher grade.

The second complication is the fact of imperfect dominance. Even
Mendel recognized that dominance is not always perfect in sw^etpeas,
for the hybrids between white-flowered and purple-red-flowered peas
have flowers less intensely colored than the darker parent. Correns,
in 1900, showed that in a certain set of crosses between good species
the hybrids had the characters as in both parents, only reduced in
varying degrees. Bateson and Saunders, in 1902, found that the
"intensity of the dominant character (comb and extra toe) is often
considerably reduced." Correns, in 1905, stated that there was known
a complete series of cases at one extreme of which one "allelomorph"
completely hindered the appearance of the other, while at the opposite

40 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGA'ZINE.

end of the series the hybrid character showed an intermediate con-
dition, both "allelomorphs" appearing with equal strength. In my
study of poultry such a series is striking. When the median comb
is mated with no-median the median comb appears in the offspring
but reduced in length between 30 and 100 per cent. Extra toe
mated with normal gives extra toe in only 73 per cent, of the off-
spring. Syndactylism is dominant over its absence, but no syndactyl
offspring were observed in the first hybrid generation; nevertheless
two syndactyl parents yield about 56 per cent syndactyl offspring.
Rumplessness is dominant. But a tailless cock mated to tailed hens
produced no rumpless offspring; neither when mated to his daughters
did any tailless appear, but the reduced "pope's nose*' and shortened
back showed that there was an imperfect modification. However,
another strain has given results more in accord with expectation.
Finally, winglessness appears not to be inherited at all, but the hypothe-
sis is tenable that winglessness is an imperfectly dominant character.
Thus the series of potency in dominance is complete.

The failure fully to recognize and accept the consequences of
imperfection of dominance has led to misunderstandings and to un-
necessary subsidiary hypotheses. The Mendelians, knowing the fact
of imperfect dominance, have placed too much stress on dominance
and recessiveness, and so laid themselves open to just criticism by
their opponents. Dominance is a corollary of segregation and its
discovery marks a great step in advance, but its variation in degree
must be constantly recognized and insisted upon. The consequences
are most important. First, because of imperfect dominance, and
the accompanying diluted nature of the determiner in the hetero-
zygotes, the character may appear in reduced amount and permit a
hypostatic quality to appear. Thus poultry with deep black plumage
mated with albinos show in part the Jungle fowl plumage in the
offspring that is covered over by the black pigment in the dark parent.
Thus a new character is revealed by the heterozygote.

Secondly, the weakened character may be retarded in develop-
ment so that it fails to appear at the normal period but develops later.
Thus Lang found hybrids between red and non-red snails to be at
first non-red but finally red. Some authors have spoken of this as
reversal of dominance, and even Bateson uses this terminology in
his latest book. But this is obviously an unfortunate term if dominance
means the presence of a quality. For, a given quality, that is due

IMPERFBCTION OP DOMINANCE. 41

to the absence of a factor, like blue iris color, cannot be at one time
recessive and at another dominant. If a blue iris appears where
brown is expected, the clear reason is that brown pigment has merely
failed to develop and is potentially present. A similar case occurs in
hybrids between albino and some buif birds; the chicks have a pure
white down, only later acquiring the black and buif of the adult
plumage. Albinism is here not momentarily dominant, but merely
pigmentation, owing to the weakened stimulus to its production in the
heterozygote, is delayed in development.

Not in heterozygotes only but even in homozygotes the char-
acter may fail to develop. Extra toe is dominant in certain fowls.
Even in pure-bred fowls that are certainly homozygous dominants,
two or three per cent of the offspring may fail to develop the extra
toe. Evidently, for some reason, the proper internal stimulus is
lacking to complete the development of the toe in these few individuals.

In many cases, ShuU has stated, imperfect dominance may make
it impossible'to tell which character is dominant, so that an apparent
recessive "presence" of a character may be an imperfectly dominant
"presence." But I cannot follow him entirely. Between imperfect
dominance and recessiveness there is clear distinction — two perfect
and imperfect dominants alike may throw some recessives; but two
homozygous recessive parents can throw no dominants; where neither
parent possesses a character in its germ plasm their progeny will
not have the character. Some families of two recessive parents will,
then, throw only offspring of one kind ; such are homozygous parents
and their offspring are pure recessives.

Many cases of apparent blending are due to imperfect dominance.
Thus I recognize 10 grades of booting or foot- feathering of poultry
and one of no boot. If a booted be mated to a non-booted the
grades in the offspring run from to 8; it is impossible to say
whether booting or clear shanks is dominant. In F-2, booted and
clean shanks appear again, with boot of some grade in a large
majority. All of the extracted clear-shanked mated together produce
some booted birds and some of the booted, mated inter se, may pro-
duce clear-shanked offspring; such parents are clearly heterozygotes
with arrested dominance. But, on the other hand, some of the
booted, bred inter se, produce only booted offspring; such are clearly
extracted recessives. I have a set of such matings yielding 287 off-
spring, 100 per cent booted. My best extracted homozygous dominant

42 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

clean-shanks produce only 90 per cent of offspring with clean shanks.
Presence X presence of a character may give absence through failure
of the character to develop, but absence X absence of a character can
give no trace of the character.

Finally, dominance may be so imperfect .that the dominant char-
acter fails completely to develop in the heterozygote and develops
only imperfectly or sporadically in the homozygote. This is apparently
the explanation of many cases where a character seems not to be
inherited. The character has perhaps arisen once as a sport but can-
not be propagated. It is probable in such cases that the internal
stimulus to development of the organ is too weak. This case is
illustrated by a rumpless cock which, crossed with tailed birds, pro-
duced only tailed offspring. These offspring mated among themselves
and with their father produced no tailless progeny. Nevertheless a
disturbance in the germ plasm was indicated by the small "pope's
nose" that carries the tail feathers and by shortened, bent backs.
These tailed heterozygotes mated to a tailless son of the first cock
produced a large proportion of tailless birds. Indeed, taillessness
proves to be dominant, but its determiner in the germ plasm is very
feeble.

This study, then, leads to the conclusion that alongside of domi-
nance we must place an important modifying factor — the factor of the
strength or potency of the representative of the given character in
the germ plasm. This is clearly a very variable quality. If it is very
potent we get a typically mendelian result; but if it is weak, we will
have imperfect dominance or failure to develop altogether.

[Presented by the Committee on Theoretical Research.]

LEGISLATION AFFBCTINO THE RAISING OF DEER AND

ELK FOR PROFIT.

D. E. Lantz, Chairman.

Your committee has little that is new to report at this time.
A general interest in the subject of raising deer and elk for profit
has been aroused during the present year, and many inquiries about
the management of the animals have been answered by the chairman
of the committee. The chief difficulty has been to obtain information
concerning breeding stock that may be for sale. It has been developed

DEBR AND ELK FOR PROFIT. 43

that few breeders of deer are prepared to capture and crate their
stock so as to be able to deliver the animals to would-be purchasers.
As a result, prices have been high and offerings so few that many
persons who wished to start in the business have been compelled to
defer it for the present.

Considerable progress was made during the year in securing legis-
lation more favorable to the breeders of large game animals, and the
status of private game preserves has been more definitely fixed in
several States. The experience of those who have worked to secure
legislative recognition of the rights of private ownership in deer is
encouraging, and shows that whenever the real demands of breeders
are properly presented before legislative bodies, the lawmakers will
respond with just enactments.

A review of the legislation which recognizes private rights in
domesticated big game is here given. It will be noticed that much
of it is recent.

Arkansas. — The act of February 23, 1907, is still in force.
It provides that "nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent
any person or persons from having in their possession, or buying, or
selling, or shipping, or any railroad from receiving for transportation
any deer or fawn when such deer or fawn is raised in captivity for
domestic purposes and is accompanied by an affidavit from the owner
to this effect.''

Colorado. — ^A system of licensing private parks and fish pre-
serves is provided. No one may maintain such preserve without
a license. Owners of licensed private preserves are permitted to
sell and ship deer or other quadrupeds, if the carcasses or live animals
are accompanied by proper invoice and a permit from the ^State Game
and Fish Commissioner. A fee is charged for the license and for
each animal shipped by permit. About a dozen deer and elk parks
are now licensed under this law.

Florida. — An act was passed this year to encourage the estab-
lishment and maintenance of unenclosed game preserves by pro-
tecting such preserves from trespass of hunters. The preserves
must be carefully posted, are limited to 640 acres in area, and are
subject to all laws of the State regulating the hunting of game. The
game with which they are stocked is absolutely protected far a
period of three years.

44 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Michigan. — The Legislature of Michigan also passed a law
making it illegal to capture or destroy deer kept within or* that have
escaped from a private enclosure.

Kentucky. — Kentucky for many years has had a similar law
protecting game in parks from poaching and trespass.

Iowa. — Iowa has a statute making it unlawful for any person
other than the owner or person authorized by the owner to kill,
maim, trap, or in any way, injure or capture any deer, elk, or goat,
except when distrained as provided by law. As Iowa has no wild
deer except a few that have escaped from a private herd, the sale of
venison from preserves is not prohibited.

IlIvINois. — The provision of the law of 1907 allowing persons
who raise deer within an enclosure to kill and sell the same at any
time, in the same manner as other domestic animals, has now been
amended to permit such sale for four months, from October 1 to
February 1, this being the open season for the sale of game shipped
from without the "State.

Indiana. — The law forbidding the killing of certain game has
the following clause: "Provided, that the provisions of this section
shall not apply to any person or persons owning or having under his
domain or control any deer, buck, doe, or fawn bred or raised in
any deer park." Transportation of deer outside the State is prohibited.

Missouri. — The former provision of law that deer or elk from
private preserves must be accompanied by a tag furnished by the local
game warden identifying the property has been replaced by a new
proviso, saying, merely, "Nothing in this act shall be construed to
prevent the shipment of deer or elk alive or dead from private
preserves when such deer or elk are raised in captivity."

Oklahoma. — A section of the game law of 1909 permits the
sale of domesticated game animals and birds within the State. The
law says nothing on the subject of their export.

Ne:w Hampshirh:. — The Blue Mountain Forest Association may
kill elk, deer, and moose within the confines of its game preserve
and transport them outside the State at any time when accompanied
by a certificate from the State Fish and Game Commission. This
seems to be regarded somewhat in the nature of a private vested right.
The legality of restricting such a privilege might well be questioned
by any other association possessing a private park in the State.

DBBR AND BLK FOR PROFIT. 45

North Carolina. — Twenty-two counties of this State have
laws, passed in 1907 and 1909, permitting the owner and keeper of
an enclosed game preserve, who raises deer for use or sale, to kill,
sell, or use those kept in said enclosures.

Massachusetts. — The owner of tame deer may kill or sell the

animals kept on his own grounds. ^, ^ ^^_ _ ^ ^^-_

^ ^ —Chapter 307, Laws of 1907.

During the past year three neighboring States have enacted laws
that are in some respects similar to the Minnesota provision for
private parks. They differ from it in requiring no fees for the
permit to establish a park. For purposes of comparison the provisions
made in this group of four northwestern States are placed con-
secutively.

Minnesota. — Persons who desire to domesticate deer, moose,
elk, or caribou may secure a permit to do so from the State Board
of Game and Fish Commissioners by paying a fee of fifty cents
for each animal held in captivity and a like fee for each animal
added later by natural increase or otherwise. An annual report from
the breeder is required. The animals kept in captivity may be sold
or shipped within or without the State upon receiving written per-
mission to do so from the Commission.

North Dakota. — The State Game and Fish Board of Control
is authorized to issue permits to breed or domesticate any of the
game birds or animals mentioned in the law. An annual report is
required from persons holding such permits, and they may sell or ship
game within or without the State upon receipt of written permission
to do so from the board. — Chapter 128, Laws of 1909.

South Dakota. — The State Game Warden may issue per-
mits to breed or domesticate deer, moose, elk, caribou, buffalo, or
game birds. Annual reports are required from holders of such per-
mits. On receipt of written permission from the game warden any
of the animals held in possession in private preserves may be sold
or shipped within or without the State.

—Chapter 240, Laws of 1909.

Wisconsin. — The Fish and Game Warden may issue permits
to breed or domesticate deer, moose, elk or caribou. A system of
marking the animals in preserves established under permits is au-
thorized, and such animals may be sold or shipped within or without

4t) AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

the State upon receipt of written permission to do so from the State
Game and Fish Warden. A tag identifying the animal by number
must accompany every carcass or part of carcass shipped or exposed

^^^ ^^^^' —Chapter 525, Laws of 1009.

Pennsylvania. — A marked change of sentiment is shown in
recent legislation as to private preserves in Pennsylvania. Until
the enactment of the present law persons who had game preserves
were unable to use them except under the provisions of the general
game law of the State; that is, the owner of the preserve or each
member of an association owning it could kill one male deer in a
season. Deer could be sold and shipped alive within the State for
propagating purposes only.

The law of 1909 provides that the State Board of Game Com-
missioners may issue propagating certificates to individuals or asso-
ciations that desire to raise deer or other large game animals. The
land must be enclosed by an approved wire fence not less than 8
feet high. All wild deer must first be driven from the land under
direction of a representative of the State Board of Game Commis-
sioners. A careful account of all game raised or brought to the
preserve must be kept and reports of any increase made annually
to the board. Deer may be killed inside the preserve and shipped only
during the open season and for 30 days thereafter. They may be
shipped alive for propagating purposes at any time. Each deer or
carcass of deer shipped from the preserve must bear a tag furnished
by the State board, by which it may be identified at any time.

—Act No. 204, 1909.

New York. — Until the amendment secured during the present
year, the game law of New York did not permit common carriers to
transport a deer carcass unless it was accompanied by the owner, who
had killed it in the open season. Charles F. Dieterich, owner of a
private herd of deer in Dutchess county, had been accustomed to kill
off some of the bucks each year and market the venison in New
York City. Under the old law the American Express Company
refused to receive and transport this venison. Mr. Dieterich applied
for a temporary injunction against the president of the Express Co.,
James C. Fargo, claiming that the law prohibiting transportation did
not apply to domesticated deer. The Supreme Court of New York
County, in December, 1906, decided in favor of Dieterich, but the

DEER AND ELK FOR PROFIT. 47

Express Company appealed and the decision was reversed by the
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State, May 10, 1907.
Dieterich then carried the case to the New York Court of Appeals,
which finally, February 23, 1909, reversed the decision of the Appellate
court, holding that the law concerning transportation of venison did
not apply to that from domesticated deer bred in confinement, and
that the owner of such deer is not restricted as to the number he
may kill and ship during the open season.

To market his deer in 1908, while his final appeal was pending,
Mr. Dieterich resorted to the novel expedient of inviting a number
of his friends from the city to visit his country preserve, he having
furnished them transportation. Each man shot a deer and accom-
panied the carcass to market, as required by the law as then
interpreted.

The law as recently amended by the State legislature permits
deer to be sold during the open season, and moose, elk, caribou, and
antelope from private parks to be sold during the same period. Com-
mon carriers may transport live animals into the State for breeding
purposes. The section forbidding transportation of venison unaccom-
panied by the owner has been amended by the provision that it "shall
not apply to domesticated deer propagated in wholly-enclosed deer
parks, when shipments from such parks are accompanied by a permit
issued by the forest, fish, and game commission under conditions
prescribed by the commissioner.''

From the above review, we gather that the statutes in 1-5 States
now permit the sale of venison from private parks, either with or
witliout restrictions of some sort. Four other States have specific
laws to protect private game parks from poaching; but in most
States the ordinary trespass laws accomplish the same purpose.

Besides this direct legislation on the subject of private deer parks,
sale of venison from domesticated deer would be possible in a number
of other States. A few, like Delaware, Kansas, and Ohio, have no
mention of deer in their statutes, there being no wild deer to protect.
A few others, like Nebraska, except from the provisions of the game
law, all animals and birds "held by private ownership legally acquired."
Just what rights private owners possess as to shipment and sale of
venison is not always clear in the absence of specific legislation on the
subject.

[Report of Committee on Breeding Wild Animals.]

VALUE OF WILD ANIMALS.

C. D. Richardson, West BrookHeld, Mass.

If thou art worn and hard beset

With sorrows that thou wouldst forget,

If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep

The heart from fainting, and the soul from sleep.

Go to the woods and hills! No tears

Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.

— Longfellow.

We as a people work too much and play too little. We are
hurrying along to a nervous wreckage which is weakening to the
country itself and which will in time reflect upon us as a people.
To the over-wrought nerves nature ever offers a soothing balm.
When the curtain of life hangs low and dark, go to the woods and
learn nature's secret of how to live, for a day spent in the country
gives a wealth of interests, a thorough relaxation of mind and body,
and makes life seem more beautiful and rather more worth the living.

Those beautiful wx)oded dells should be the haunts of the wild
creatures, as when first discovered by the white man. Too long they,
with their wild life, have been given over to the pot hunter and to
him who would despoil them of their true charm. There is a growing
recognition that the strain of modern life can be best endured by
often fleeing to the wilds, which calls at times to all, but louder to
some than to others.

All over this great country of ours there are vast stretches of
waste land, with their variety of woods, swamp, and hillside, which
yield but little profit to the owner. Let us look a little into the
future. Suppose we make something of this land, fence it in, reforest
it, and stock it with game. It will require little care and the. average
farmer may realize from it more than he now does from his tilled
acres. The fence problem is practically solved in the use of woven
wire, and a large tract may be enclosed at a comparatively small
expense.

The food problem, too, is a simple one, as grouse, pheasants,
quail, etc., subsist almost wholly upon insects which if unchecked
would destroy all vegetation, on noxious seeds, and on buds of un-
important trees, while the larger game animals, especially those of the
deer family, feed almost wholly on twigs and leaves of vegetation
which is of no real value, if not a menace to the farmer. In fact.

VALUE OF WILD ANIMALS. 49

the finest grazing ground for such animals is an old brush pasture,
in which the ordinary domestic animals would starve, but which
furnishes to the wild creatures their most natural food.

The question of vermin — the fox, weasels, skunk, cat, etc., the
natural enemies of the bird — must be considered and a systematic
warfare waged against them. An English moor of from 100 to
500 acres often rents for 300 pounds ($1500) a season, just for the
shooting privileges of the grouse alone. The increase in bird life
on such a tract is simply enormous when the vermin is disposed of.

There is a growing demand for live game to supply zoological
parks, and for game as food, at increasingly high prices. The
revenue which may be derived from shooting privileges and from
camping parties who would steal away frorn the busy mart to enjoy
a season with nature, in all her fullness, may not be inconsiderable.

The national parks, whose value to the country cannot be over-
estimated, are too far away for the average citizen to enjoy, but
he may have that which will give much pleasure and profit nearer
home. A tract of waste land of from 100 to 1000 acres may be
obtained in almost any section of the country and especially in the
hilly and mountainous regions, at a price within the reach of every
alert farmer. The cost of fencing need not exceed $1 a rod for an
8-foot fence, and the game for stocking — ^birds and small game will
rapidly multiply under protection — can be procured at a price no
greater than that paid for domestic animals.

One of the secrets of the success of the English race is in the
fact that they as a people have emphasized out-of-door life. The
rugged physique and robust health of the average Englishman are
due to the fact that he is able to dismiss all care and enjoy a day
with rod or gun. His large landed estates together with the climatic
conditions offer favorable opportunities for all out-door sports. While
we believe that large landed estates are a menace to the best interests
of any people, yet with our large acreage of waste land and demo-
cratic ideals there is no possible danger that we shall ever suffer
by the establishment of game preserves in this country. These game
preserves may not only be centers from which the surrounding covers
will be stocked, but they may be object lessons in forestry, of which
this country stands in vital need, to say nothing of making rural
life more beautiful and attractive.

(Preflmted by the Committee on Breeding Wild Animals. D. E. Lantz, Chairman.]

EXPERIENCE IN BAISINO VIBOINIA DEER.

C. H. RosEBERRY, Stella, Mo.

I know of no other branch of the live-stock industry that re-
turns as great a profit in proportion to the time, labor, and capita)
invested as that of deer raising.

My experience is limited to the Virginia white-tailed deer
(Cariacus znrginianus) and covers a period of 19 years. Doubtless
the raising of elk or wapiti would be equally profitable — perhaps
more so where raised for venison, owing to the greater size.

A tract of 10, 20, or 40 acres of rough brush land, enclosed with
a 6V2 or 7 foot woven wire fence, with provisions for a constant
supply of water, either natural or artificial, is the chief requisite.
It is better if there be dense thickets of underbrush, coarse weeds,
and trees of pin oak, white oak, pig hickory, chestnut, etc. The
twigs, leaves, and mast of these afford an abundance of natural food
as well as shelter and seclusion.

It is also desirable to have a plat of three or four acres of
tillable land on which to sow rye or wheat for winter pasture.

As the underbrush is gradually killed out, as it will be as the
herd increases in numbers, unless the range is quite extensive, white
clover and orchard grass may be sown for summer forage.

In the latitude of southw^estern Missouri, feeding is not necessary
between April 1 and November 1. For the rest of the year a stack
of cowpea or clover hay to which the deer have free access, supple-
mented by a light ration of corn and bran or other mill feed in
severe weather, is sufficient.

Do not feed too heavily of shelled corn. If gorged with it
the results are often fatal.

If it is desired to raise venison it is, of course, not necessary
that the fawns be accustomed to handling while young in order to
tame them. But if raised for sale as breeding stock, requiring that
they be handled and shipped alive, it is necessary to take the fawns
from the does when they are ten days old and raise them by hand
on coWs milk.

, This, of course, involves a great deal more trouble and expense
than to let the fawn run with the doe; hence the price received for
breeding stock is proportionately greater than that received for the

BXPBRIBNCB IN RAISING' VIRGINIA DBBR. 51

venison carcass. For example, a yearling dressed for market may
weigh 60 pounds net, and could be profitably sold for 25 cents a
pound, or $15; whereas the same raised by hand would be worth at
least $30 for a buck, or $45 for a doe.

My method of raising by hand is as follows : A tract of 3 or 4
acres, free of underbrush, in which the fawns might hide, is fenced
off from the main park. Early in May the does that are to drop
faw^s are confined in this small lot.

During fawning time the lot is carefully searched at intervals
of .two or three days, and 'when a fawn a day or two old is found
it is at once tagged by tying about its neck a strip of cloth — red
if it is a buck or w»hite if it is a doe — and allowed to remain with
the doe ten days, when it is taken from the park and confined in
a 5-by-lO-foot cage made of one-inch poultry netting, lined inside
with cloth and bedded with clean straw. A 5-by-lO cage will accom-
modate 12 fawns. The bedding must be kept dry and frequently
changed for cleanliness. The cloth lining is necessary to prevent
injury. The youngster is exceedingly wild at first and dashes hiAiself
against the sides of the cage in frantic efforts to escape.

If allowed to remain longer than ten days with the doe, it is
often impossible to capture the fawn except by a chase or by strategy.
The latter consists in biding your time until the fawn is found lying
beside a log, stump, or clump of bushes, when it is very stealthily
approached from the leeward to within springing distance and
pounced upon before it can get to its feet. When other methods
of capture fail it may be run into a fish net in which it will becorhe
entangled.

The fawns remain in the cage for two weeks, during which
time they learn to drink fresh milk from a bottle and become quite
tame. They are then allowed the freedom of an enclosure 20 by
100 feet for two weeks longer, when they are given a still wider
range. But they must not be returned to the park, else they will
become wild again.

The adult Virginia buck, if raised by hand, often becomes vicious,
especially during the rutting season, and should not be trusted until
rendered comparatively harmless, either by sawing off his antlers
an inch above the burr or by bolting a l-by-4 hardwood board 3 feet
long across the tips of his antlers. The wild bucks never lose
their fear of man sufficiently to attack him.

52 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

I would not advise beginners with small means to go into the
business of deer raising too heavily at first. It is better to begin
on a small scale — say 10 acres and a herd of vigorous stock and let
the business increase along with the increase of knowledge to be
gained by experience.

Thousands of acres of rough land unsuited for cultivation that
now brings its owner no returns for his investment may, by converting
it into small deer farms, be made to yield the owners a handsome
profit, as well as much pleasure.

(Preaented by the Committee on Breeding Wild Animals. D. E. Lantz, Chairman. i .

POULTRY BREEDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

D. F. Laurie, Adelaide, South Australia.

I'he history of poultry breeding in the State of South Australia
dates back sixty or seventy years. Soon after the foundation of the
(then) colony, and with some of the first settlers, there arrived pure-
bred poultry brought from England. Regular exhibitions of poultry
began about forty years ago, and progressed more or less until about
twenty years ago when a strong movement took place and has since
continued. Numerous direct importations from England have been
made from time to time, but the adjoining. States have been the
chief source from which fresh blood has been drawn.

There have been and still are in Australia many ardent fanciers
Who do not begrudge the money necessary to secure noted English
winners, but there is reason for believing that in the future our
breeders will show less inclination to send to England for fresh
blood and prominent winners except in certain breeds. The reason
for this is that our breeders do not approve the type of many breeds
now fashionable in England. As regards importations from America,
Plymouth Rocks (barred, buff, and white) and the Wyandottes (par-
tridge, white, silver-pencilled, and gold-laced) have been imported
into the other States in considerable numbers, and selected draughts
of the progeny resulting from these importations have been added
to our flocks. The popular exhibition breeds at present are: —

Orpingtons, Black, Buff and White.

Wyandottes, Silver, White, Gold; and other varieties to a lesser

degree.

POULTRY BREEDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 53

Plymouth Rock, the American Barred.

Dorkings, Colored, and Silver-grey.

Faverolles.

Langshans.

Old Englisfh Game, Indian Game, British Game ; Malays for which
the State is famous.

Leghorns, White, Black, Brown, and Buff.

Minorcas, and a fair sprinkling of other light breeds.

Ducks: Pekin, Rouen, Aylesbury, and Indian Runner.

As regards breeding, the best efforts are centered in Orpingtons,
Wyandottes, Rocks, Old English Games, and White Leghorns. We
have numerous skilled breeders and exhibitors, and many of our best
specimens are shown in excellent style.

COMMERCIAL POULTRY.

During recent years far more attention has been paid to utility
or commercial breeds than to mere exhibition stock. This is due to
the action of the State Government in fostering poultry breeding
as a national industry. The commercial sections of our poultry shows
appeal strongly to the utilitarian instincts of our poultry breeders.

The great help rendered by the press in devoting considerable
space to matters of interest to poultry breeders and to the publication
each week of the full results and progress of the laying competitions
is assisting in educating our breeders and encouraging the novice.

WHAT OUR BREEDERS ARE DOING.

During the last ten years, or so, a number of our breeders have
paid special attention to developing what are termed utility strains
of various breeds. We here take quite a different view from that
of the English breeders. There the culls of any breed are disposed
of at low prices to serve at utility fowls. In South Australia we
place such birds in their proper category: we call them culls, and
consign them to the kitchen.

Our utility strains are bred as carefully as, and even more so
in many respects than, our exhibition strains. The difference is
this, our breeders select for the constant improvement of utility points
in the first place, and while maintaining type, allow the less important

54 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

external characteristics to take a less prominent position. While this
good work is going on with many breeds there is no doubt that main
results are to be witnessed in the White Leghorn as developed for
tg^ production.

HISTORY OF THE WHITE LEGHORN IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

As our White Leghorns have attracted world-wide attention to
the excellent scores made by representative pens in public compe-
tition, and under strict official supervision, a brief history of their
origin may be of interest. About twenty-five years ago several im-
portations into Australia were made; the birds hailed from America.
These birds were slightly larger and more robust than specimens im-
ported a few years ago. It will be remembered that about this
period the Leghorn was fairly popular in England, and the prevaiHng
type as seen at shows did not differ materially from the originals
which also came from America. It appears then that our first draughts
of blood were of American origin, and, as far as I know, we never had
the type known throughout Europe as the Italian fowl. Later on fresh
additions were made from time to time and in every case from Eng-
land. There, as we know, the breeders had resorted to crosses to
increase the size, etc. Hens, as at first imported, weighed 3^ to
4J/2 pounds, while occasional hens among the later importations
weighed 6, 7, or 8 pounds. The blend resulted in a rather large
type, square and heavy. Seven or eight years ago fresh blood came
from America to Australia ; and of the strains imported those * of
Messrs. Van Dreser and Wyckoff were most favored although
their lack of size, indifferent head points and evident want of stamina
were viewed with suspicion. The introduction of this new draught
of blood was productive of wonderful results, the strains "nicked" and
the resulting fowl is as follows:

Size. Perhaps not more than half or three-quarters of a pound
heavier on the average in both sexes as compared with the birds
imported from America.

Type, Practically that of the American, retaining the good
shoulder and length of leg, but deeper behind, thus showing capacity.

Stamina and General Appearance^ Hardy, robust and bold. The
head points are better developed, although kept in strict moderation.
These birds are just as active, and on as fine lines as are their smaller

POULTRY BREEDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 55

fragile-looking American relatives. The hens are smart, active, busy,
scratching cacklers, and the male birds are as full of fire and life as
could be wished; they are very game, not to say pugnacious.^'

HOW THEY are: BRE;D.

The success of the fresh infusion of American blood as regards
laying set the ball rolling, and the new typfc headed the list. Our
leading breeders select vigorously and adopt what is known as "Line"
or "Pedigree" breeding exclusively. As the pullets grow they are
subjected to constant and vigorous culling, with the result that the
final selection represents the judgment of that particular breeder.

Testing. While a few still adhere to the old method of trap
nesting, the advanced breeders pen the pullets singly in small but
convenient pens. Here they undergo the ordeal, the result of which
decides whether or not they are to be retained as breeders. As a
rule these pullets are not unduly forced, they are supplied with
suitable foods in variety but are not pampered. Few breeders would
attach much value to a pullet with a 200-egg score for the year;
she must lay 220 to 240 to cause any enthusiasm, and above that
yield she becomes precious. Those whose test is satisfactory are
specially distinguished by leg bands and numbers, and particulars
are carefully recorded.

The Male Bird. Our breeders attach as much importance to
the ancestry of the cockerel as to that of the pullet. The selected
stud bird has been, up to the present time, exemplifying the doctrine
of the survival of the fittest. He has, with his mates, first of all to
pass muster as to type, carriage, general style and vigor. After that
he holds his own in the daily battles, who crows loudest and most
frequently and shows his strength and vigor in every detail becomes
the apple of the breeder's eye. His pedigree is accurately known,
and much thought is given to the selection of his mates from among
the best second-season tested females.

Some Additional Points. Our breeders know that mere selection
based on individual tgg production does not fulfill all requirements.
In pedigree breeding, where you are endeavoring to concentrate
all desirable points and characteristics, you must rigorously guard
against the concentration of undesirable points. What are known as
latent defects show themselves; we find reversion to some point
or other which must be eliminated. Many a promising pullet is dis-

56 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

carded because she shows some weak point or undesirable character.
Where it is necessary to graft on some desired point the process is
slow and intricate. In improving the one point others must not be
sacrificed, but to the patient and skilled breeders nothing is impossible.

CAN A HIGH AVERAGE BE MAINTAINED?

This question seems to trouble our friends over the water more
than it does us. There is not the shadow of a doubt that the adoption
of this method of rigorous selection and systematic pedigree breeding
must result as follows: —

1. In the production of stud birds of great laying power.

2. In considerably raising the average egg production of any
flocks of laying fowls so bred.

3. By this process alone can a high level of egg production be
maintained.

4. The adoption of the methods indicated must result in the
elimination of undesirable characteristics and hereditary tendencies,
and finally result in robust constitution and ability to assimilate the
food necessary for the production of large egg yields. Toughness
of fibre and ability to stand the shock and strain of constant egg
production can be acquired by each method alone. We read the
opinions of those who follow sheep-like and we hear sometimes their
sympathetic groans. Nevertheless the fact remains that the progeny
of great layers, if thus selected, are vastly superior in constitution,
fecundity, and general breeding powers to the half-wild farm hen.
The whole question is one for the breeder. If he is incompetent
he blames the hen and talks darkly of nature and her laws (which
by the way he rarely studies). Look at the history of breeds of
other classes of stock; success in every case is due to the breeder,
the man behind the gun ! Use your brains, develop keen powers of
observation, discard any bird in the slightest degree unsatisfactory
and success all along the line must be the result.

I prefer single testing to the use of trap nesting, i. e. each pullet
or hen in a separate compartment for the whole term of testing with
no possibility of errors or mistakes.

I am absolutely certain that the only way to get a flock with
a high average egg production is as follows: —

(a) By testing all pullets during the first year before they are
bred from.

POULTRY BREEDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 57

(b) Selecting such candidates for testing by comparison, i. e.
by outward signs such as general character, activity, fineness of head,
structure, etc.

(c) Rigid rejection of inferior specimens and those showing
any signs of trouble in organs of reproduction, broodiness in non-
sitters, etc.

If we use as our basis a strain of birds above the average in
egg production I am certain we can by careful selection always
keep near the highest point.

Out of 100 first-class layers there would not be more than per-
haps 30 really fit for breeding and perpetuating high-class layers.
You must line breed all the time. As regards the statement that
egg production by a fowl is no indication of that of her pullets, I
presume this refers to line-bred birds, because surely no one wx)uld be
fool enough to mate up an unknown male bird.

Every careful breeder in Asutralia can give ample proof that
the good hens breed good pullets when line bred, but there is reason
to believe that the production of eggs may vary slightly in succeed-
ing generations. Black Orpingtons and Silver Wyandottes have had
special attention in Australia, and a long course of selective breeding
has resulted in many strains of high-class layers. Those strains
always originate in a good layer. The foolish method of introducing
fresh blood is, I am sure, answerable for many failures in other parts
of the world.

Many old breeders say "Given the breeding, the ultimate re-
sults depend upon the feeder." This is practically true. Doubtless
our climatic conditions are very favorable, but at the same time
we have our good feeders and our poor feeders whose results differ
so markedly. I often think that much of the food that is recom-
mended by writers not in Australia cannot be suitable even in the
country where its use is recommended. The methods of feeding I
have strenuously advocated for the past 20 years are as follows: —

Chickens. Fast 24 to 30 hours at least after hatching. First
feed coarse sand; after that a mixture of cracked grain fed in litter
where the Uttle fellows must scratch and work hard for a living, and
so for a month without mash or soft food. After that period a little
mas'h made of various cereals ground and mixed. Here wheat is a

58 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

staple, to which I add hulled oats, maize, peas and occasionally millet
and canary. Clean water, grit, small charcoal and plenty of scratching-
material always. Of cut green food they will eat a lot and it pays
to give it to them. Do not force them if intended for stock birds
or layers. I am not dealing with market birds. The dry mash does
not appeal to me and it is not suited to our dry climate. I prefer
whole grain. For mash for egg production I prefer a light feed
in the morning, fed to the minute. This consists of pollard 2 parts,
wheat bran 1 part, to which add of lucerne (alfalfa) chaff steamed,
or cut green food, at least a third by bulk. Mix this to a crumbly
state with hot soup. The mixing is of the utmost importance, do it
carefully and well. At midday the birds generally have a supply
of cut green food, of which lucerne (alfalfa) forms the chief part,
together with cabbage, kale, green barley, etc., according to. the season.
The evening meal is generally wheat, but in the winter occasional
recourse is had to peas and maize (corn). At Roseworthy I seldom
use oats for adults, but at Kybybolite, in the southeast, that grain is
used, especially that variety known as the skinless oat, an excellent
poultry food. Shell grit and charcoal are always provided. The
yards are small, the houses are open-fronted with scratching shed
for use in wet days. The whole floor space of the yards is occupied
with straw litter about 6 to 9 inches deep. In this the grain is
scattered and it keeps the birds busy all day. The mash is placed
in an earthenware dish and another is provided for drinking water
which is renewed twice a day in winter and three or four times a day
in summer.

I consider that careful and correct feeding is of the utmost
importance. Slipshod so-called labor-saving devices generally tend
to sickness and loss. Fowls will not thrive and lay unless properly
fed. No spices, peppers, or forcing foods of any sort are allowed
to be fed, nor are they necessary. Cut green bone is not used, as,
although excellent in cool weather," there is great danger of ptomaine
poisoning during warm spells. I use meat meal made at the Govern-
ment Freezing (cold storage) Works; it contains 60 to 70 per cent of
albuminoids. This is used for making the soup in the proportion of
% of a pound for every hundred adults. I hold that highly concen-
trated foods affect digestion, and that forcing or overstimulation
must have a cumulative and degenerating effect generally.

POULTRY BREEDING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 59

SOME RESULTS.

There have been six Laying Competitions in South Australia.
In the first the average per hen for the twelve months laying was
130 eggs; in the last the average had risen to 190 eggs, and in that
now in progress I look for a further improvement.

WHITE IvEGHORNS.

•

In the 1908-9 Laying Competition the average yield per pen
of 25 pens, each containing 6 pullets, was 1250 eggs. The highest
score was 1447 eggs and the lowest 960 eggs. These 150 pullets
were the property of 24 different owners and were of various strains.
In the Competition now in progress at the Roseworthy Poukry
Station there are 65 pens of White Leghorns numbering 390 birds
the property of about 60 owners, and they are of various strains.
At the end of eight months, that is, beginning April 1 and ending
November 30, the total eggs laid numbered 53,625, or an average of
825 per pen, or 137.5 per hen. There are still four months remain-
ing during which time the birds should lay well. At this period the
leading pen has laid 1010 eggs and there are eighteen pens which
have laid 900 eggs and over. There are only 49 eggs between the
first pen and the sixth and during the next four months a marvellously
close contest should be witnessed. I will state definitely, however,
that, as regards laying, a steady improvement is witnessed each year.
I am confident that, whatever may be the result outside of Australia,
here we shall steadily raise the annual production of our White
Leghorns. This will take place through the Government Poultry
Station and the stud breeders who will distribute large numbers of
high-class layers yearly. With the average farmer who is steeped
in prejudice and ignorance of the correct methods of breeding we
may not expect more than an average increase among pure-bred
flocks. Naturally the national gain will be in the gradual displace-
ment of the farm mongrel fowl by the commercial pure-bred. This
is rapidly taking place. Publicity through the press and by means of
lectures, etc., is gradually showing our country poultry keepers the
advantages of the pure breeds. Here farmers buy from noted
breeders, and those whose names are constantly before the public as
breeders of commercial poultry. The results which make our breeders
famous are obtained in officially conducted public competitions. The

60 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

difference is that the value of the strains is based on actual fact, not
upon the dictum of their owners as stated in advertisements. The
public actually buys the correct kind of stock. In the old days the
buyers depended entirely upon the results of poultry shows, and
one can understand the disappointment and losses of persons who,
without knowledge, purchased Cochins and Malays as market egg
producers. From a national point of view I consider it is of the utmost
importance that the general producer should obtain the proper class
of poultry from the best sources. Looked at from a national point
of view, the best results can accrue only when the general poultry
breeder is thoroughly educated and at the same time supplied with
reliable stock. Many of the failures of the pas't are due to bad stock
and improper methods. Much of the lack of success is due to errors
in breeding. Each country and climate I think must evolve the par-
ticular type of laying fowl best suited. Some of our Australian
breeders are mongrelizing the heavy breeds in the endeavor to build
laying strains; they gain an increase in eggs but they lose all other
qualities. The light breeds are of little value as table fowis, but
where they thrive, as in South Australia, they are veritable tgg
machines.

Dean J. H. Shepperd of the North Dakota Experiment Station
reports that the Shorthorn Cattle breeding-circuit, established by the
North Dakota Experiment Station and the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture in cooperation, is in the most flourishing condition. An em-
ployee of the Station and the Department gives nearly his entire time
to this enterprise. The cooperating breeders are a settlement of
German farmers west of the Missouri River, in the southern part of
North Dakota. These farmers have already learned to successfully
cooperate in the management of a cooperative creamery.

It has been suggested that someone assemble all authentic records
of true hybrids of species of animals as well as plants. There are
many problems of both scientific and economic value concerning
hybridization in animals which our zoological gardens could help to
work out* This would be a new and practical use to which some of
the material in zoological gardens could well be adapted.

THE NEW MAGAZINE.

Since its organization, six years ago, the American Breeders
Association has had as its printed exponent the annual reports of
its proceedings. These have been received with only commenda-
tion, and as annual reports go, have served their purpose well. They
have fully demonstrated the fact that there is constantly rising a body
of valuable and interesting new knowledge relating to heredity and
breeding. The Association has fully demonstrated that there is a
common bond of interest between the scientists and breeders, and
between plant breeders and animar breeders, which should and does
hold them together for a common purpose. Since the Association
includes annual, life, and honorary members, also active workers and
committeemen, all being in many countries, and has most cordial
relations with other associations with which it has much in common,
this Magazine will have wide interests.

The purpose of the American Breeders Magazine will be to
forward the interests of the American Breeders Association. It
will have no capital stock on which to pay profits and will pay only
such salaries to employees as are necessary to secure the services of
competent editorial and business management, and will have only
such expenditures as are necessary to pay for publishing the Maga-
zine. The Association is strictly a co-operative public service organi-
zation, which is served by its general officers without pay, and which
does not attempt to earn profits. It exists that its members may
better serve the common good.

The American Breeders Magazine is not a competitor of period-
icals devoted to scientific or practical agricultural, horticultural, or
live-stock interests. Its leading specialties are the increase of the
knowledge of heredity, creative breeding, and the commercial mul-
tiplication of the most useful improved varieties and breeds.

62 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

It will secure much of its information, inspiration, and practical
points of view from contemporary publications, and in turn will try
to make more rapidly available to them the advances along the lines
of breeding. It seeks and bespeaks cordial relations with all period-
icals interested in all phases of its work. The American Breeders
Association will appreciate courtesies from other publications and
especially such as are designed to help enlarge the membership of
the Association.

The American Breeders Association has assumed the important
function .of bringing the practical breeders into closer touch with .
the scientists, and the scientists into a clearer knowledge of the
practical problems of the plant and animal breeders. Its meetings
have proven the value of an open forum where practical and scientific
men interested in breeding can discuss heredity and breeding in all
their relations to the living forms as found in nature and in reference to
the production of races of plants, animals, and men with better heredity.
The Association assumes the pu'blication of the American Breeders
Magazine because it feels that there is need of an independent open
court for public expression published by a co-operative organization.
The Council, under the authority of the Association, in deciding to
extend this forum in the form of a magazine realizes both the diffi-
culties and the possibilities of such a step. The effort will be to
sustain a high standard of scientific excellence, and at the same time
produce a readable magazine. The Association has not been organized
to forward the interests of any group of men, but will give a fair
and open hearing to all. It aims to achieve scientific and economic
results of the highest order and of the widest scope.

The readers of this Magazine may hope to here learn many of
the interesting scientific and practical achievements made by the
scientists and breeders who are to fill its columns with things useful
and things new. This journal will occupy the humble position of a
means of intercommunication for the members of the American
Breeders Association. It will also be a force in bringing about co-
operation and organization of effort. It will find useful work in
promoting worthy scientific projects, and projects for the creation
of new varieties and breeds. It desires to be not controversial but

EDITORIALS. 63

informational and inspirational. Those who have new facts or need
of facts, or need of new forms of plant or animal life, are invited to
come into this co-operative group of workers. Those who are pre-
paring to work as technicians in research or teaching and those who
are beginners in creative breeding and in the production of pedigreed
plants, seeds, and purebred animals are urged to become members.

It may be assumed that history will repeat itself, and that the
science of breeding will continue to bring surprises. This is a for-
tunate tirne for the American Breeders Magazine to come into exist-
ence. The new achievements in the study of heredity and creative
breeding have whetted the public appetite for the rest of the story.
Departments of agriculture. State experiment stations, university
laboratories, and other institutions which conduct research are con-
stantly increasing the number of workers and enlarging their equip-
ment in this line of effort. The output of newly developed facts
is growing yearly in this and in other countries. A most interesting
group of scientists is forming — students who make a special study
of heredity and breeding. Breeders who endeavor to conduct breed-
ing operations according to scientific principles are rapidly increasing
in numbers. The new creations, especially from plant breeding,
are a rapidly growing quantity and of great interest. The steady
improvement which decade by decade has been going forward hi
our domestic plants and animals is just now receiving a new and
most wonderful . impulse. Science is taking hold of the forces of
heredity as it has hold of the forces of mechanics, and the Twentieth
Century bids fair to be the century of breeding.

The officers of the American Breeders Association have reason
to believe that out of the hundreds of thousands of breeders and
growers of pedigreed animals and improved seeds and plants some
tens of thousands will be pleased to become members and to secure
the Magazine and the Annual Reports. With the co-operation of
even ten thousand members, the American Breeders Magazine can
be made a great success. This periodical is not launched without
inspiring precedents. The American Forester, published by the
American Forestry Association, is supported by more than twelve

64 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE.

thousand members. The National Geographic Magazine, published
by the National Geographic Society, is supported by more than sixty
thousand members. What numbers may be our goal no one can at
present predict. tt

THE AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION.

The American Breeders Association was organized December
29-31, 1903, at a meeting called for that purpose at St. Louis, Mo.
That call was issued by an "Organization Committee" from the
American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment
Stations.

This Committee was composed of the following named gentle-
men: Prof. W. M. Hays, University of Minnesota, University Farm,
St. Paul, Minn., Chairman; Director L. H. Bailey, Cornell University,
Ithaca, N. Y. ; Prof. Thomas F. Hunt, Cornell University, Ithaca,
N. Y. ; Dr. Herbert J. Webber, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D. C. ; and Dean Charles F. Curtiss, State College,
Ames, Iowa.

The first annual meeting was held at Champaign, 111., in January,
1905; the second at Lincoln, Nebraska, in January, 1906; the third
at Columbus, Ohio, in January, 1907 ; the fourth at Washington, D. C,
January, 1908; the fifth at Columbia, Missouri, January, 1909; and
the sixth at Omaha, Nebraska, December, 1909.

The five annual reports already issued are permanent evidence
of the enthusiastic interest in these meetings, and show the substantial
character of the movement centered in this Association. The Asso-
ciation has gradually grown until there are now nearly a thousand
annual members and more than one hundred life members. The
annual membership fee of one dollar was sufficient to provide for
the cost of printing the earlier volumes, and for stationery and post-
age, but in order to prepare for launching the Magazine the meeting
at Columbia, Missouri, authorized the Council to call for a vote of
the membership, by means of postal cards, on changing the Con-
stitution so as to make the annual fee two dollars ; and this propo-
sition carried by a large majority.

EDITORIALS. 65

The objects of the American Breeders Association are the ad-
vancement of the discovery of the basic facts concerning heredity,
the devising of new plans for creative breeding, and the organization
of those projects which lead toward improved plants, animals and
men. It functions on the skirmishing line to discover the lay of new
land, helps to plan the campaign and to direct advances where the
largest results may be secured. It is also alive to the work of the
great army of active practical breeders which must carry out the
bulk of the improvements, and to the interests of those who must use
such improved varieties and breeds as are supplied to them in making
plant and animal products. Its efforts are directed to the labor of
improvmg the varieties and breeds which serve as implements of
production in the hands of the farmer and stockman. Some of its
efforts may seem remote from the interests of the producer, as scien-
tific research often does, but *all will accord the scientists a liberal
scope to the end that every suggested new field may be explored.

The Association promotes and helps to organize cooperation
among those interested in studying the laws of heredity, those de-
vising improved methods of breeding the respective species of plants
and animals, those engaged in creating new and more valuable types
of plants and animals, those who multiply purebred animals, those
w'ho produce agricultural products from the newly bred forces and
forms, and those interested in eugenics or heredity in man. The
American Breeders Magazine is to be the bond and means of com-
munication between all classes who will join this cooperative move-
ment to harness up, and where necessary to recombine in hybrids, the
strongest and best units of heredity to be found or created in our
plant and animal forces.

• The Association's plans do not stop with the study of heredity
nor even with the <:reation of new values in plant and animal forms
and forces. They are also directed toward bringing into the widest
use all valuable types, as by introduction from one country or district
to another, and by aiding in organizing the initial distribution and
the widest commercial dissemination in order that the new- values
shall be secured by all growers. It is believed that much can be done
to help owners devise better means for highly accrediting truly superior
stocks of plants and animals that they may more generally replace
the less desirable forms of both animals and plants. ,H.

66 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

THE RELATION OF THE ASSOCIATION TO PURE RESEARCH*

To the scholastic biologist of our universities the work of the
"breeder" has for long been regarded with contempt. Although
recognized as a department of commerce, it has been regarded in many
quarters as the least dignified department, associated in mind with
the cowboy, the stable boy, the "hayseed,*' the country jay, the peasant
of Europe. "What do you do at the meeting of the Association,"
says my university colleague, "inspect 'hawgs,' pass around *pertaters'
and show up your biggest ears of corn ?" But that attitude is chang-
ing and changing fast. It is interesting to note the reasons. For
one thing, the factors of evolution were always regarded as worthy
subjects of research; and the old method of discussing evolution
without facts had fallen into disrepute. It became recognized that
the experimental method should be applied to the behavior of the
germ plasm of plants and animals. Meanwhile the work of the
Agricultural Experiment Stations and that of medical investigators,
who experiment largely with domesticated animals and breed them for
their work, made pure biologists acquainted with the valuable experi-
mental material offered by such organisms. And so, from many sides,
as though by a common impulse, the scientific investigation of bio-
logical problems involving experimental breeding began. The
American Breeders Association was organized just at the most op-
portune time and in this country has served as a great clearing house
for the results of experimental breeding both on the part of the pure
and the applied biologists. By a fortunate disregard of the con-
ventional distinction of plants and animals, breeders of all organisms
are thrown together in a close relation which has not been success-
fully reproduced in the breeders' society of Germany.

The future of research in breeding is bright. The topics 9i
heredity, of effect of consanguineous matings, of reciprocal crosses,
of influence of soma on germ plasm, of the origin and significance
of the characteristics of organisms, of the laws of combinations of
characteristics, and especially of the nature and determination of sex
and of secondary sex-characters — ^these and many other topics of
great biological import are now, and in the future still more are to
be, the objects of pure scientific investigation by well-trained biolo-
gists, using the experimental method. Such investigation is now for
the first time being "systematically undertaken.

BDITORIALS, 67

This new Magazine will, it is confidently expected, become not
merely the archive for the results of these researches, but the forum
for the discussion and interpretation of these results. It will use
the most practical methods of aiding in the advancement of pure
biological research in the field of breeding.

Chas. B. Davenport.

BUILDING UP AN EXPORT TRADE IN PEDIGREED

ANIMALS.

There is no business in which there is greater opportunity for
deception than in trafficking in pedigreed live stock. It follows there-
fore that there is no business in which the integrity of the breeder
counts for more. Because of the opportunity of securing greater
temporary pecuniary gain by deception, individual breeders have oc-
casionally resorted to a variety of questionable practices which have
had a tendency to destroy public confidence in pedigreed live stock.
It is doubtful whether breeders of the United States are yet as skillful
in this regard as those of other countries, but experience teaches us
that they are apt scholars.

Breeders who have at heart the best interests of general live-
stock improvement and pedigreed live stock in particular (and for-
tunately there are many such in this country) understand that, aside
from any moral question involved, deception of any sort is a short-
sighted policy. It is unfortunate that reliable breeders are constantly
forced to compete in the show and sale rings with the unscrupulous.
Obviously, it is often the unscrupulous that win.

If such enemies of the pedigreed live-stock business would con-
fine their practices to domestic trafficking their influence would be
less diastrous. But those seeking pedigreed live stock in a foreign
country are, for various reasons, peculiarly susceptible.

The possibility of securing in the United States pedigreed live
stock of sufficiently high quality to compare favorably with that avail-
able elsewhere and usually at prices that are distinctly attractive is
becoming a matter of common knowledge, and as a result there is
a steady increased foreign interest in our improved live stock.

No one will deny the desirability of building up an extensive
trade with foreign countries; it should follow logically a decline in

68 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

exports of market animals. It is not too early, therefore, to give some
serious attention to this trade. Should not the American Breeders
Association, through a committee, undertake to render assistance and
advice to foreigners seeking pedigreed live stock in this country to
the end that they may have an opportunity of seeing and securing
our best? Herbert W. Mumford.

EUGENICS, A SUBJECT FOR INVESTIGATION RATHER

THAN INSTRUCTION.

We learn of a Eugenics Education Society in England and of
an international Eugenics ''movement" originating in Germany, and
we hear the inquiry : Why is not a Eugenics Education Society started
in America to take part in the propaganda? When told of the
Eugenics committee of the Breeders Association some of these in-
quirers can barely restrain an expression of disgust that human inter-
ests should thus be mixed up with those of domestic animals and
plants. It may, however, well be doubted if the time is ripe for
education in Eugenics. Only within the last decade have we begun
to learn how to investigate heredity so as to give definite results;
and the facts have only begun to come. How can one, then, educate
others until one is himself instructed? Lest we be blind leaders of
the blind, we must first of all investigate. When precise laws of
heredity shall have been determined for many human characteristics,
it will be time enough to instruct the people in regard to them. Pre-
mature attempts at education will bring the whole business into de-
served reproach ; and will the longer defer the acceptance by the
common people of the facts when ascertained. Our greatest danger
is from some impetuous temperament who, planting a banner of
Eugenics, rallies a volunteer army of Utopians, freelovers, and muddy
thinkers to start a holy war for the new religion. The association
of research in Eugenics with the American Breeders Association is
a source of dignity and safety. It recognizes that in respect to
heredity man's nature follows the laws of the rest of the organic
world. It recognizes that human heredity is a subject of study for
practical ends ; the ends, namely, of race improvement. The Eugenics
committee or Section of the Breeders Association will preserve by

EDITORIALS. 69

virtue of its affiliations that ideal of hard-headed, critical, and practical
study that characterizes the work of our best plant and animal breeders.
In the attempt to get facts the Committee on Eugenics is dis-
tributing blank family records, wherein may be recorded some 35
characteristics for each of these generations in the direct lines, and
additional data for collaterals. These are sent to persons applying to
the Secretary of the Committee, C. B. Davenport, Cold Spring Har-
bor, N. Y., who will send also, when desired, an additional copy to
be retained by the collaborator. The records already returned to the
Committee constitute a mass of data of the greatest value. Scores
of pedigrees, many made out with the greatest care, far beyond the
limits asked for in the blank form, have been presented, showing the
inheritance of such special characters as stammering, hairiness, and
peculiar finger movements. Already important generalizations have
been made regarding the inheritance of certain diseases. But more
facts are needed and volunteers are urgently called for.

Chas. B. Davenport.

EFFECT OF RECENT DISCOVERIES ON THE ART OF

BREEDING.

The breeder's art has been profoundly modified by discoveries
made within the past decade, yet we are only at the beginning of a
new era in which a knowledge of the principles involved gives us a
science of breeding. Certain broad fundamental principles have been
made out, but there is much detailed work which must yet be done
before these principles can be applied universally. The first discovery
of importance was, of course, that of Mendelian principles. These prin-
ciples are three in number: first, the principle of dominance; second,
the law of segregation of character pairs; third, the law of recom-
bination.

The full extent to which these principles can be applied in breed-
ing is not yet known. That they are important is evident to all.
There is much yet to be done in working out the so-called unit char-
acters. Although the principles are new, some important applications
have been made of them. Breeders of Polled Hereford cattle are
making deliberate use of Mendelian principles to their great
advantage in dehorning one of the important beef breeds of the

70 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

country. Breeders of other polled breeds are generally familiar with
these principles and are making use of them. Many new varieties
of our leading crops have been produced by the deliberate application
of the law of recombination. Some of the hybrid wheats produced at
the Washington Experiment Station in this manner have assumed
an important role in that state. Nilsson, at Svalof, Sweden, is now
engaged in producing new varieties of many crops, deliberately plan-
ning beforehand the combinations of characters he wishes to make.
Many other practical breeders are doing the same.

One other very important principle, which has only been gen-
erally recognized within the last few years, is beginning to have a
profound effect upon the practice of breeders. This is that selection
within pure lines, either of vegetatively propagated crops, like pota-
toes, fruit trees, etc., or in self-fertilized species, like wheat and oats,
is without effect in changing the characteristics of the crop, except for
the rare evolutionary changes that occur in such species. Recent
investigations indicate that these evolutionary changes are so infre-
quent that the only use the practical breeder can make of them is
in the case of old viirieties which have split up more or less into
different types because of such changes. Selection enables the breeder
to segregate the most desirable types in such a population.

One of the most important things accomplished by scientific
discovery, in relation to the art of the breeder, is the dissipation of
the old idea that practically unlimited improvement can be made by
selection. It is now the consensus of opinion, amongst the leaders
in this line of work, that selection can only accomplish the segrega-
tion of the best strains in the populations selected. It is only in cross-
fertilized crops that marked effects can be produced in changing the
character of the crop, and even in this case all that can be done is
to secure the most favorable combinations of characters present in
the original population.

There is, of course, danger of claiming too much for newly
discovered principles. It remains for the future to demonstrate just
how much value the discoveries hitherto made have to the
practical breeder. W. J. Spillman.

THE OMAHA MEETING.

The Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Breeders Asso-
ciation was held at Omaha on December 8, 9, and 10, 1909,
the Association being the guest of the National Corn Ex-
position. The meeting was well attended, in spite of a
snowstorm which made travel difficult. The papers and dis-
cussions compared well with those of previous meetings. The same
spirit of mutual interest between scientists and practical breeders
and between breeders of plants and breeders of animals which has
been manifest at all previous meetings was again abundantly shown.

The interest in the work of the Association expressed by the
local press and by citizens and visitors at the National Corn Expo-
sition demonstrated the cordial feeling which exists in the public
mind toward the work of the Association. No previous meeting
had accorded to it nearly the number of notices by the daily, agri-
cultural, and scientific press as had the sixth annual meeting. It
would seem that the American Breeders Magazine was to be bom
into a very congenial atmosphere.

Besides marking the time of the organization of a magazine,
the Omaha meeting will be remembered as the date of the initial
action to enlarge the scope of the Committee on Eugenics, by the
proposal to make it into a third section of the Association. And whether
the membership votes to change the Constitution at this time or not,
the proposition marks the date of public recognition of this neglected
but important line of inquiry. The election of Professor Hugo
DeVries of Amsterdam, Holland, and Dr. William Bateson of Cam-
bridge, England, to life membership is a matter of personal interest
to their many friends on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the absence of the President, the Honorable James Wilson,
Secretary of Agriculture, the Vice-President, Mr. William George
of Aurora, Illinois, presided. In assuming the chair he called atten-
tion to the work of the Association and discussed the desirability
of our country working out systems of pedigree breeding which will

72 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

better accredit our pedigreed stock so that they will be more in
demand at home and abroad. Under his leadership members present
made pledges to secure more than eleven hundred new members.
These members are now making good their promises.

The papers presented will form the bulk of the scientific dis-
cussions in the four numbers of the American Breeders Magazine
for 1910, and in the Annual Report. Some of the discussions of
papers will also be given.

The following officers for the year 1910 were elected:

Hon. James Wilson, President, Washington, D. C.

Hon. William George, Vice-President, Aurora, Illinois.

Hon. W. M. Hays, Secretary, Washington, D. C.

Hon. N. H. Gentry, Treasurer, Sedalia, Missouri.

Dean C. F.Xurtiss, Ames, Iowa, Chairman Animal Section.

Prof H. W. Mumford, Urbana, 111., Secretary Animal Section.

Dr. H. J. Webber, Ithaca, N. Y., Chairman Plant Section.

Prof. N. E. Hansen, Brookings, S. Dak., Secretary Plant Section.

On motion the naming of the magazine was referred to the
Council with power to act.

On motion of Dean J. H. Shepperd, the Council was authorized
to present the compliments of the American Breeders Association
to the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experi-
ment stations, under whose auspices this Association was founded.

On motion of Messrs. Spillman and Shull, Professor Hugo
DeVries, Professor of Botany in the University of Amsterdam, and
Professor William Bateson of Cambridge, England, were elected
honorary members. Both of these gentlemen have accepted this
honorary membership.

The Association is peculiarly indebted to Mr. Charles Dickinson,
of the W. A. Dickinson Seed Company of Chicago and Minneapolis,
for the first contribution to be used in establishing the American
Breeders Magazine on a basis commensurate with the work it has
to perform. It was of material assistance in printing the first issue
of the Magazine.

ASSOCIATION MATTERS. 73

THE COMMITTEES OF THE AMERICAN BREEDERS

ASSOCIATION.

The membership lists of the committees of the American
Breeders Association are now being revised. Suggestions are in
order from any member as to the work of the existing committees,
and as to new lines of work which might properly be taken up by
committees.

It will be observed that most of the papers as well as the formal
committee reports come to the Magazine and to the Annual Report
through the committees. Thus the committee chairmen become
assistant editors, and greatly enhance the value of the Association's
publications. It is desired that the committees be made even stronger
centers of work for the objects of the Association.

It is suggested that for the next year or two these .committees
which have charge of reporting on the improvement of classes of
animals and classes of plants offer specific methods of breeding.
Thus the Committee on Breeding Dairy Cattle might make a general
committee report outlining a plan under which a private breeder
can build up a herd of Jerseys, Guernseys, Holsteins, or other breed.
The Committee on Breeding Sheep might offer plans prepared by
different members outlining a method of procedure to be followed
in forming a flock of pedigreed sheep, as of Rambouillets in Montana,
a flock of Shropshires in Iowa, or a flock of Horned Dorsets in
Michigan. The Committee on Breeding Fish might suggest a plan
of improving a given species of Pennsylvania mountain stream trout;
or a plan of producing hybrid breeds of trout. The Committee on
Breeding Poultry might offer specific plans for building up families
of Wyandottes, Orpingtons, or Leghorns with high annual ^gg laying
efficiency. And the Committee on Co-operative Animal Breeding
might outline a definite circuit breeding plan of producing high
class drivers in the valley of Virginia.

In like manner, the Committee on Breeding Forest and Nut
Trees might outline plans for breeding black walnuts in Kentucky,
breeding pecans in Texas, and breeding birds-eye maple in Michigan.
The Committee on Breeding Cotton might outline a plan under which
the Oklahoma Experiment Station could produce varieties which
would thrive under the relatively dry climate of western Oklahoma,
or show how a farmer could breed varieties adapted to grow along

76 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAG.IZINB,

concerned have expressed the belief that a section of the American
Breeders Association provides at present more logical auspices for
this movement than would a separate organization. The Committee
on Eugenics has grown rapidly and now has nearly twenty members.
There are six or eight sub-committees, each of which would become
a committee. This will also raise the number of members in the
Council from seven to nine by the addition of the Chairman and the
Secretary of the Eugenics Section.

The ballots will be mailed to the members after this number of
the Magazine is mailed. All members whose dues have been paid
for the year 1910 and who return their votes within thirty days after
this notice is mailed are entitled to vote. Please indicate your vote,
sign, and mail to the Secretary's office at your early convenience.

W. M. Hays, Secretary.
For the Council.

MEMBERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION.

The fiscal year of the Association begins December ist of each
year.

Members are entitled to the Annual Report issued in the fiscal
year in which membership is taken.

Unless wish is expressed by a new member at the time of join-
ing, to have the Magazine begin with a certain number, the first
number sent will be of the issue nearest the date of receipt of mem-
bership.

THE ANNUAL REPORT.

The supply of Volumes I, II, III, and V of the Annual Report
in the office of the Association is exhausted. A number of Volume
IV are still on hand and can be furnished to new members and others
at the price of $2.00 per copy post paid.

Volume VI will be published at the end of the year. Separates
of any article will be printed at actual cost, at the author's request.

The American Breeders Magazine

Issued Quarterly for Practical and Scientific
Breeders of Animals and Plants

Edited by Willet M. HaySj N. E. Hansen^ and H. W. Mumford

Developments in the science and practice of breeding are coming so
npidly tliat some TeMde for placing new facts qnickly in the hands
of live breeders has become essentlaL The American Breeders Association
has, therefore, established this Magazine, to be distributed to its members
without extra charge. For the present it will appear quarterly, but the
Association hopes to make it a monthly.

News of the world is to be given--aewB of Interest to breeders, both
those who deal with animals and those who deal with plants. Original
reports on research results and practical achievements are to form the body
of each number. In the next number leading articles will be:

A THEORY of Mendelian Phenomena

By Prof. W. J. Spiiimmn

A NEW Hybridization Method in Corn Breeding

By 2>i>!. Georie Harrisoo Sbull

BREEDING of Grain Sorghums

By Prof, emrleton R. Bnii

INHERITANCE of Hatching Quality of Eggs in

Poultry By 2>i>. Raymond Pmarl

REPORT of the Committee on Eugenics

By 2>i>. e. B. Davenport

For early publication the following are promised:

BREEDING Citrus Fruits By W. T. Swiniie

COOPERATION in Animal Breeding

By W. M. Hays, J. H. Sbepperd, Colon
e. Uiiie, and Walker MeKean

INDIAN Cattle in the United States

By A. P. Borden

TOBiiCCO Breeding By A. 2>. Sbamel

These are only a few of the articles which will appear in coming num-
bers of the Magazine. Some of these were read at the last meeting of the
Association at Omaha» Nebraska; some are being specially prepared
for the Magazine and the Annual Report. Each article is one of vital
interest, deals with a lire subject, and is a distinct addition to the sum
of the knowledge of breeding and heredity.

Address AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

Washington, D. C*

I ^ fAa

The American Breeders Association

OFFIOEIRe

HON. JAMES WILSON, President
WM. GEORGE, Yice-President
W. M. HATS, Secretary
N. H. GENTRY, Treasurer

THE AHEBIOAN BBEEDEB8 ASSOCIATION it a coopara.
tive aaiociation designed eepeoially to develop the science
of breeding and hereditj and to bring that scientific knowl-
edge to students of heredity, to the practical breeders of pedi-
greed animals and plants and to others interested in these sub-
jects. It afTords a means for conference among the members of
the Association.

The membership is composed of progressive breeders, scien-
tists, teachers, and others interested in all phases of heredity
of plants, animals and men and the improvement of methods of
breeding. The best investigators in the science of heredity and
breeding and the best practical breeders of pedigreed live-stock
and plants freely cooperate through the Association, and donate
the time required to make investigations, to prepare papers, to
attend the annual meetings and to help build up the literature
of the science and practice of breeding, thus to produce the largest
results possible in the form of better animals and plants.

All persons interested in its work are cordially invited to
become members of the American Breeders Association.

Membership entities the holder to the American Breeders
Magazine, to the annual report of the Proceedings of the Asso-
ciation, and to full participation in the activities of the Asso-
ciation.

ip : Annual, $2.00 ; Life, $20.00
No entrance fee.

Address AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

Washington, D, C.

The American Breeders Association

OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

t

President

HON. JAMES WILSON, Waihingtoot D. C

Vic^-Prtsldent

HON. WHLIAH GEORGE, Atsrorat IIL

Secretary

HON. WHLET VL HAYS, Washington, D. C

Treasurer

HON. N. H. GENTRY, Sedalia, Mo.

Chaimun Ptafd Section

DR. H. J. WEBBER, Ithaca, N. Y.

Secretary Plant Section

PROF. N. E. HANSEN, Brookings, S. Dak.

Chairman AninuU Section

DEAN C. F. CURTISS, Ames, Iowa.

Secretary Animal Section

PROF. H. W* MUHFORD, Urbana, ID.

Chairman Eugenics Section

DAVID STARR JORDAN, Stanford University, Calif.

Seorstary Eugenics Section

C. B. DAVENPORT, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

EDTTORS

WILLET M. HAYS, Secretary of the Association
N. E. HANSEN, Secretary of the Plant Section
H. W. MUMFORD, Secretary of the Animal Section
C. B. DAVENPORT, Secretary of the Etsgenics Section

Address Communications to American Breeders
Associstionf Washington, D. C

Membership: Annual, $2.00; Life, $20 M;
Patrons, $f,000.

The American Breeders Magazine

Published Quarterly by the Americar. Breeders Association

FOR THE USE OF ITS MEMBERS

PRICE OF SINGLE COPIES, FIFTY CENTS

Address communications to American Breeders Association, Washington, D. C.

Vol. I.

Second Quarter, 1910.

CONTENTS.

Francis Galton (portrait)

Heredity : Creative energy

Galton, Vilmorin, and Wallace (biographical)

Pierre Louis Francois Leveque de Vilmorin (portrait)

John H. Wallace (portrait)

Breeding and Use of Tree Crops. J. Russell Smith

Indian Cattle in the United States (illustrated). A. P. Borden

Improvement of Bermuda Grass (illustrated). L. A. Moorhouse

Hybridization Methods in Corn Breeding (illustrated). George Har-
rison Shull

A New Zebra Hybrid (illustrated). E. H. RilEy

Report of Committee on Breeding Vegetables. W. W. Tracy

A Theory of Mendelian Phenomena. W. J. vSpillman

Report of Committee on Eugenics. C. B. Davenport

Inheritance of Hatching Quality of Eggs in Poultry. Raymond Pearl. . . .

Insect Breeding. Vernon L. Kellogg

Hybridizing Game Birds in Captivity. Wallace Evans

EDITORIALS:

The Field of the Breeder. David Starr Jordan

Breeding : A Great Economic Movement

Making of Hybrids

The Section Organization

The Movement to Study Eugenics

Narrow Limits for Breeding Men •

An Office for Eugenics Records

NEWS AND NOTES:

Heredity in School Children

Two New Varieties of Winter Rye

Improvement of Bees in Hawaii. E. F. Phillips

Cornell Poultry Building

James L. Reid, Breeder of Corn

Breeding Poultry for Egg Production. W. M. Hays .*.

AvSSOCIATlON MATTERS:

Good Words

Association Publications

Send in Titles of Papers

The New Eugenics Section

Constitution of the Association

[Copyright, 1910, by the American Breeders Association.]

77

No. 2.

Page.
78

79
8o

8i

83
86

91
95

98
1 07
no
ir3
126
129

^33
135

138
140
141
143
143
143
145

146
146

147
148
148
149

151
152
152

153
153

Francis Galton.

THE AMERICAN
BREEDERS MAGAZINE

" Evolution ever climbing after some ideal good,
And Reversion ever dragging Evolution in the mud." — Tennyson.

Vol. I. Second Quarter, 1910. No. 2.

HEREDITY: CREATIVE ENERGY.

The heredity values of specially bred strains
of plants and animals are as real as the seem-
ingly more concrete values of land or goods.
Potent economic values run through gener-
ation after generation as persistently and as
irresistibly as the river runs from its many
springs to the sea. Unseen carriers of he-
redity determine v^^hether the product shall
be large or small, of high or low quality,
lovely or homely. Their value to the nation
is far above that of gold. Gladly v^^e pay high
prices for nev^^ ** blood '* in plants or animals
because through the sure and potent agency
of heredity the enhanced values continue
during succeeding years. Heredity is a force
more subtle and more marvelous than elec-
tricity. Once generated it needs no addi-
tional force to sustain it. Once nev^^ breeding
values are created they continue as permanent
economic forces. 79

6ALT0N, VILMOBIN, AND WALLACE.

Francis Galton, Pierre Louis Francois Leveque de Vilmorin, and
John H. Wallace stand as three prominent pioneers in the develop-
ment of heredity and breeding. Galton is a great scientist whose
crowning work was the introduction of statistical methods in the state-
ment of human heredity values. His application of these methods to
performance records and the distribution of "talents" in the human
breed, has made possible the science of eugenics and placed it upon a
practical working basis.

Louis Vilmorin is best known by his remarkable achievement of
transforming the common beet into a sugar beet, making it the basis
of a great temperate-zone industry. He also originated the centgener
method of plant breeding.

John H. Wallace stands beside Louis Vilmorin in first compre-
hensively introducing centgener performance in the selection of
breeding animals. He taught horsemen the value of the blood of sires
and dams in the first and later generations of progeny, and also the
value of authenticated records of performance made at trotting races.
He taught the American breeders of live stock the centgener method
of finding the projected breeding efficiency of those rare animals whose
blood has a special value among the breeds of our live stock.

FRANCIS GALTON.
B. 1822.

Francis Galton belongs to the group of evolutionary scientists
who during the last half of the nineteenth century extended the
boundaries of science and opened up new domains of research. He
is one of the great constructive scientists. Francis Galton studied
medicine, graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge, England, in
1844. He spent several years in African travel, taking part in an
exploration up the White Nile and also in southwestern Africa. He
afterwards engaged in the study of meteorology and was the first to
attempt to chart weather conditions on an extensive scale. He wrote
a comprehensive work on meteorology.

However, his fame and success rest mainly on his researches in
anthropology and eugenics. His writings on eugenics — and they
are classic — have thrown open entirely new fields of thought and re-

Pierre Louis Francois Levbqug db Vilmorin.

82 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE,

search. It was he who first conceived the possibilities of eugenics
as applied to the human family, and he was practically the founder
of this new branch of science. The ingenious statistical methods
which he devised for stating facts of heredity in man are coming to
be employed in connection with plant and animal heredity. Concern-
ing the law of "frequency of error/' Galton declared that '*if it had
been known to the Greeks it would have been personified by them
and deified." He established and endowed a laboratory of eugenics
at the University of London, with research fellowships and research
scholarships, and the excellent work proceeding from that institution
is largely responsible for the rapidly growing interest in eugenics
in Europe and in fact in all civilized countries.

PIEBBE LOUIS FRANCOIS LEVEQUE DE VILMOBIN.

1816-1860.

The Vilmorins who founded the great Andrew Vilmorin Com-
pany, of Paris, France, are decended from one of the oldest families in
the province of Lorraine. The family is proud of its records, which
are authentically traced back to 1633. It is particularly proud of its
succession of men who have attained distinction in the improvement
of the seed stocks of the agricultural crops of their country, benefits
which, in the nature of things, are shared by the whole world.

The first plant and tree catalogue published in France was written
by Philip Victoire de Vilmorin in 1771. He was one of the founders
of the firm that later was to become famous. This catalogue contained
the names and descriptions of hundreds of varieties of the world's
medicinal, agricultural, garden, and ornamental plants and their proper
mode of cultivation. This publication is said to have had a marked
influence on farming in France.

The establishment passed from Philip into the hands of the son,
Andree (1776-1862), who was at once student, worker, and business
man. In 1843 his son Pierre Louis Francois Leveque de Vilmorin
took charge of the business interests of the firm and carried it on
until his death, which occurred in 1860, two years before the death
of his father, Andree.

In 1866 the firm, then a great plant breeding establishment,
passed into the hands of Henry, the son of Francois ; and at his do^th
in 1899 Philip, the son of Henry, became the successor in this re-

" John H. Wallace.

84 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

markable line of descent whose men combined scientific and business
attainments in a most unusual degree.

Pierre Louis Francois Leveque de Vilmorin, the subject of this
sketch, originated, as stated above, that phase of statistical methods
in plant breeding which uses performance records to determine the
projecting power of parents through excellence manifested in their
progeny. He dealt chiefly with two problems. One was to collect
varieties of grains from all parts of the earth, and plant them for a
general comparison, that he might select those with greatest value to
the farmers of his country. The second was, by breeding, to discover
from among the plants or varieties those which would give strains
or varieties more useful than the original foundation stocks. His
work in improving the sugar beet and making a commercial possi-
bility of beet sugar gave his name an enduring place in history. A
place in this trio of noted men is given him because, so far as the
editors know, his work in sugar-beet breeding introduced the cent-
gener method of plant breeding. He selected many roots the juice
of which upon analysis showed, along with a large yield, a high per-
centage of sugar and a low percentage of solids other than sugar.
Seeds from each of these roots were then separately planted. Out
of the rows in which the roots showed a high yield of sugar and a
high coefficient of purity he selected mother plants for the next
generation for scientific breeding.

JOHN H. WALLACE.
1822-1903.

John Wallace's fame for his share in the work of creating the
American Trotting Horse will endure as long as the harness horse
is admired and used. His long connection with the American Trotting
Horse Register, Wallace's Monthly, and the Trotting Horse Year-
book — creations of his own activity — and the handling of thousands
of pedigrees and much horse-breeding literature gave him a peculiarly
clear and extensive insight into breeding problems. In Volume H
of Wallace's American Trotting Horse Register he gave expression
to his ideas on breeding in an article of seventy pages on ''How Should
We Breed the Trotting Horse?" In that article was set forth for
the first time so far as the editors have information, the use of the
centgener method as a means for determining potent lines of descent

G ALTON, VILMORIN, AND WALLACE. 85

in animals. The application of this knowledge has been carried for-
ward in a most remarkable way in the breeding of the Trotting horse.
John Wallace was born and brought up on a farm in Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania. He left the farm at the age of 17 and settled
at Muscatine, Iowa, in 1846. In 1848 he was chosen secretary of the
Iowa State Agricultural Society. He compiled the pedigrees of
American Thoroughbred horses and published only one volume. Then,
his interest turned to the Trotting horse, and he published Volume
I of the American Trotting Horse Register in 1871-. Under very
great difficulties he held to authenticated records and thereby placed
the pedigrees of Trotting horses on an accredited basis, thus practically
creating a breed of horses selected by means of performance records.
Volume II of the Register was published in 1873-74. Some years
later he sold his interest in the American Trotting Horse Register,
in Wallace's Monthly, and in the Yearbook to the American Trotting
Horse Register Association.

BREEDING AND USE OF TREE CROPS.

J. RussET^i. Smith.

The United States interests us as the home of man, and our
chief means of using it for that end are agriculture and forestry.
In both of these fields we are very far from having attained any
approach to perfection in the adjustment of our efforts to our
resources.

As a step toward the better adjustment of our partly adjusted
or at times maladjusted agriculture, I call your consideration to the
value of tree crops — trees that live for decades or generations or
even for centuries, but have their chief usefulness in the annual
crop of fruit or nuts to use as forage for beast and food for man.
These tree crops can in many places be profitably substituted for the
annual crops that now dominate our agriculture to an injurious extent.

The scope and breadth of this scheme is a handicap to its easy
execution. It involves not only plant breeding but much experiment
in crop adjustment and farm management. It touches many fields
of already organized enterprise, such as the national and state work in
forestry, pomology, forage-plant investigation, animal husbandry,
and farm management. It must be assisted by the entomologist, the
students of fungi, and the specialists in technical research in that
great field in which the state and national Departments of Agriculture
work.

The possible material for the development of this class of crops
includes all useful trees. The possible area of its usefulness includes
all hilly land and probably some flat land as well.

I. The first line of zvork suggested is the breeding of special
strains of tree crops.

Nature has produced numerous collections of trees each contain-
ing within hybridizing limits the most astonishing variety of qualities
which we now know how, by breeding, to combine into rare parent
trees that are the basis of the varieties of cultivation.

Some of the tree crops which may be utilized are as follows :

1. Chestnuts. — These supply both forage for stock and food for
man. The work should consist in (1) breeding new varieties —
Japanese and hybrids between Japanese and American for sheep, hog,
and cattle food, as all these animals eat these nuts greedily from
the ground. Some nuts grow large as hen's eggs and trees are

BREEDING AND USE OF TREE CROPS. 87

prolific bearers, early bearers, and hardy. (2) Breeding better
flavored selections and hybrids for human food. Several hundred
thousand square miles of our eastern hills might be made nearly
as productive as the corn belt. The Italian yield of chestnuts aver-
ages 12 bushels per acre. The price is always above that of wheat.
The value of European mountain-side chestnut orchards equals acre
for acre the Illinois corn belt.

2. Walnuts. — Breeding of new varieties — hybrids of American
black, Japanese, Persian and Chinese. Small areas of moist fertile
slopes totaling many million acres, east and south, might produce a
nut nearly or quite as good as the Pacific Coast Persian walnut. Many
persons regard the flavor of the American black walnut as highly
desirable. Its shell needs breeding down.

3. Hickories. — Breeding new varieties for human food and pig
feed — hybrids of shellbark (a much prized nut which even with a
thick shell brings a high price) ; some western hickories (larger than
a black walnut), and some Kentucky nuts with large meats, good
flavor, and shells so thin that they can be crushed in the fingers.
Moist mountain slopes and fertile corners might yield a nut as good
as the pecan, all over the south, east, and north where the hickory
grows.

4. Mulberry for forage. — Breed new hybrids, and experiment
with existing ever-bearing mulberries as pig, sheep, and poultry
food, during the whole period of summer months. It might be
possible to utilize a total area of 700,000 square miles in the South
and southeastern United States. Louisiana has shown a mulberry
grove to be worth $12 or more per acre per year for pig feeding
with no labor.

5. Sugar maples. — Breeding and search for superior varieties.
It is almost certain that strains of great superiority may now be
found and used as a basis for varieties high in sugar. It is also
possible that sugar maple is amenable to improvement similar to that
which has taken place in the sugar beet. The experiment should be
tried. This species thrives from Maine to Indiana.

6. Persimmon. — Breed new hybrids, and experiment with exist-
ing varieties for pig, sheep, and poultry food during fall and winter
months. The long adherence of this fruit to the tree gives it especial
value after frost has incapacitated most other vegetation. As an
automatic pig feeder the steady dropping of persimmons from Decem-

88 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

ber to March is hard to beat. At present it is a persistent tree weed
that fattens thousands of opossums each autumn. For human food,
already the Japanese have developed persimmons as large as peaches
and of acceptable flavor.

7. Oaks. — The acorns in the oak forests of Europe have been
fattening hogs ever since our ancestors wore clothes, and California
farmers regularly gather and store certain acorns for forage.
Improvement can be made through hybrids and selections for heavy
acorn yielders. Hilly lands throughout probably one-third to one-
half of the United States may be utilized.

8. Beech. — What has been said of the oaks applies also to the
beech except that its range is narrower and more northern.

9. Hazel nuts, filberts, pine nuts, etc, — These offer inviting pos-
sibilities to the breeder who would create both forage and food crops.

10. Foreign species. — Careful work by agricultural explorers
will reveal many species to combine with our own and add important
qualities in this breeding. It is probable that there are many other
types of tree crops that can be evolved, such as hillside basket wood,
bush forage where grass will not do well, Japanese or other bush
paper plants, etc.

11. The second field of zvork is the adjustment of tree crops
that have already been evolved.

There are two camps of fruit growers: (1) The cultivators,
whose policy works to the ruin of hilly land and tends to make
fruit growing push out other cultivated crops on best land. (2)
The sod mulchers, who grow good fruit in old pastures without the
use of the plow. The latter group are heretics, but their scheme
certainly works into the conservation movement and some of them
are making good. Just how far and under what conditions, with
what varieties, or what kinds of stocks it will work, it is impossible
to say, but to work out its limits requires a vast deal of experiment
running through several decades. It is possible that most of the
fruit needed in the United States can be grown on hillsides without
in any way eroding them. If this can be done it will be a great gain
to our national resources, in which the hillside gully is making one
of the most irreparable inroads. This problem can have much light
thrown upon it by the careful study by well trained men of some
hundreds or thousands of existing orchards in the United States today.

BREEDING AND USE OF TREE CROPS. 89

It is only because of the short view and preconceived notions
that w^e depend for animal forage entirely on annual tillage crops
and a few perennial grasses. Letting trees continue idle is like
keeping geldings when you might have brood mares.

Forty shade trees down the lane may produce nothing but the
grace of the elm or the well nigh worthless soft wood of the maple.
After a little tree breeding is done, they may shower down each
autumn 40 bushels of hickory nuts, walnuts, or chestnuts worth from
$50 to $100 or even more.

Ten shade trees in your pasture may in the autumn drop only
dead leaves ; or they may be of varieties yielding a crop more valuable
than the profits on 3 acres of pasture.

Your wood lot and your wind-break may yield an occasional pole,
log, or load of wood; or it may have wood as a by-product, and
have its chief yield in the form of pork, mutton, or poultry, or a
directly salable nut.

Kafir corn and durum wheat have yielded great service to cer-
tain sections of the West, but the full development of tree crops
during the next 40 years will render a service to some part of every
State in the Union, and at least a dozen States have half or more of
their area which is rebellious to the plow* because of a rocky, rolling,
or steep surface which increases labor, reduces the yield and will
in time cause the whole hillside to wash away if plowed regularly.

I want to see the elimination of the countless millions of barren
maples, cotton-woods, and willows, and their replacing by trees of
equal hardiness, equal or better wood value, and useful annual
fruitfulness.

Virginia mountain sides with sod-grown apple crops worth $200
net cash per acre, the profitable sugar orchards of rugged New
England and the mulberry-fed pigs on the sandy hillsides of Louisiana
should be the rule, not the rare exceptions.

Tree crops oflfer a practically virgin field for the plant breeder.
The breeders of cereals have recently expressed hope for 15 or 25
per cent increase in production as result of their arduous labors.
In the field of tree crops we have as a beginning an indefinite number
of naturally developed parents with strong and useful characteristics
fully developed and awaiting the hand of the hybridizer, who can
thus give a harvest to hundreds of millions of acres of practically
unused, or quarter used, or shamefully abused land. With these

90 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

crops the now practically abandoned hillsides can take their place
beside the wheat fields of the West in their contribution to the wel-
fare of the American people.

Then after the good varieties are bred up, their use needs
systematizing so that the owner of the now useless or gullying hill-
sides may easily find out the proper hardy varieties and the proper
proportion of his land to plant in nut, fruit, or sugar trees so that
he may have the right succession of jobs in his reduced amount of
farm labor, and also the best succession of workless harvests for
his animals to walk around and fatten upon. In addition to increase
of production of food and wood, this tree breeding fits right into the
movement for the conservation of resources. It puts the binding
tree roots into the hillsides where now the misplaced plow is the
mother of gullies.

The gully, the destroyer of soil, is the worst of all resource
waste because it is often the irreparable destruction of the one in-
dispensable resource. If the forest is burned we can raise another;
if we use up our coal and iron we may find substitutes; but there
is no susbtitute for soil, from which we get all our food, our clothing
and most raw materials of industry.

The gully, with its yearly harvest of millions of tons of down-
carried, channel-filling mud, is the worst enemy of river navigation,
and we are just beginning to appreciate the importance of river
navigation.

Tree crops will further serve the conservation movement by
controlling stream flow so as to aid both navigation and irrigation.

Two great handicaps that afflict this work are its slowness and
unprofitableness to the individual who does the work.

If it were a new method of breeding animals some enterprising
citizen of Illinois would be selling high-priced boar pigs in 5 years,
and making a snug profit. A diligent plant breeder might in 10 or
"20 years evolve new varieties of chestnuts, walnuts, and hickory nuts
which could eventually be worth $50,000,000 per year to hilly West
Virginia, but the original creator of all these varieties probably could
not make $500 out of the lot. It is work which government, both
national and state, must attend to. That alone is the reason why
it has so long remained undone.

There is a great deal of work now being done along some of
these lines by both State and Nation. I am convinced that it needs

INDIAN CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES. 91

to be extended, strengthened, correlated, and directed toward definite
problems. Just how this harmonizing of dozens of bureaus and institu-
tions can best be done, I, as a layman, do not feel able to say. That
problem is one for the existing state and national organizations to
take up and I hope they will see fit to do so at an early date.

INDIAN CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES.

A. P. Borden, Pierce, Texas.

The zebu or humped cattle of India form a distinct species and
are scientifically classed as Bos indicus, Darwin in his work on
animals and plants under domestication says that the zebu was domes-
ticated as may be seen on the Egyptian monuments at least as early
as the Twelfth Dynasty, that is, B. C. 2100. Some time in the early
fifties a few animals of this breed, familiarly known as Brahma
cattle, were brought into this country, and their offspring then
distributed all along the Gulf coast. Observing stockmen soon
learned that they stood the climatic conditions and insect pests better
than any other breed. From time to time there has been a bull or two
obtained from shows and added to the breeding herds of the Gulf
coast country.

In 1904 Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, made a
visit to Texas and after seeing the condition of the Brahma grade cattle
as they then existed on the ranch of A. H. Pierce and comparing
them with the beef breeds found on the same ranch had a special
permit issued to A. P. Borden, executor of the estate of A. H. Pierce,
for the importation of some purebred animals direct from India.
The story of the permit for importation, my trip to India, the pur-
chase of the fifty-one head of animals, their arrival in New York,
their quarantine on Simonson's Island and their final release would
make an interesting tale. The points of practical interest are that
the cattle were bought with difficulty in India and could not there
be tested. When put in quarantine on an island outside the harbor
of New York, it was necessary to be at the expense of a long quar-
antine period to be sure that all brought to the mainland were free
of the dread disease surra, which is even a more serious disease in
"horses than in cattle.

Two TypiCjtL Brahma Bti

INDIAN CATTLE IN THE UN/TED STATES. 93

This importation landed in New York in June, 1906, and in
south Texas in November of the same year. It consisted mostly
of young bulls. Upon arrival in Texas the cattle were first tested
for Texas fever by Dr. Francis of our State Agricultural and Me-
chanical College. After carefully watching them for ten days he
pronounced them to be free from Texas fever. This opinion proved
correct, for in the three years since they were imported there have
been no signs of this fever. The herd, was divided as equally as

Calf: Bdihma IIIlssaii) on Two-ykah-uu) Tb.vah Hkifek,

possible between Mr. O'Connor and the Pierce estate, who jointly had
shared the expenses of the importation. I have not seen Mr. O'Connor's
cattle, but he tells me they have more than met all his expectations.
The object of the importation was to find a race of animals which
would resist the insect pests of this section of the country, the prin-
cipal one of which is the tick which causes Texas fever. These
bulls were bred to the best cows on the Pierce range and to a bunch
of Hereford cows in 1907 and again in 1908. The crop of calves
in 1908 were fine and did remarkably well. We are in the business
of raising cattle on the open range where they must care for them-

94 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

selves most of the year. Crosses of these native and grade cattle
with the best European beef breed grades do well in the feed lot,
yet for the range we find them delicate and susceptible to the i-avages
of the tick. To make a fair test of the Brahma cattle I turned the
bulls on the range with the best cows I could procure in this section
of the country, mostly high grade Herefords. These cows were
covered with ticks all the year and as we had no dipping vats we
had no way to remove them. We would occasionally find small
ticks on the bulls, but were never able to find a ftdly developed
tick on them. TJie first crop of calves at this writing,. November 17,
1909, is from 14 to 20 months old. They have been in tick infested
pastures with ticky cattle all their lives, but they fail to carry any
ticks to maturity as far as I can see. It is only occasionally that
we ever see a tick on one of these animals. This -first crop of calves,
about 300 in number, has grown upon the range as all our cattle
and they are fully 50 percent heavier than our ordinary range calves.
They are as heavy as the calves a year older out of the same mothers,
but sired by purebred Hereford bulls. The crossbred animals are
smooth, with very strong constitution, are good rustlers, of rapid
growth, and are animals that have courage enough to look you
in the face when you go about them. The results are better than
I expected. It may be claimed for these cattle that they have the
power of immunity from Texas fever. They stand a tropical and
sub-tropical climate better than the other breeds of cattle. They
have the power of transmitting the tick-resistant quality through sev-
eral generations. An animal with only an eighth or a sixteenth of
the Brahma blood in his veins shows ability to thrive in this climate.
Several Indian breeds are represented in this importation. Some of
these are shown in the illustrations herewith. I wish to state that
1 am under many obligations to Secretary Wilson and other officers
of the Department of Agriculture and also to the Chairman of the
Committee on the Introduction of Plants and Animals of the American
Breeders Association, Mr. David G. Fairchild, whose letters of in-
troduction and assistance were of service to me.

IMPROVEMENT OF BERMUDA GRASS.

L. A. MoORHOuSE, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.

Bermuda grass is a plant which has not been carefully studied'
from the viewpoint of the plant breeder; hence most of the fields that
may be found in Oklahoma contain a large number of types which
might properly be classified as varieties. Even areas which have been
planted with the Hardy Bermuda, a selection that will stand com-
paratively low temperatures during the winter season, carry more than

BbeMUDA GbASH.

one type or variety, and in many instances these types have character-
istics that are widely divergent. Inasmuch as improvement in plants
which can be propagated by cuttings may be brought about by isolating
individuals which have desirable forms and are known to be highly
productive, it is certain that varieties of Bermuda grass, superior to
the average mass or general planting, can be produced.

THE BASIS OF SELECTION.
Bermuda grass has several uses, and these should be considered
in making selections for specific purposes. When this grass is to

96 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

be set on hillsides, on roadsides, or on pond banks, in order to prevent
excessive erosion, a type which has. a tendency to spread rapidly and
one that has pronounced binding qualities should be singled out. For
a pasture grass, a strain should be chosen which will start early in the
spring, and it should continue to produce liberal supplies of forage
throughout the growing season. Although Bermuda grass has been
planted mainly with such objects as those mentioned, it can be grown
for the production of hay, and varieties should be produced which
grow tall and produce heavily of dry forage. Still other types may
be developed for lawns or parks.

EXPKRIMENTAI, evidence:.'

During the summer of 1909 the Oklahoma station selected several
distinct types and planted these types in separate rows for further
study. While these varieties were started rather late in the season,
and were, therefore, checked in their growth by the dry weather, the
characteristics of the respective strains could be traced from the be-
ginning of the summer down to the middle of October, at which time
several plants were photographed. These types are shown in the
accompanying figures. Plant No. 1 represents the spreading form
and would undoubtedly answer well for soil areas which are sub-
jected to washing. A splendid hay type is found in No. 2, which
produced a very dense growth of upright stems or branches. Plant
No. 3 differs from No. 2 in that the growth is not as dense and the
stems are very coarse. Nos. 4 and 5 are extreme types of No. 1.
They could not be used to advantage for hay, nor are they suitable
for pasture fields. In Plant No. 6 we have a type which forms an ex-
ceedingly close turf, and with this characteristic apparently well estab-
lishd it ought to make a perfect grass for lawn or campus.

METHOD OF STARTING SELECTED TYPES.

The initial step in securing improved strains will include the
selection of 100, or, better, a much larger number of plants which
appear to have the proper characteristics. It will be well to thus
choose mother plants from a number of fields, somewhat widely sepa-
rated, choosing any varieties which may be known to have special
value for heavy yield, hardiness in winter, etc. These are taken from
the general field, and after the roots or portions of the stems have

IMPROVEMENT OF BERMUDA GRASS. 97

been cut into small pieces, the cuttings, or "dons," from a single
plant can be set in a row 25 or 50 feet in length, leaving a space of
some 18 inches or 2 feet between the plants in the row. The rows
should be located at least 4 feet apart ; 5 feet would be a more suit-
able distance, especially in cases where the grass sends out long,
creeping stems.

A nursery number is given to each mother plant, and the row
planted from it is marked by that number. It is needless to recom-
mend that the plantings be made on well cultivated soil. In fields
which receive good cultivation the plants will certainly have a chance
to come through tbe season in more vigorous form, and the contrast

98 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

between types ought to be greater under such conditions, thus afford-
ing an opportunity to isolate the more promising forms. It is not
advisable to manure the land heavily prior to setting with grass,
but some care must be exercised in choosing an area of imiform
fertility.

PLANTING THE INCREASE PLAT.

After growing the nursery stock in the manner indicated for
one or two seasons, it will be possible to reach some conclusion with
reference to the rows which have made the strongest growth and
contain plants that correspond in a measure with our ideal. Roots
from these rows can be transplanted in larger plats, where they can be
further compared with each other and with the parent varieties, and
from this area material will be available for the general field planting.

HYBRIDIZATION METHODS IN CORN BREEDING.

G^RG^ Harrison Shull, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, N. Y,

The simultaneous preparation of papers by three different authors
about a year ago, advocating the use of more or less definite hybrid-
ization in the breeding of Indian com in lieu of the methods of selec-
tion and partial isolation now in general use, probably marks an
important step in the improvement of this exceedingly valuable
American crop ; for the appearance of these papers indicates a growing
appreciation of the real biological nature of Indian corn and the
requirements necessary to the attainment of the highest and most
permanent success in corn breeding.

The three papers to which I refer are, "The distinction between
development and heredity in inbreeding," by Dr. E. M. East, in
the American Naturalist for March, 1909; a circular of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture on "The importance of broad breeding in
corn," by Mr. G. N. Collins, issued in June, 1909 ; and my own paper
on "A pure-line method in corn breeding," read before this Associa-
tion at its last meeting at Columbia, Mo., in January, 1909, and pub-
lished in its last Annual Report. These three papers are in some

HYBRIDIZATION METHODS IN CORN BREEDING. 99

particulars fundamentally alike, but as they approach the subject from
somewhat different points of view it will be interesting to compare
them briefly.

The suggestion for a hybridization method in corn breeding is
not entirely new. A very clear outline of such a method, with ex-
perimental results sufficient to warrant the suggestion, was presented
by Morrow and Gardner in Bulletins 25 and 31 of the Illinois Agri-
cultural Experiment Station in 1893 and 1894. These bulletins were
evidently unknown to two of the three writers above mentioned,** and
the third, Mr. Collins, while referring to Morrow and Gardner's
bulletins, makes no statement of the fact that they had devised an
adequate hybridization method for the practical utilization of the
advantage shown by them to be sometimes attainable by crossing
two distinct varieties.

In my paper on ^*The composition of a field of maize," read before
the American Breeders Association in Washington two years ago,
I pointed out the fundamental defect of the method now in general
use, which simulates to a degree the isolation methods so successfully
used in the improvement of small grains, and I suggested there that
"continuous hybridization is perhaps the proper aim of the corn
breeder." The conceptions which formed the basis of that paper
were the complex hybridity of corn as ordinarily grown and the
stimulating effect to heterozygosis or hybridity. It was shown that
this stimulating effect comes into play in com breeding because self-
fertilizations result in the partial or complete isolation of many quite
distinct strains, and that cross-fertilization must therefore result in
the production of hybrid combinations of these pure strains.

My suggestion for a pure-line method in corn breeding was a
direct logical sequel of this original paper on "The composition of
a field of maize." Dr. East's article on inbreeding above mentioned
is also a sequel to the same paper, as shown by his references to it
and also by his excellent discussion of the stimulation which results
from hybridity, in regard to which he has arrived at views identical
with those entertained by me at the time my original corn paper was
written. It may be said, therefore, that Dr. East's paper and my

• I am indebted to Prof. W. J. Spillman for calling my attention to these
bulletins. Dr. East has informed me since this was written and read at Omaha, that
he, too, knew of the existence of Morrow and Gardner's bulletins on corn, but was
not aware that these authors had described a method for continuous hybridization
in the culture of this crop.^6. H. S.

100 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

own have grown out of the conception, first presented by myself
two years ago, that what may appear to be a uniform variety of
Indian corn is really a series of very complex hybrids involving
numerous distinct biotypes,^ which may be isolated from their hybrid
combinations by self-fertilization and which owe their smaller size and
inferior yielding qualities, not to any injurious effect of inbreeding
as such, but to the fact that self-fertilization gradually results in their
reduction to a pure homozygous state. They are thus deprived of
the stimulus which had been derived from crossing with other biotypes.

It appears that my paper of two years ago was unknown to Mr.
Collins, although it was read in Washington and published in the
Annual Report of the American Breeders Association in 1908. As
Dr. East and I have both performed many experiments which have
led us to place great confidence in the practical importance of the
discoveries of Mendel, De Vries, and Johannsen, it is interesting
to read in Mr. Collins's paper that these new results from the scientific
side are "particularly dangerous" when applied to corn breeding. As
Dr. East and I by the application of the newer biological conceptions
have arrived at practically the same method which Mr. Collins recog-
nizes as necessary for the best results in corn breeding, it should
become evident to him that there is no such danger as he fears in
the application of the latest scientific results to practical work.

The crossing of relatively homozygous strains or of distinct
biotypes in corn in order to secure the stimulus of hybridity, as
advocated by Dr. East and myself, involves a much more definite
conception, however, than that suggested by the term "broad breeding."
The idea of hybridization between distinct strains or between biotypes
calls for the use each year of those two parental strains or biotypes
which careful tests have shown to result in the greatest capacity for
yielding an excellent F^ (first generation hybrid) progeny. Although
Mr. Collins advocates a method which is essentially identical with
that proposed by Morrow and Gardner fifteen years ago and which
has been invented anew by Dr. East, the idea of broad breeding would
logically require the working in of a new variety or strain each year,
instead of going back to the same relatively inbred strains for each
successive crop. In other words, while Mr. Collins has suggested a
splendid method of corn breeding, it is not one which corresponds

* A blotype is a group of individuals which do not differ from one another
in any hereditary quality, and which therefore constitute a pure race.

■> -• ' •

J »

•• •

HYBRIDIZATION METHODS IN CORNBRBBblNCf. '^ ' 101

well with the theory upon which he bases his suggestion. If the
"broad breeding" idea is taken as a basis and a new variety is brought
into the combination every year, it is plain that it must be done
blindly, since the influence which this new variety will have upon
either the quality or quantity of the crop cannot be known. However,
the method advocated by Mr. Williams,^ of the Ohio Agricultural
Experiment Station, would overcome to a certain extent the blindness
of this "introduction of new blood" by first testing its influence.

In the method of Morrow and Gardner, which, as we have seen,
has been endorsed by East and Collins, involving the' use of strains
that, according to my experiments, are already complexly hybrid,
there must be more or less resolution of characters in the resultant
cross-bred plants, since the crop would not consist of F^ plants with
respect to all the numerous characters in which the two chosen 'parental
strains diflFered, but would be, with respect to many of them, the Fg
(second generation hybrid) in which splitting up of characters occurs.
The method which I described last year under the name of a "pure-
line method" is the only one yet suggested in which all the plants
in the resultant progeny would be first generation hybrids in regard
to all the qualities which served to distinguish the parents. This does
not prove, however, that my pure-line method is better than the
method of Morrow and Gardner. It may be true, as Dr. East says,
that the pure-line method is "more correct theoretically but less prac-
tical" than the method of Morrow and Gardner which he describes.
It is conceivable that the method of using highly developed strains
which have been produced by line-breeding and continual selection
of the best and most vigorous ears may produce such high yields when
crossed together that the expense and trouble of isolating pure
biotypes will not be justified ; but such a conclusion can be properly
reached only as the result of extensive experimentation; and this
experimentation, if undertaken in earnest by our State experiment
stations, must result in the discovery of the best possible method for
the breeding of Indian corn. My anxiety is not for the success of the
pure-line method outlined by myself, but that serious experimentation
shall be undertaken by every station within the corn-growing region
for the purpose of discovering what is the best method. I feel quite

« Williams, C. G., Corn Breeding and Registration. Report American Breeders
Association, 3 : 110-122, .1907.

102 * • ■ ' AMhRICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

sure that the results of such investigations will lead to the adoption
of some hybridization inethod in the breeding of this crop.

My experiments with com during the last year have again given
the fullest confirmation of my theories regarding the complex hybridity
of the plants which compose an ordinary field of com as grown at
the present time; and data have also been secured having a direct
bearing upon the applicability and importance of hybridization methods
in corn breeding. Last year I presented the results of a single pair
of reciprocal crosses between two self-fertilized strains which I called
strain A and strain B. Those strains in hybrid combination produced
a yield a little larger than the average of those families which had
not been self-fertilized, but the difference was very slight. As strains
A and B had been essentially unselected, being the first two self-
fertilized strains which had become nearly pure-bred, it was antici-
pated that a larger number of crosses would discover some strains
much superior to A and B as parents of a high-yielding Fi hybrid
progeny, as well, perhaps, as some which are inferior. This belief
has been fully supported by the results secured in 1909, for in eight
different hybrid combinations which were tested during the past sea-
son three have proved better than the combination between strains A
and B; one other combination, also having strain A as one of the pa-
rents, gave a result about equal to that of A and B, and three combina-
tions produced somewhat less than those of strains A and B, Not all
of these hybrid families produced higher yields than the corresponding
cultures which had never been self- fertilized, but the three highest
yields produced in all my cultures were the result of hybridizing self-
fertilized strains which had been, no doubt, reduced nearly to a homozy-
gous (pure-bred) state. The average of all the hybrids when compared
with the average of all the corresponding cross-bred*^ families shows
the yield of the former to be only insignificantly lower than that of
the latter, these averages being respectively 78.9 bushels per acre from
the hybrids, and 79.4 bushels per acre from the cross-breds. This shows
how effectively the cumulative "injurious effects" of five years of self-
fertilization may disappear in a single year as the result of crossing.

The large yield of two of my hybrid strains as compared with
the product of the best cross-bred families is not a mere chance rela-
tion, but is a specific function of the particular hybrid combination

^ I use the term "cross-bred" her© to denote those families In which all self-
fertilization has been prevented during the five years these investigations have been
in progress.

HYBRIDIZATION METHODS IN CORN BREEDING. 103

which produced them, as may be shown by two series of facts. In the
first place, the hybrids between strains A and B which were reported
last year as producing from 74.4 to 78.6 bushels per acre have this
year yielded 79.8 bushels per acre, A slight increase in the other
cultures for 1909 as compared with those for 1908 makes this slight
increase in yield of the hybrid between strains A and B simply a
measure of the better climatic conditions of 1909 as compared with

f™

iLiiiD, Sii^r-FuTiuu

a Htbridiud Cobn.

t-ffrt

diied and hybndiied m

[ie>

1908. The important feature of this result is that the F, hybrids
between strains A and B maintain essentially the same yielding capac-
ity in successive years, while other hybrid strains produce quite dif-
ferent yields, varying from 61,5 bushels per acre to 98.4 bushels per
acre. This fact, therefore, speaks for the view that the yield is a
result of the particular hybrid combination. The second fact which

104 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

«
supports this view is that reciprocal hybrids^ give essentially equal
results. Thus, strains A and B, between which reciprocal hybrids
were reported last year as yielding 74.4 and 78.6 bushels per acre,
respectively, produced this year, in reciprocal hybrid families, exactly
equal yields, namely, 79.8 bushels per acre. More conclusive still is
the result from my best hybHd combination of the past season which
has also been tested in reciprocal crosses; see figure. These crosses
were made between a self-fertilized strain which had been selected
continually to 16 rows and another which had been continually se-
lected to 20 rows of grains on the ear. When the 16-rowed type was
used as the mother, a yield of 98.4 bushels per acre was produced;
when the 20-rowed type was used as the mother, a yield of 96.1
bushels per acre was produced. If the production of 98.4 bushels
per acre had been purely a chance result which might by equal chance
have appeared in any other strain, it is scarcely conceivable that the
reciprocal should have so nearly approached the same extreme yield.
The lower of these two yields, namely, 96.1 bushels, is 8 bushels per
acre above the best yield produced during the same season by any
continually cross-bred family of corn in my cultures. From all the
results reported in this paragraph, it may be safely concluded that the
production of the highest yield requires simply the finding of the best
combination of parents and then repeating this combination year
after year.

Several new evidences of the correctness of my view regarding
the hybrid character of any ordinary vigorous corn plant have resulted
from the past season's work. The assumption that self-fertilization
results in the isolation of pure homozygous strains or biotypes and
that the real purpose of cross-breeding is to secure the stimulus which
comes from the heterozygous^ association of alternative qualities from
the two parents, requires that the first generation of the cross between
two pure self- fertilized strains be relatively uniform, and that the
second generation, in which these various hybrid qualities are re-
arranged in every possible combination, shall show greater diversity.
I have now reared two families representing the second generation
of such a cross between strains A and B. The variation in the number
of rows in self-fertilized strains, in Fj hybrids, and in Fg hybrids,
are shown in the following table:

« Formed by using one variety as the male parent in one cross .and In an-
other cross between the same varieties using the other variety as the male parent ;
thus A X J? and Bx A are reciprocal crosses, and their progenies are reciprocal hybrids.

f Having each separate characteristic derived from only one of the two parents.

HYBRIDIZATION METHODS IN CORN BREEDING.

105

Table 1. — Variations in number of rows of grains in self-fertilised strains, and

in F^ and F^ hybrids.

Number of plants having

ears with —

Strain

1 ;

Yield — bushels

8 ' 10 12

14 i

16 1 18

per acre

rows rows ' rows

!

rows

J

rows J rows

Pure strain A .

66 5

3

14.2

Pure strain B .

10

18

12

12.1

\ Ax B (F,) . .

2

18

9

2

79.8

BX A (F,) . .

19

58

9

79.8

A XB (F,)..

3 32

57

16

2

3

61.0

BXA (F,) . .

1

26

40

15

2

78.0

It is clearly seen that the Fg ears show a greater range of varia-
tion in number of rows on the ear than those of the F^. Since the
empirical range of variation is capricious, and therefore is not a satis-
factory measure of variability, I have calculated the mean, standard
deviation, and coefficient of variation, for the numbers of rows on
the ears of each of these six families. The constants thus derived are
arranged for comparison in the following table :

Table 2. — Mean, standard deviation, and coeMcient of variation for number

of roivs on ear.

Strain

Mean

Standard
deviation

CoeflScient of
variation

Pure strain A . . . .

8.297 ±0.055

0.705 ±0.039

8.498 ±0.474 '

Pure strain B. . . .

14.100 =b .145

1.363 ± .103

9.664 ± .736

AXB (F,)

12.710 ± .154

1.271 ± .109

9.998 ± .865

BxA (F,)

11.767 ± .070

.956 ± .049

8.128 ± .421

AXB (F,)

11.841 ± .110

1.733 ± .078

14.638 ± .671

BxA (F«)

13.786 ± .108

1.464 ± .076

10.623 ± .559

It will be seen by noting the numbers in the last column that the
inferences as to the relative variability of F^ and Fg, drawn from the
range of variation in the several families, were correct. This fact will
be even more obvious if the coefficients of variation are averaged in
pairs. In this way it may be found that these pure strains had an
average variability of 9.081 per cent; their Fi hybrids had an average
variability of 9.063 per cent ; and the Fg hybrids an average variability
of 12.63 per cent. My hypothesis requires that in the fertilization
of the pure homozygous strains and in the production of the Fj hybrids

106 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

between them equal sperms meet equal eggs, so that in each case
the resultant offspring should be exactly equivalent in all their heredi-
tary qualities and the coefficients 9.081 per cent and 9.063 per cent
must be measures of the non-hereditary variations or "fluctuations,"
while the coefficient 12.63 per cent in the Fg is the result of the con-
currence of hereditary and non-hereditary variations.

The number of rows on the ear, which is used here as a measure
of the variability, is not in itself of great practical importance, of
course, but the general question of variability, which is illustrated by
this character, is of very great practical value. The possibility of
attaining a fair degree of uniformity in the several desirable qualities
will favor a more definite specialization of the crop to meet particular
desired ends. Besides, any diversity in the qualities of the crop
necessarily means a lower value in regard to each desirable quality
than would be attainable if all individuals were brought up to a uni-
formly high standard.

Another very practical point in regard to this second generation
and which emphasizes the importance of utilizing the F^ plants for
the crop each year, is seen by a comparison of the yields per acre (see
Table 1) produced by the Fg as compared with F^. In both of the Fj
families the yield is less than the corresponding yield of the Fj families,
and when taken together this difference amounts to 8 bushels per
acre. When considered in connection with the increased variability,
this serves to further illustrate the point made in the last paragraph,
namely, that the increased range of variation means a decreased yield.

The results of all my investigations to the present time, which
seem to demonstrate that there are many distinct biotypes of corn
continually mingled together in complex hybrid combinations, and
that there is a stimulating effect of heterozygosis, may be summar-
ized in the following statements. The first four of these propositions
were demonstrated by data presented in my paper on "The composition
of a field of maize"; the next four in "A pure-line method of corn
breeding"; and the present paper gives further proof of the correct-
ness of (6), (7) and (8), and adds the last four.

(1) The progeny of every self-fertilized corn plant is of inferior
size, vigor and productiveness, as compared with the progeny of a
normally cross-bred plant derived from the same source. This is true
when the chosen parent is above the average conditions as well as
when below it.

A NEW ZEBRA HYBRID, 107

(2) The decrease in size and vigor which accompanies self-
fertilization is greatest in the first generation, and becomes less and
less in each succeeding generation until a condition is reached in
which there is (presumably) no more loss of vigor.

(3) Self -fertilized families from a common origin differ from
one another in definite hereditary morphological characters.

(4) Regression of fluctuating characters has been observed to
take place away from the common mean or average of the several
families instead of toward it.

(5) A cross between sibs^ within a self-fertilized family shows
little or no improvement over self-fertilization in the same family.

(6) A cross between plants belonging ^o two self- fertilized
famiHes results in a progeny of as great vigor, size, and productive-
ness, as are possessed by families which had never been self-fertilized.

(7) The reciprocal crosses between two distinct self-fertilized
families are equal, and possess the characters of the original corn with
which the experiments were started.

(8) * The Fi from a combination of plants belonging to certain
self-fertilized families produces a yield superior to that of the original
cross-bred stock.

(9) The yield and the quality of the crop produced are func-
tions of the particular combination of self-fertilized parental types,
and these qualities remain the same whenever the cross is repeated.

(10) The Fi hybrids are no more variable than the pure strains
which enter into them.

(11) The Fg shows much greater variation than the F^.

(12) The yield per acre of the Fg is less than that of the F^.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding CJom.]

A NEW ZEBBA HTBBID.

E. H. Riley.

During the past few years investigations relative to the produc-
tion of new and useful zebra-hybrids have been in progress at the
Experiment Station (Bethesda, Maryland) of the Bureau of Animal
Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture.

» Slbs are brothers or sisters or both brothers and sisters, i. e., they are the
offspring of one pair of parents, without reference to sex.

' ISH HANDS, Weirmt 800 POIJf

Zebkl'le (Hyuuih;
FiPTEBM Months
HBiairr 12% Has

A NBW ZEBRA HYBRID. 109

Zebra hybrid breeding is not a new line of work but has been
carried on in foreign countries in a very limited way, with more or
less success, since 1775. Some years ago Hagenbeck's Trained, Ani-
mal Show exhibited two zebra-horse hybrids in this country which
were said to have been bred by the owners, and later made use of them
as work animals in connection with his show. The zebras used by
these breeders were of the Burchell variety, which is among the
smallest of zebras. These were mated with Shetland ponies.

The work of the Bureau of Animal Industry in producing zebra-
hybrids is different from that done elsewhere in that the Grevy
zebra (Equus grevyi) is being used. This variety of zebra is the
largest and handsomest now in existence. The first one of this
kind to be used in zebra-hybrid breeding work is a male about the
size of a Kentucky jack — presented to President Roosevelt a number
of years ago by Menelik, King of Abyssinia. This zebra was loaned
by President Roosevelt to the Department for this experimental work,
and was mated with donkey females. A number of resulting hybrids
have since been foaled, the first of which arrived a little over a year
ago. These hybrids are beautiful animals and seem to have com-
bined the best qualites of both parents. They are much superior to
eifher parent in conformation, disposition, style and action. The
oldest, a male, was nearly as large as his dam when he was a year
old. He is now being broken to harness and has been driven short
distances to a light breaking cart. A filly, about a month younger
than this colt, has made equally rapid growth.

There is a striking similarity between the species to which zebras
and asses belong, which is quite apparent in their conformation,
disposition, voice and action, the greatest apparent difference being in
color, and in the size and shape of the ears. The ears of a zebra are
much shorter and broader than those of a donkey. The markings
of the zebra are uniformly striped black and white, while the donkey
is of a solid color, many of them having a narrow stripe along the
back and a stripe down over their withers, forming what is com-
monly known as the "cross." Considering these similarities, it is
hoped that some of these zebra-ass hybrids may be fertile ; this,
however, will be tested at the first opportunity.

Since the work was begun, other zebras of the Grevy species
have been imported from Abyssinia and are at present being used
to increase the number of pure bred zebras as well as to get zebra-
hybrids.

110 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

So far as known, Grevy zebras have never been domesticated.
The zebras used in these investigations have been captured in their
wild state, and have responded to civilization and kind treatment
fully as well as horses that have been captured on our western prairies.
An effort is being made to produce zebra-horse hybrids. A number
of large mares have been selected for this purpose, and it is probable
that hybrids of the mule type will soon be produced.

REPOBT OF COBOnTTEE ON BBEEDINO VEGETABLES.

W. W. Tracy, Chairman.

The work of breeding vegetables is practically very closely con-
nected with that of seed growing, and its consideration may be taken
up under three heads.

1. The organization of improved varietal forms better adapted to
certain specific conditions and uses.

2. The identification of these different varietal forms, each under
some generally accepted varietal name which shall stand for all plants
of that varietal character, regardless of their origin.

3. The growing and more general appreciation of the economic
value of stocks of seeds which will develop into plants, all of which
shall be alike and typical of the sort.

The first line of work is generally the most attractive to the
inexperienced seed breeder, and the results, either actual or supposed,
are so attractive to the planter that the professional seedsmen find
the most profitable branch of their business to be furnishing, at
high prices, seeds of these "novelties,'* or supposedly new and im-
proved sorts, each under some new name with loud claims of su-
periority but little of accurate description, so that the real character
of the stock used may not be too generally known and the profit
coming from the higher prices need not be divided with others.
These conditions result in a rapid multiplication and constant change
in varietal names without any corresponding change or real improve-
ment in the stock itself. It often happens that so-called new varieties
are practically identical in character with some preexisting sort which
had dropped out of general cultivation because of' some defect, which
though not apparent, and only to be learned through experience.

REPORT OF COMMITTBB ON BREEDING VEGETABLES. Ill

made it of no practical value. Often so-called seed breeding is
simply a wild chase after new things, **creations," with little regard
to their real value. Crosses and hybrids are made with no more
definite object than to secure variations in the hope that some of
these may be new (to the breeder) and valuable simply because they
are new. This course is scatcely wiser than for the hunter to fire
without aim into a wood in Which he thinks game may- be concealed
in the hope that some of the scattering shot may kill a partridge or
a woodchuck.

In order that breeding for new varieties may be wisely done it
is essential that the breeder should be fairly familiar with the greatest
possible number of varietal forms which are or have been in cultiva-
tion. He should also know something of the; practical value of
varietal qualities, such as whether an increase in the crumple and
frill, or a deepening of the yellow shade of the leaves of Grand
Rapids lettuce would be an advantage, and, if so, why; whether
a coarse or fine netting is the most desirable in melons of the Rocky-
ford type, and why. All of his crossing and selection should be made
either with the aim of securing some definite and practically valuable
variation, or with the hope of securing increased vigor and vegetative
energy without loss or change of varietal character. This last is
often a most useful Hne of breeding, for the practice of close breeding
in order to secure greater uniformity of varietal character often
results in such loss of vegetative vigor that a "re-origination" of the
variation by direct crossing becomes very desirable. To do this work
wisely necessitates a careful study of existing variations and require-
ments, and a familiarity with them which should not be limited to
a knowledge of visible characteristics, but should include such in-
tangible qualities as hardiness and resistance to disease and drought,
which are often most important factors in determining the prac-
tical value of a sort, and its adaptation to any particular conditions
and requirements.

The second phase of the work, the exact definition and nomen-
clature of varietal forms, is of equal practical importance, for the
want of definition and permanency in varietal forms and the names
by which they are known is a great obstacle to real improvement.
It is true that some varietal names have continued in popular use
a long time, but in many cases there have been repeated changes
as to the exact varietal characteristics the names stood for. Were

112 . AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

we to secure from the most reliable seedsmen samples of a score
of different stocks all sold under some old and popular varietal name,
the probability is that we should find that there were distinct varietal
forms represented. Some of the samples would be quite uniformly of
one form, others as uniformly of another, while some of them would
be made up of a mixture of many; and if we secured samples of all
the different named varieties of this vegetable offered we should be
quite certain to find that many of these were practically identical with
some old and well known sort. The disadvantage of this condition, at
least to the seed user, is evident, though it may be a source of tem-
porary profit to the seed dealers. This multiplication and confusion
of names might be remedied through the work of some central and
generally recognized authority which should clearly define each dis-
tinct and desirable variation. In order to accomplish this it would be
necessary to have full, complete, accurate, and comparable descrip-
tions of existing varieties and their adaptations to definite conditions
and requirements. There is to-day no greater need in our horticul-
tural literature than of more complete, accurate, and comparable de-
scriptions of existing variations in our garden vegetables and their
adaptation to definite cultural conditions and market requirements.

We turn now to the consideration of the third and really the
most important and practically useful phase of seed breeding — ^the
production of stocks which shall be uniformly of a certain desired
type. The fundamental object of all vegetable culture is uniformity
of product. Superlative individuals often actually lessen the money
value of the crop. ' In most cases if the best, and the poorest one-
fifth, of the plants in the field were uniformly of identical character
with that of the intermediate three-fifths, the cost of culture and
marketing would be lessened and the profit of the crop materially
increased. The essentials of success in this line of seed breeding are
very simple, and consist in the breeder developing a stock which is
the product of the greatest possible number of generations of plants
of exactly the same varietal character, rigidly rejecting all variant
plants regardless of their individual value.

As to progress during the past year : No great principles or laws
of plant growth affecting seed breeding have been discovered, and
no material change in practice developed. There has been an in-
creasing appreciation of the difference between the transmission and
the expression of inherited tendencies, and that the former may be

A THEORY OF MBNDBUAN PHBNOMBNA. ' 113

operative for many generations without the latter, which may then
be called out by favorable conditions. The more experienced seed
breeders are giving increasing and more earnest attention to the
practical usefulness of variations, and are breeding with more definite-
ness of purpose. Seed users are coming to a better appreciation of
the importance of uniformity of varietal character, and the cry for
new and improved sorts is slowly giving way to one for better and
more uniform stocks of varieties of proven merit.

As to existing needs we think they are (1) more full, accurate,
and comparable descriptions of varietal characteristics and their use-
fulness for specific conditions and purposes; and (2) the establish-
ment of some generally acceptable tribunal which shall decide upon
the varietal name Jby which each distinct and useful variation shall be
known and whose decision as to name shall be accepted and adhered
to in practice by both seedsmen and planters.

We recommend that steps be taken to secure the appointment
of such a joint committee from our own association, the Market
Gardeners' Association, and the Seedsmen's Association, together with
representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture
and the State experiment stations. To this committee all supposedly
new sorts should be submitted and its report should clearly state the
distinctive varietal characteristics of the stock.

[Preaented by the Coounittee on Breeding Vegetables.]

A THEORY OF MENDELIAN PHENOMENA.

W. J. Spillman, C/. S. Department of Agriculture.

Evolutionists are at present divided into two groups, one of
which we may call the Darwinians, the other the deVriesians. In the
latter class I include the adherents of Weismann. Strangely enough,
Darwin is the father of both these schools. Little did he think when
he propounded his gemmule theory, to account for the supposed in-
heritance of acquired characters, that he was laying the foundation
for a philosophy of heredity and evolution which should well-nigh
demolish his own theory of evolution. Yet this is what he did. It
seems hardly possible that so fanciful a theory as that of the gemmules
could ever have gained currency amongst biologists had it

114 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

not had the sanction of a great master like Darwin. Yet it has be-
come the basis of the philosophy of evolution which is now very
generally accepted, though the original hypothesis has been more or
less radically modified. The deVriesian doctrine is based on essen-
tially the same idea originally propounded by Darwin, with this im-
portant modification: it being generally admitted that acquired char-
acters are not transmitted, that portion of Darwin's gemmule theory
which represents each cell of the soma as giving off a gemmule, or bud,
which makes its way into and becomes a constituent of the germ plasm
has been discarded, and we begin with the gemmules in the germ
plasm. The term gemmule is, of course, inappropriate to the new
conception of these small hypothetical bodies, since they are no longer
looked upon as buds from the somatic cells. Packed away in the
germ plasm, their permanent home, they become pangenes, deter-
minants, etc.

The historical relation between the present schools of evolutionary
doctrine is shown in the following diagram :

Gemmule 1- Roux Weismann

theory j

deVries

Mendel

Darwin = Darwinians

Relation op Present Evolutionary Parties.

The deVriesian school have seized upon the phenomena discovered
by Mendel and recently greatly extended, principally by the deVries-
ians, because they believed they saw in them a confirmation of their
theories. Generally speaking, the Darwinians have not given Men-
delian phenomena much attention, rather conceding to the deVriesians
their claim to them. Being distinctly opposed to the deVriesian

A THEORY OF MBNDBUAN PHENOMENA, 115

philosophy, and assuming that Mendelian phenomena favored that
philosophy, the Darwinians have generally looked upon Mendelism
with much suspicion, and some of them have even undertaken to
question the authenticity of the facts of Mendelism. It is exceedingly
unfortunate, in my opinion, that nearly everyone who has been instru-
mental in developing our knowledge of Mendelian phenomena has
accepted the deVriesian view of them. It is also unfortunate that
the Darwinians generally have so little knowledge of Mendelism that
they continually mention it when they unquestionably mean deVries-
ianism. This is distinctly the case in the recent very important paper
by Riddle. He boldly, and I think successfully, attacks the deVriesian
position, calling it Mendelism throughout, and through his confusion
of Mendelian fact with deVriesian theory he is also led into a deter-
mined attempt to rule these facts out of court.*

On the other hand. Professor Morgan, a staunch Darwinian,
has himself had a good deal to do with the development of our
knowledge of Mendelism, and knows that Mendelian phenomena are
stubborn facts. He is just as much opposed to the deVriesian in-
terpretation of these facts as Riddle and he is casting about for another
explanation of them. Prof. S. J. Holmes has also contributed a very
valuable paper on the deVriesian philosophy, in which he points out
the inadequacy of this doctrine, but in which he wisely refrains from
trying to minimize the importance of the phenomena uncovered by
Mendel. Unfortunately, some of the most conservative and most
able of the Darwinians confuse Mendelian factors, which are demon-
strated facts, with deVriesian pangenes, which are hypothetical cell
organs with which it is attempted to connect the Mendelian factors.

We find that certain ontogenetic tendencies are transmitted from
generation to generation. For instance, certain families of cattle
develop black pigment in the hair and transmit the tendency to their
offspring. In other families, we find the tendency to develop red
pigment, and this tendency is hereditary. When we mate individuals
from these two families, the progeny develops black pigment. If now
we mate one of the cross4)red progeny with several red individuals,
about half of the progeny are red and the other half black. Evidently,
the cross-bred individual has transmitted the tendency to develop red
pigment to part of his offspring and the tendency to develop black
pigment to the remainder of them. It is these tendencies toward a

116 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

particular type of development that constitute the Mendelian factors.
We can accept them as facts without giving allegiance to any par-
icular theory concerning the cause of them. That the two tendencies
are present in the cross-bred individual can hardly be called in ques-
tion. That these two tendencies remain essentially intact during their
sojourn together in the hybrid is also hardly to be questioned. That
neither tendency is permanently influenced by contact with the other
is not definitely proven, though there is much evidence that, at least
in the case of many factors, the hereditary tendency is not materially
modified in such cases.

The theory of the purity of gametes is not at all essential to the
interpretation of Mendelian facts, but it is a fundamental in deVriesian
theory. I shall later attempt to show that the phenomena of segrega-
tion can be interpreted without recourse to the idea of "unit char-
acters" at all.

The deVriesian position is succinctly stated by Nilsson-Ehle, in his
recent important monograph, entitled "Kreutzungen an Hafer Und
Weizen," page 12, as follows: "That organisms are aggregates of
independent units (Einheiten) is a conception which the investigations
of Mendel and his followers have continually strengthened."

Belief that this statement is true has led many anti-deVriesians
to become also anti-Mendelians. But, as Professor Holmes has pointed
out, the above statement is not justified. I have elsewhere pointed out
that the phenomena of the so-called elementary species, as well as those
of mutation, are entirely consistent with the Darwinian conception of
evolutionary change. Gates and others have found important evidence
that the mutations found by De Vries are due to irregular distribution
of chromosomes in the reduction division. De Vries himself has shown
that these mutants differ from each other, not in a single characteristic,
but in well-nigh every characteristic, which is just what we might
expect if each of the chromosomes plays an important part in the
development of the whole organism. If the hereditary characters are
simply those properties of cell organs and tissues by virtue of which
these organs and tissues have a determining influence in development,
then evolutionary changes would result from those changes, either
small or large, in the properties of cell organs and structures developed
from cells by virtue of which they respond differently to their environ-
ment from what they did before, or by virtue of which they themselves
change the internal conditions of the organism. Evolutionary change

A THEORY OF MBNDBUAN PHBNOMBN^. 117

would also result from change in the "personnel^' of the chromosomes ;
that is, from loss, gain, or exchange of chromosomes.

In a short paper like this, it would, of course, not be expected that
I should take up all the many Mendelian factors that have been demon-
strated to exist, and show how the principles to be stated below apply
to them. I will select a few representative cases.

Let us first consider the cross between red and white roses. The
red coloring matter of the petals of the rose may be due to the con-
tinued action of a single enzyme on a single chromogen, the original
chromogenic substance being first converted into another substance by
the action of the enzyme, this second substance being further con-
verted by the further action of the enzyme, and so on through a long
series of reactions till finally a stage is reached in which the products
of the oxidation process! give color. Possibly the process is more
complex than here supposed. That is, there may be more than two
original substances concerned in the reaction. But in either case the
final production of red coloring matter is a result of more or less
complex processes.

Let us first suppose that the process is a chain of reactions be-
tween two original substances. Presumably, both of these substances
are continually produced in the cell. The final stage reached in the
reaction; it seems fair to assume, will depend on the relative amounts
of the two substances entering the reaction. In red flowers we may
assume that under the environment existing in the developing petals
these relative amounts are such as to result in red color.'

The ratio between the enzyme and the chromogen does not need
to be definitely fixed. It is necessary, however, in flowers which are
constantly red, for the ratio between the enzyme and the chromogen,
under the assumptions here made, to remain within the limits of the
red part of the chain, if we may so speak. In nearly related white
flowers we must suppose that the relative amounts of enzyme and
chromogen differ materially from those in red flowers. Perhaps the
amount of enzyme is less, and as a result the oxidation does not reach
the red stages. Recent investigations by Miss Wheldale indicate
clearly that shortage of enzyme is responsible for lack of color in
certain cases.

We have now to consider the reason for the difference of the
ratios here assumed between the amount of enzyme and chromogen
in red and white flowers. The assumed shortage of enzyme in the

118 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

white flowers might be due to the lessened production of enzyme on
the part of one or many cell organs, either chromosomes or otherwise.
But if the shortage is due to the general lack of production of enzyme
on the part of all cell organs, then in the cross between the red and
the white we should not expect any such definite segregation of
developmental tendencies as we find in Mendelian phenomena. On
the other hand, if the shortage is due to a single cell organ and that
organ behaves in the reduction division as we know chromosomes do
behave, in some cases at least, then we would get the usual Mendelian
phenomena. It happens that in the case under consideration we do
get segregation. The indications, therefore, point strongly to the
assumption that in the case under consideration the difference between
red and white flowers is due to the differences which relate to a single
chromosome, or some other definite cell organ which behaves like a
chromosome in the reduction division.

It should be observed that in the assumptions here made con-
cerning the relation of cell organs to the development of red coloring
matter we have no single organ which can be looked upon as the
"determinant*' of red in the deVriesian or Weismannian sense. Rather,
the "determinant" of red is a kind of general function of the cell or
of cell organs. On the other hand, in white flowers the phenomena of
hybridization indicate that the failure to develop red color is due t6
a partial or total failure of a function of a particular cell organ, as a
result of which the oxidation process does not reach the advanced
stage met with in red flowers.

In the preceding we have assumed, with Riddle, that the final
production of coloring material is the result of a chain of reactions
between two substances. Unquestionably, many of the metabolic activi-
ties in organisms are more complex than this. Consider, for instance,
the production of horns in cattle. Here we have produced, in the
cells, under conditions existing locally in the organism, what is pre-
sumably a definite chemical substance. Unfortunately, we do not
know the steps which preceded the production of this substance.
From what little we do know about organic chemistry it is probable
that the whole process of converting food into horn is a complex one
and that several compounds are, at one time or another in the process,
necessary. We may thus look upon the end result of a series of
metabolic activities as being due to the interaction of a number of
substances, in some cases the number being two, in others probably

A THEORY OF MENDBIJAN PHENOMENA. 119

more. We have also assumed that in cases where a chain of reactions
occurs between two substances the ratio between the quantity of the
two reacting substances originally present, or produced, may affect the
stage reached in the reactions. Similarly, it is assumed that where a
reaction is more complex, involving a larger number of substances,
similar differences in the ratios of the substances present may give
different final results.

In a species which is fairly uniform we must assume approxi-
mately a normal condition of metabolic activities of all kinds. Changes
from this normal condition give aberrant forms. When the changes
are due to changes of a single cell organ which behaves as the chro-
mosomes do, then if the assumptions here made are true we necessarily
get the phenomena of Mendelian segregation and recombination.

On this view we must look upon a pair of Mendelian characters
not as simply units of an aggregate constituting the organism, but
as different stages of an organism. Thus, in red roses, complex
metabolic activities, in which any or all of the organs of the cell
may participate, give us a particular result. In white roses, the same
metabolic processes may go forward but in a manner different from
that in red roses. Now if the difference in these complex processes
be due to differences in the functions of a single chromosome, we then
get the phenomena of segregation in the reduction division of the first
generation hybrid entirely independent of any assumption of unit
character. It might be fair, perhaps, to speak of unit differences, by
which we mean the differences which relate to integral parts of the cell.

There are some cases for which, in order that they may be ex-
plained under the assumptions here made, we must assume rather
complex metabolic processes. Take, for instance, the case found in-
dependently by von Tschermak, lyocke, ShuU and Emerson in certain
bean crosses. They found that when certain non-spotted beans were
crossed the hybrid seed was spotted. When this seed was planted 50
per cent of its progeny was spotted. The non-spotted seed produced
only non-spotted, while the spotted seed again produced 50 per cent
of spotted progeny, and this continued as far as the experiments were
carried out. This points very clearly to the appearance of spots only
on heterozygote individuals. On the other hand, all these investigators
found other races of beans in which the spots were transmitted to all
the progeny.

120 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

I would explain this case in somewhat the following manner:
Let us assume that a single chromosome produces two substances,
«ach of which is necessary in the more or less complex chemical
changes that cause the production of the spots. Representing the chro-
mosome by M and the two substances it produces by a and c, the
symbol for the chrornosome and its two functions relating to this
character would beM^. In a race of beans in which the chromosome
in question has both of these functions in normal condition, all the
gametes would have the formula M^. But suppose that in a certain
race of beans the function a becomes so changed that the resulting
product can no longer perform its part in the group of reactions
necessary. The somatic formula of individuals of this race would then
be M^M^ and the spots would be lacking. In another race we must
assume that while the function a remains intact the function c becomes
;so changed that a necessary step in the production of the spots can not
be accomplished, then we get another race with the formula M^M^,
Now if we cross these two races we get a hybrid with the formula
M^M^j which of course would have the spots. This hybrid would
give us a progeny one- fourth of which has the formula M^M^^ one-half
the formula M^'M .and one- fourth the formula M^M^. which accords
with the actual results obtained. If we should cross either of the
deficient races with the race which has spots on all its seeds, the hybrid
would have the formula M^M^ or M M^, In this case the second

c c c

generation would be three-fourths spotted and one-fourth non-spotted,
a result which some of these investigators actually obtained.

Let us consider one other case, namely, that of the barring on
the feathers of the Plymouth Rock poultry. Riddle has recently
pointed out that in certain oxidizing reactions between tyrosinase and
ty rosin certain stages of the reaction give black pigment. If the
reaction be continued further white pigment results. The bars on the
feathers of Plymouth Rocks, on this basis, are explained by an alterna-
tion of high and low rates of oxidization. Now it is known that this
character behaves as a Mendelian factor. This indicates to me that
it is due to some function of a single chromosome, or some other organ
which behaves as the chromosomes behave. We may account for this
alternation of high and low rates of oxidation by assuming that a
single chromosome, under appropriate conditions in the organism,
produces some substance that interferes with the activity of those
organs in the cell which produce either the chromogen or the enzyme

A THEORY OF MBNDBUAN PHENOMENA, 121

required in this reaction. When this inhibiting material is present in a
relatively large quantity, perhaps the amount of enzyme produced is
comparatively small and we get the low rate pf oxidation resulting
in black pigment. But the inhibiting factor, acting upon the offending
chromosome, reduces its own activity so that for a period of a few
days less of the inhibiting material is produced. Meanwhile, excretory
processes of the body remove this material or reduce its amount until
finally the chromosome responsible for it renews its activity again.
This mechanism would give us an alternation in rates of oxidation that
would account for the white and black bars of the feathers. Many
types of feather markings might be due to a process similar to that
just outlined but operating locally in the body.

Here again, as in all the cases where we find Mendelian segrega-
tion, we must assume a more or less definite relation of a single chro-
mosome to a given metabolic process. In no other way can we account
for the phenomena of segregation.

In a somewhat similar manner we may explain the alternation
of pigments found in the hairs of ordinary gray mammals.

In this connection I would suggest that since more than one kind
of pigment is laid down at the same time it seems probable that we
have to deal with more than one enzyme, or possibly more than one
chromogen; but it is by no means necessary to assume an indefinite
number of specific enzymes such as Riddle supposes is necessary to
explain Mendelian phenomena. It is, however, necessary to assume for
the chromosomes, or some other organs acting like them, as many
definite individual functions as there are Mendelian factors.

In a few species there have been found more Mendelian factors
than there are pairs of chromosomes, and some biologists have accord-
ingly, and I believe without due consideration, assumed that this proves
that the Mendelian factors can not be related to chromosomes as such.
But this does not follow. I think it is probable that most of the chro-
mosomes have functions which connect them more or less directly
with every phase of development. Generally speaking, a Mendelian
recessive will be due to the absence or latency or to a change in a
particular function of a single chromosome. Now if a given chro-
mosome has a relation to many characteristics of the organism, then
we may have just as many Mendelian recessives depending on that
chromosome as it has functions relating to development. In order,
therefore, to demonstrate that Mendelian factors are anything other

122 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

than functions of chromosomes, it must be shown, in cases where we
have more of these factors than there are pairs of chromosomes,
that each of the factors is independent of all the others ; that is, that
any two of them may be transmitted together and may also be separated
from each other. Both Shull and Baur have, in private correspondence,
admitted the justice of this contention, and each of these indefatigable
workers has planned to put this matter to test. It may turn out that
Mendelian factors are not related to chromosomes as such, but I wish
to call attention to the fact that as yet we have no evidence that
definitely decides this point. On the other hand, we have a great deal
of evidence in favor of the assumption.

For instance, the cereal rye has an exceedingly small number of
chromosomes — six, I believe. In this connection it is interesting to
note that rye is by far the least variable of all the cereals. But wheat
has 40 or more chromosomes, and we have almost an indefinite series
of varieties of this cereal. It should further be noted that the number
of Mendelian factors that has been worked out for most species is
less than the number of chromosomes concerned.

Of course, no one questions the great importance of the chro-
mosomes in the economy of the cell. Some biologists do question
whether these bodies maintain their integrity in all respects from
generation to generation, but I believe I am safe in saying that every-
one who denies the integrity of the chromosomes is an adherent of
some theory which is favored by this interpretation. This is especially
the case with the deVriesians.

I am confident that, whatever the relation of the chromosomes to
Mendelian factors may turn out to be, these Mendelian factors are
a reality and are due to some function of bodies which behave as the
chromosomes do behave in the reduction division.

Most of the Mendelian terminology of the day is based upon the
deVriesian doctrine of unit characters. If the view here presented
proves to be correct we need some changes in our terminology. If
we can not accept Nilsson-Ehle's statement that organisms are aggre-
gates of independent units, we can not accept the idea of determinants
developed by Weismann, and later by De Vries. Under the theory here
presented the determinant of a character is to be sought in all those
functions of cell organs which, by their combined action, result in the
development of the character. On the other hand, the difference be-
tween two organisms may be due to the differences in single cell organs.

A THEORY OF MEN DELI AN PHENOMENA. 123

I am not sure that I have analyzed the facts here presented
sufficiently to supply a terminology that will be satisfactory, and I shall
not attempt to give a complete new^ terminology. We certainly need
a word which means something different from the deVriesian definition
of a hereditary character. Mendelian phenomena are based on
hereditary differences, and I think that a Mendelian pair of characters
can be fairly well described simply as a Mendelian difference. On the
assumption that the metabolic processes in the organism are fairly
complex, and that the development of any portion of the organism is
a result of cooperation between many or all of the cell organs, we
need to individualize the part played by definite cell organs in develop-
ment. When a permanent cell organ has a function by virtue of which
it affects the development of any morphological or physiological feature
of an organism, I propose for such a body the term "teleomorph.''
This term is derived from the Greek "teleo" (make, accomplish) and
"morph" (form or body). The part which the teleomorph plays in
the development of any portion of the organism I propose to call the
"teleone" of that teleomorph. Generally speaking, I regard a single
teleone as one of a number, which, acting together, give rise to a final
result. Thus, the pigment laid down in the coat of an animal may be
the combined result of the interaction of a number of teleones. In
a related animal which differs from the first in color, if the difference
is due to a single teleone, and if the teleomorph in question is a chro-
mosome, or other body that acts like a chromosome, then we get the
phenomena of Mendelian segregation. But if the teleomorph in ques-
tion is something other than a chromosome we should not get
Mendelian segregation. Castle's work on the inheritance of size in
rabbits indicates that the differences in the size of different races may
be due to something other than differences in chromosome functions.

Ordinary hybridization experiments are greatly limited in what
they can be made to reveal as to the relative importance of the chro-
mosomes and other cell organs in the ontogenetic process, since fertile
hybrids can be secured only from closely related forms. It is possible,
and even probable, that if we could secure fertile hybrids at will be-
tween any two organisms, no matter how different, we might find a
great many characteristics that would not follow Mendelian laws. In
fact, we should not expect Mendelian phenomena except in cases of
differences between homologous chromosomes that unite and separate
in the usual fashion in the reduction division of the first generation

124 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

hybrid. It is probable that the non-appearance of ordinary Mendelian
phenomena in very wide crosses may be due to the fact that in such
crosses the chromosomes are not strictly homologous, and do not go
through the process of synapsis and reduction in a normal manner.
But in such crosses, if part of the chromosomes are capable of pairing
and separating in the usual way, then we should expect some Men-
delian phenomena, such as we actually find in some such crosses.

The theory here proposed is essentially epigenetic. It does not as-
sume that the germ plasm of the fertilized tgg contains structural ele-
ments each of which is the basis of a separately heritable character, but
rather that the organs of the initial cell possess properties that in a
measure predetermine the course of development. The influences which
determine development are of two distinct kinds. Those of one class
result from the chemical, physical, and physiological properties and
relations of the cell organs themselves, by virtue of which these organs
respond in a given manner to a particular environment. Influences of
the other class are found in the environment itself. The environment
of a g^ven cell organ consists not only of conditions external to the
organism, but of internal conditions as well. The character and amount
of food supplied, the presence of substances resulting from the
metabolic activities of other cell organs, and even of other and distant
parts of the organism, must all be a part of the environment of every
cell organ in the body. This environment changes with every step in
the ontogenetic process. The conditions surrounding the cell organs
in the twp-celled stage differ from those in the one-celled stage. In
order that a given property of a cell organ may have a determining
influence on the final stages of development it is only necessary that
it shall properly influence the first step of this development. Then the
result of this first step becomes a determining influence on the next
step, and so on.

Every tissue, every organ of the body, must be considered as a
part of the environment of every other part. As development pro-
ceeds, therefore, new determining influences arise. These secondary
influences arising at any stage of development, and resulting from the
course taken in the earlier stages of development, may be called sec-
ondary teleones. They influence further development, and thus come
within the definition of a teleone, but they were not in existence in the
beginning of development. Likewise, the tissues, organs, and so forth
which exert such influences should be considered as secondary teleo-

A THEORY OF MEN DELIA N PHENOMENA. 125-

morphs. To illustrate, let us consider the deposition of pigment in the
hairs and skin of the mammalia. That this pigment should finally be
deposited, under appropriate conditions, was doubtless predetermined
in the germ cell, by what we niay call primary teleones; that is, by
properties of the organs and substances composing the germ cells.
But the deposition of the pigment must wait until the development of
a special organ, the skin, has reached an appropriate stage, before
the necessary conditions for the production of pigment exist. Thus
the skin may be considered as a secondary teleomorph for the normal
production of this pigment.

The behavior of those hereditary characters which obey Mendel's
law of segregation and recombination may be considered to be due
to those primary teleones which are the properties of the chromosomes,
or other cell organs which behave in the manner in which chromosomes
are known to behave, and which have a determining influence in some
necessary step in the development of a given part or function of an
organ or of the organism.

To admit the purity of gametes in the Mendelian sense (not in
the deVriesian sense) is therefore not admitting that all the hereditary
traits of an organism are represented in the germ plasm by specific
bodies, but it means merely the admission that certain definite cell
organs, the chromosomes, possess properties that give each, or at
least a number of them, a determining influence in the development
of certain characters. To admit such influence does not mean that a
single chromosome is wholly responsible for the development of any
organ or region of the body. It merely means that, under appropriate
environment, and at an appropriate stage of the developmental process,
the chromosome in question, by virtue of some property it possesses,
shall aflfect the further course of development.

We thus see that Mendelian phenomena are consistent with an
eprgenetic view of development, the course of this development, how-
ever, being in a measure predetermined by properties residing in the
organs and substances found in the fertilized egg.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON EUGENICS.

C. B. Davenport, Secretary.

The various duties of the Committee on Eugenics may be summed
up in the three words : investigation, education, legislation.

The first, and for some time the main, work of the committee
must be investigation. We want, above all, to learn as soon as possible
how human characteristics are inherited. The results of the new
science of heredity give reason for anticipating that many, if not
most, characteristics are of an alternative sort, either not reappearing
in the offspring or reappearing in predictable proportions, depending
upon the distribution of these characteristics in the ancestry. We
have already seen that a score or more of characteristics, largely
specific diseases, are inherited in such alternative fashion, and about
tjieir behavior in progeny definite information has been given. We
must ascertain the facts about other characteristics.

The data must first be collected; then analysed. This work is so
Vast that it must be divided between many people — specialists able to
weigh and analyse scientifically the results. Consequently it has been
found desirable to appoint sub-committees to collect and study the data.
A sub-committee on Feeble-mindedness has been organized under the
chairmanship of Dr. A. C. Rogers, Superintendent of the Minnesota
School for Feeble Minded and Colony for Epileptics, and with Dr. H.
H. Goddard, Director of the Department of Psychological Research
at the New' Jersey Training School for Feeble Minded Girls and Boys,
as secretary. At the present moment this committee is collecting
answers to the question: "Do two imbecile parents ever beget normal
children?" This committee has most important interests, since the
number of feeble-minded in the United States alone is probably not
less than 150,000, of which 15,000 are in institutions."
• A sub-committee on Insanity is being organized under the chiair-
rtiatiship of Dr. Adolf Meyer, for some time Director of the Patho-
logical Institute of the New York State Commission in Lunacy and re-
cently appointed head of the Phipps Psychiatrical Institute at the Johns
Hopkins University. The secretary of this sub-committee is Dr. E.
'E. Southard, Pathologist to the State Board of Insanity, Massachusetts.
This sub-committee has important work to do, for there are over
150,000 insane in the institutions of the United States alone.

" Bureau of Census. Special Reports : Insane and Feeble-minded In Hospitals and
Institutions. 1904, p. 205.

REPORT OF THB COMMITTEE ON EUGENICS. 127

Other sub-committees are contemplated to study the protoplasmic
basis of eye defects, deafness, predisposition toward lung and throat
trouble, toward diseases of the excretory and circulatory organs; to-
ward cancer, skin diseases, crippled appendages and so on. Still
other sub-committees should deal with criminality and pauperism, with
the effects of consanguineous marriages and of such mongrelization
as is proceeding on a vast scale in this country. Perhaps other sub-
committees, recruited from those who make physical examinations,
will study inheritance of muscular strength, of sound wind and en-
durance. Possibly registrars of colleges will serve on sub-committees
for the study of inheritance of various intellectual traits. Other sub-
committees will be added as needed.

A second class of investigation may better be undertaken by the
central committee. It is the obtaining of records of the inheritance
of characteristics of health, ability and temperament from typical
American famihes. In the attempt to secure such records 5,000
blanks have been distributed and about 300 family records received
back. These are being studied to determine the laws of incidence o(
disease and the inheritance of various other characteristics. This sort
of work might be taken up by genealogists who wish to incorporate
more biological data in their family histories. The limitations to this
work are set only by lack of means for carrying on correspondence.
It seems possible that data of this sort might be collected by the
national Bureau of the Census for limited registration areas.

While the acquisition of new data is desirable, much can be done
by studying the extant records of institutions. The amount o*f such
data is enormous. They lie hidden in records of our numerous charity
organizations, our 42 institutions for the feeble-minded, our 115 schools
and homes for the deaf and blind, our 350 hospitals for the insane,
our 1,200 refuge homes, our 1,300 prisons, our 1,500 hospitals and our
2,500 almshouses. Our great insurance companies and our college
gymnasiums have tens of thousands of records of the characters of
human blood lines. These records should be studied, their hereditary
data sifted out and properly recorded on cards and the cards sent to
a central bureau for study in order that data should be placed in their
proper relations in the great strains of human protoplasm • that are
coursing through the country. Thus could be learned not only the
method of heredity of human characteristics but we shall identify those
lines which supply our families of great men: our Adamses, our

128 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Abbotts, our Beechers, our Blairs, and so on through the alphabet.
We shall also learn whence come our 300,000 insane and feeble-minded,
our 160,000 blind or deaf, the 2,000,000 that are annually cared for
by our hospitals and homes, our 80,000 prisoners and the thousands
of criminals that are not in prison, and our 100,000 paupers in alms-
houses and out.

This 3 or 4 per cent of our population is a fearful drag on
our civilization. Shall we as an intelligent people, proud of our
control of nature in other respects, do nothing but vote more taxes
or be satisfied with the great gifts and bequests that philanthropists
have made for the support of the delinquent, defective and dependent
classes? Shall we not rather take the steps that scientific study dic-
tates as necessary to dry up the springs that feed the torrent of de-
fective and degenerate protoplasm?

Greater tasks than those contemplated in the broadest scheme of
the Eugenics Committee have been carried out in this country. If
only one-half of 1 per cent of the $30,000,000 annually spent on
hospitals, $20,000,000 on insane asylums, $20,000,000 for almshouses,
$13,000,000 on prisons, and $5,000,000 on the feeble-minded, deaf and
blind were spent on the study of the bad germ-plasm that makes
necessary the annual expenditure of nearly $100,000,000 in the care
of its produce we might hope to learn just how it is being reproduced
and the best way to diminish its further spread. A new plague that
rendered 4 per cent of our population, chiefly at the most productive
age, not only incompetent but a burden costing $100,000,000 yearly to
support would instantly attract universal attention, and millions would
be forthcoming for its study as they have been for the study of cancer.
But we- have become so used to crime, disease and degeneracy that
we take them as necessary evils. That they were, in the world's
ignorance, is granted. That they must remain so, is denied.

The second great duty of the Committee on Eugenics, education,
is not less important than investigation. For the ascertained laws
would be more than scientifically interesting; they would be guides
to action on the part of the reading, thinking public. As precise
knowledge is acquired it must be set forth in popular magazine articles,
in pubHc lectures, in addresses to workers in social fields, in circular
letters to physicians, teachers, the clergy and legislators. The nature
and the dangers of unfit matings, the way to secure sound progeny,
must ever be set forth.

INHERITANCE OF HATCHING QUALITY. 129

And, finally, when public spirit is aroused, its will must be crystal-
lized in appropriate legislation. Since the weak and the criminal will
not be guided in their matings by patriotism or family pride, more
powerful influence or restraints must be exerted as the case requires.
And as for the idiots, low imbeciles, incurable and dangerous criminals,
they may under appropriate restrictions be prevented from procreation
— either by segregation during the reproductive period or even by
sterilization. Society must protect itself; as it claims the right to
deprive the murderer of his life so also it may annihilate the hideous
serpent of hopelessly vicious protoplasm. Here is where appropriate
legislation will aid in eugenics and in creating a healthier, saner
society in the future.

We come now to the practical question. How can the necessary
studies be made? It is believed that the Committee on Eugenics may
well be entrusted with organizing the work along the lines that have
been successfully begun or it would cooperate with anybody that
seemed better able to organize the work. But it can do nothing
without funds. The committee does not soHcit funds — but it stands
ready to do the nation's business by making clear the nation's need
to legislators and to philanthropists. One can not fail to wonder that,
where tens of millions have been given to bolster up the weak and
alleviate the suffering of the sick, no important means have been pro-
vided to enable us to learn how the stream of weak and susceptible pro-
toplasm may be checked. Vastly more effective than ten million
dollars to "charity" would be ten million dollars to eugenics. He who,
by such a gift, should redeem mankind from vice, imbecility and suffer-
ing would be the world's wisest philanthropist.

INHERITANCE OF HATCHINQ QUALITY OF EGGS IN

POULTRY.

Raymond Pearl, Orono, Maine.

1. There has recently been completed a general study of the in-
fluence of certain factors on the fertility and hatching quality of
hen's eggs.^ Amongst other factors, inheritance received particular

" Of. Pearl, R., and Surface, F. M. Data on Certain Factors Influencing tlie
Fertility and Hatching of Eggs. Maine Agr. Expt. Station, Bulletin 168, pp. 105-
164. 1909.

130 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

attention in this study. Certain of the results obtained in regard to
this factor suggest conclusions believed to be of some general signifi-
cance in relation to the practical breeding of other animals than
poultry. On this account I venture to present here a brief summary
of these results and to point out the considerations suggested by
them which seem to me likely to be of interest to animal breeders in
general.

2. The actual results obtained regarding the inheritance of the
developmental qualities of eggs may be first set forth. For a detailed
account of these results the original paper must be consulted. By way
of definition it should be said that in this study "fertility of eggs'' was
measured as per cent of eggs set which were infertile; and ^'hatching
quality of eggs" was measured by the percentage of fertile eggs
which hatched. Correlation tables were prepared showing (a) the
mother's and the daughter's percentage in fertility of eggs, and (b)
the mother's and daughter's percentage of fertile eggs hatched, for
every motlier-daughter pair for which complete records extending
through a whole hatching season (March 1 to June 1, circa) were
available. The numerical results obtained from an analysis of the
correlation table relating to hatching quality of eggs are shown in
the following table:

Hatching quality of eggs in mothers and daughters.

^ ^ ^ Hatching quality I

Constant i Qf gggg I

Number of mother-daughter pairs , t 87

Mothers' mean percentage of fertile eggs hatched .... 52 . 96 ± 1 . 23

Mothers' standard deviation 17.00 =fc .87

Mothers' coefficient of variation

Daughters' mean percentage of fertile eggs hatched . .

Daughters' standard deviation . . . .' i 24 . 92 =fc 1 . 27

Daughters' cofficient of variation | 52 . 27 * 3 . 32

Coefficient of correlation between mother and daughter I .03.1 ± .072

32.00 ± 1.80 I
47.67 ±1.80 '

There are a number of interesting matters brought out by this
table, but we will here confine our attention to the main point,
which is that there is no sensible correlation between mother and
daughter in respect to hatching quality of eggs. Even though we
make the appropriate corrections to allow for the selection of the
mothers, it still remains the case that the correlation -is insignificant.
It is not, however, justifiable to conclude that there is no inheritance

INHBRITANCB OP HATCHING QUALITY, 131

of this character — "hatching quality of eggs" — because of the absence
of a sensible correlation between mother and daughter in regard to it.
The character may be inherited, but in a manner which is not well
brought out by the ordinary parent-offspring correlation table.

3. Another line of approach shows that, as a matter of fact, this
character is inherited, and in a definite and sensible degree. A
correlation table was formed which showed for every possible pair
of full sisters which occurred in the pedigree records the percentage
of each sister's fertile eggs hatched. The coefficient of correlation
indicating the degree of "fraternal" inheritance with reference to this
character was calculated with the following result:

Correlation between sisters in respect to per cent of fertile eggs
hatched, r = 0.188 =fc 0.060.

Or, in other words, we get here a sensible positive sister-sister
correlation. There is a definite degree of what may be called "fra
ternal" or collateral inheritance of the character "hatching quality
of eggs," even though this character is apparently not inlierited in
the ancestral line.

The apparent contradiction in the results from parental and fra-
ternal correlation here is only apparent and not real. We may expect
to get sensible coefficients of fraternal inheritance associated with low
or insignificant parental coefficients, whenever the phenomenon of
prepotency in the ancestral line occtirs. This is exactly what careful
study of the individual records shows to exist in the present material.
The point is that the absence of a significant parentai correlation does
not mean that hatching quality is not inherited. It merely means
that the existence of such parental inheritance is masked by the
existence of varying degrees of prepotency with reference to this
character amongst the mothers. The existence of such prepotency is^
perfectly apparent from the study of individual pedigree records and
from the correlation between sisters in regard to this character. This
case well illustrates the danger which rnay lie in too hastily drawing^
conclusions from mass material without careful study of the in-^
dividual cases.

The general result which is reached from this study is that the
character "hatching quality of eggs" (measured by per cent of fertile
eggs hatched) is definitely inherited in the female line and probably
also in the male line.

132 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

4. If hatching quality of eggs iSfan inherited character it is clearly
something which can be improved by proper selective breeding. In
the poultry breeding experiments at the Maine station selection with
reference to this character is being practiced. This is done practically
through the use of what has been called a selection index number.*
The selection index number in actual use for poultry has the formula :

I, =

5 (a + 6)

^ c+d+1
wherein I^ denotes the selection index number;

a = percentage of an individual bird's fertile eggs hatched ;
b = percentage of eggs actually laid by this bird to the total
number it was possible for her to lay between February
1 and June 1 (i, e., the breeding season) of the year
for which the index is calculated ;
c = percentage of this bird's eggs infertile ;
d = percentage of total number of this bird's chicks which die
within three weeks from the date of hatching.
It is clear that in this index the hatching quality of eggs is
relatively heavily weighted. Results already obtained appear to show
a beneficial effect of this selection, and indicate the probability of a
more marked effect in future generations.

5. In all practical animal breeding one of the most important
factors in. the determination of relative success or failure is what may
be dalled the "breeding capacity" of the stock. By "breeding capacity''
in this sense is meant, broadly speaking, the ability of the stock to
produce vigorous healthy young in relatively large numbers.

In the selective breeding of nearly all of our domestic animals,
whether for fancy or utility points or both, little or no attention has
been paid to the breeding capacity of the stock. Like the poor in
human society, the "shy breeder" among thoroughbred animals is
always with us. The experimental investigation here summarized
shows definitely, however, that in poultry the chief factor concerned
in "breeding capacity," namely, hatching quality of eggs, is inherited.
It is highly probable that "breeding capacity" depends upon essentially
and fundamentally the same biological factors in all of the domestic
animals. There would appear to be three fundamental factors
primarily concerned in the determination of whether a fertilized

*» Pearl, R., and Surface, F. M. Selection Index Numbers and their Use in
Breeding. Amer. Nat, Vol. XLIII, pp. 385-400. 1909.

INSECT BREEDING. 133

ovum shall develop into a healthy and vigorous organism: (a) A
noimal structure of the developmental machine (ovum, embryo, etc.) ;
(b) an adequate endownient of energy with which to carry through
the developmental processes until the stage in development is reached
where energy may be obtained from external sources ; and (c) a normal
degree of resistance — probably originating through the existence of
(a) and (b) — to the ordinary environmental vicissitudes which every
individual must meet in the course of its embryonic life. I can see no
reason why these factors should not operate in an essentially similar
manner in cattle, sheep, and swine, for example, as well as in poultry.
But if this is the case, and at the same time, as we have shown, the
general effect of the operation of these factors is definitely inherited
in poultry, it strongly suggests the possibility that by paying attention
to "breeding capacity" and selecting with reference to it in all breeding
operations, whatever their primary objects, it rnay be possible to im-
prove considerably this character in thoroughbred live stock in general.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Poultry.]

INSECT BREEDINa.

Vernon L. Kellogg.

There are so few domesticated insects — the honey-bee and silk-
worm are the only conspicuous ones — that insect breeding is a field
little worked. In recent years the experimental breeding of a few
undomesticated kinds, notably various species of beetles in the hands
of Tower at Chicago, Johnson at the Carnegie Laboratory of Experi-
mental Evolution at Cold Spring Harbor and McCracken at Stanford,
has been carried on by students interested in problems of heredity.
The results of this breeding are of value primarily to pure science,
but secondarily to practical science. Any specific definite knowledge
of the order or laws of inheritance in insects is bound to be some-
time useful knowledge.

For example of how such knowledge sought and gained by stu-
dents of heredity without any particular thought of a practical applica-
tion of it may nevertheless have an immediate economic importance, I
may refer to a case of partly personal work.

134 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE,

For the last eight or nine years I have bred experimentally each
year many thousands of individuals, representing pure cultures and
crosses of fourteen races of silkworms, in an attempt to discover
whether this insect followed Mendelian principles in its inheritance,
or, if not, what other order of heredity was discoverable. Incidental
to the main object of the work opportunity was afforded by this
extensive and protracted series of rearings to test various other par-
ticular problems correlated with inheritance.

Practically all the generalizations that economic silkworm breeders
may utter concerning the effects of crossing, based on their centuries
of continued but desultory and unplanned breeding, can be printed
on a single page of this size. Indeed, in the latest authoritative
French manual of silkworm culture a direct attempt to sum up the
knowledge of inheritance in silkworms does occupy just about that
much space. Now if the results of the recent few years' work of
scientific breeding by Contagne in France, Toyama in Japan and
myself in this country be generalized, the statements of fact touching
the course of inheritance ia silkworms are much more extensive and
definite than all those empirically gained during hundreds of years
previous. Not that their application to practical silkworm breeding
can produce conditions as much better compared with present ones
as present ones are better than the first one, because no such further
great biological betterment is possible. But if a silkworm breeder
were to start today again from the primitive conditions without the
knowledge gained by centuries of breeding, but only with that gained
by the last ten years of scientific experimental work, he could reach
the same breeding conditions that now exist in immeasurably less
time than it has actually taken. The order of inheritance of larval
and pupal (cocoon) characters of silkworms is now fairly definitely
known. Hybridizations made in the light of this knowledge can
accomplish with great certainty and swiftness results that would
otherwise require untold time and much "trial and error" following
uncertain paths.

Just as the rules of inheritance in silkworms have been worked
out so they can be for the honey-bee. And this knowledge is much
needed. Real and great improvement in beekeeping can be made on
a basis of such knowledge; more indeed than can now be made in
silk-raising.

HYBRIDIZING GAME BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY. 135

Also there will come soon — it must have come already — a, demand
from the economic entomologists who are collecting and disseminating
insect parasites of insect pests for a more accurate and detailed knowl-
edge of their behavior when bred under conditions different from
their usual ones. This knowledge can only be got from extensive
series of experimental rearings. Whether parasites of hosts not
identical with but closely allied to American pests can be "induced"
by selective rearing to change their food habits a little to our advan-
tage, or whether under new conditions parasites of promise may not
tend to scatter their efforts and become less useful: these are ex-
amples of queries that must already be coming to the student of
parasites and must be answ^ered by him on a basis of planned experi-
mental rearing. And from experimental rearing to selecting and
hybridizing, that is, to "breeding,'' is but a step. We shall have
more domesticated insect species soon if by domestication is meant
amelioration or modification by breeding.

[Presented by the Committee on Breeding Bees and Other Insects, Dr. L. O. Howard, Chairman.

HYBRIDIZINO GAME BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY.

WaIvIvACE Evans, Oak Park, Illinois.

Hybridism among our native game birds in a wild state is in
general not very common, but in the pheasant family it is quite
prevalent, especially so among those raised in captivity. Some breeders
take great delight in the crossing of these beautiful creatures.

I am sorry to say it has been a great drawback to the breeders who
are striving year after year to keep their flocks pure. To illustrate
the mischief done along these lines, I would refer to the Amherst and
Golden Pheasants as furnishing a striking example, it being almost
impossible to purchase birds of one of these varieties, either in this
country or Europe, that are not tainted with the blood of the other.
It is not my intention to claim in this paper that hybridism among
game birds is beneficial except in a few well-selected varieties, and
even then there are doubts. I can only speak of my own experience
up to the present. As time passes, however, it may become apparent
that what I now consider an improvement is only temporary, and the
hybrids that now appear to me as an improvement may as years go

136 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

by prove otherwise. I must admit that as far as the pheasant family
is concerned hybridism is detrimental, with possibly a few exceptions,
and even with these few there are grave doubts as to its being bene-
ficial in the long run.

As an illustration I will mention the crossing of the English Ring-
Neck Pheasant (Phasianus torquatus) with the Dark-Necked Pheasant
(Phasianus colchicus). The offspring of these two parents at first,
or for the first year or so, appears to be an improvement in size,
contour, and color, excepting, of course, that the white rings around
the neck diminish in size. In a few years, however, it becomes very
apparent that the improvement, if at all, is only temporary, for the
birds now begin to show a faded or what breeders call a "washed-out"
appearance. They lose their beautiful sheens or iridescent colorings
and do not at all compare in beauty with the pure-bred parent stock.

The crossing of the Gplden Pheasant with the Amherst Pheasant
furnishes one of the most conspicuous examples of the detrimental
eflfects of hybridism. Like colchicus and torquatus, their eggs are
fertile and hatch fairly well. The male bird from the first cross when
in its full nuptial plumage appears very beautiful indeed to the in-
experienced breeder, but to the true fancier and breeder this gorgeous
mongrel has neither charm nor place.

If hybrids of these varieties are allowed to breed among them-
selves year after year their colorings become mingled to such an extent
as to make them displeasing to the eye of even a casual observer.
They also diminish in size and lose the nice shape of the pure-bred
bird. Eventually they breed out entirely unless new blood is frequently
introduced. Therefore, 1 claim that there is nothing to be gained by
hybridizing these two varieties.

A great many breeders of pheasants, especially amateurs, wail and
wonder why they cannot raise successfully the young of the Golden
and Amherst, also other varieties. During the breeding season I
receive numerous letters from parties all over the country asking for
advice and stating that they have failed to raise the young birds.
Most of them in telling their troubles simply state that the young
birds seem to wilt and die off without any apparent cause during the
early stages of their existence. While I will admit that there are
many other causes that may have had something to do with these
failures, yet to those who have failed I will say that, strange and
perplexing though it may seem to them, one of the chief reasons is

HYBRIDIZING GAME BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY. 137

hybridism — the bird that laid the eggs or its mate is a hybrid, a
mongrel, and the chances are that neither you, I, nor anyone else
could have raised the young to maturity. Nature here has stepped in
to prevent their increase ; it is simply one of the many cases where man
has failed to improve upon nature's handiwork, and in her wisdom
she has interfered to prevent the increase of that which is not an
improvement and which would soon result in the loss of the original.

Pheasants of the same genus are generally fairly prolific when
crossed but the eggs of a bird mated up with one of a different genus
are seldom fertile, and in the few cases where they are fertile the
offspring is not capable of breeding again ; there is, therefore, nothing
to be gained by trying to cross birds of a different genus.

During the past breeding season I got very good results by
crossing the pure-bred Mongolian Pheasant (Phastanus mongolicus)
with P, torquatus, using the Mongolian male and the torquatus female.
These two being of the same genus proved to be very prolific and the
offspring seemed to be quite strong; the colorings, rich and deep;
flight, high and swift. This being my first season in crossing these two
varieties, I cannot say how they will turn out on the second cross;
but from all appearances I think they will prove a fine game bird for
this country.

Another very interesting hybrid is the offspring of the Reeves
Pheasant crossed with the English Pheasant.

Waterfowl hybrids are also very interesting. One of the most
singular cases of the crossing of wild geese I have accomplished was
by mating a Canada gander with a female Tiger Brant (White-
fronted Goose). The offspring of this union are very peculiar in
appearance, having light smoky cheeks, tiger markings on the breast,
and the white front at the base of the beak similar to that of the
mother bird. In size they are slightly smaller than the Canada goose,
but their shape and carriage is more pleasing to the eye of the observer
than that of either parent.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Wild Birds.]

■M*^

Editorials

The decision of the Council of the American Breeders Associa-
tion to publish a quarterly niagazine, in addition to its Annual

• Report, will be hailed with pleasure by a great number

the Breeder ^^ investigators and practical breeders. The art of

animal and plant breeding, though rapidly advancing,
is still in its infancy. It is only within the last twenty years that the
laws of heredity, on which all successful work in this line depends,
have become at all susceptible of comprehension or of definition.
This art, like all others, cannot be long practiced as a trade by rule
of thumb. It must rest on science, and science must be exact, so
far as it goes, else it is not science at all.

The science on which the art of selective breeding rests consists
in the main of five categories of knowledge: Variation, heredity,
environment, selection, and segregation. We have, first, variation,
its facts and its factors. No two animals, no two plants, no two seeds,
no two germ cells in this world were ever quite alike. On this rests
the possibility of change in the succession of life, and with change
the possibility of improvement. And by improvement the practical
breeder means fitness for the use of man. In nature, improvement
means greater fitness for the struggle of life, greater power of hold-
ing its own. This natural improvement is something very different
from that which man seeks, and m.ost creations of the breeder would
fare badly in the rough and tumble of the desert or the woods. Both
ideals are again diflfereht from that of structural advancement. It
is now* and then an advantage in the struggle for existence for animal
or man to have structural complexity. But it is not always so. The
world swarms today with one-celled animals and plants, more nu-
merous and more varied than in the dawn of life. The development
of man through sheer ingenuity rather than strength is an exception
in nature, and of man there are plenty of individuals, but not many
species.

With variation goes the fact of heredity. Like produces almost
like, and this difference in likeness is largely due to the fact that in
all the specialized groups of animals and plants each individual has

EDITORIALS. 139

two parents. Each individual shows a mosaic of characters drawn
from each parent, and through each from farther ancestors; and be-
sides the characters shown or "dominant" there are other characters
hidden or "recessive," which may be as patent in lives of future
•generations as the traits which are dominant. Each individual has
twice as many ancestors as his father or mother had, hence no in-
dividual can be an exact or slavish copy of either parent. The physical
basis of heredity is in part understood. Its laws or methods of
operation are becoming each day more clearly understood, and the
persistence of type from generation to generation is the solid ground
on which the selective breeder rears the structure of his specific
creations.

The fact that in every way the laws of heredity and the related
laws of life are absolutely the same in man and the animal kingdom
gives the studies of animal breeding the greatest practical value as
appHed to man. The evil effect of the destruction of the best, and
of breeding from the weak or inert, is just as plain in the history of
Greece and Rome as it can be in the history of a neglected or abused
herd of cattle.

With these studies goes the investigation of the effects of the
environment on the individual and on the race. With the increase
of knowledge we have seen that the environment is an indirect factor
in race changes. It does not influence the race by its effect on the
individual, but rather by its power to determine what sort of an
individual shall survive. There is still much to learn of the way in
which environment influences the process of variation, and the whole
subject affords material for the most clever experimentation.

Of course, all artificial race improvement must rest on artificial
selection, as all natural advance is conditioned on natural selection.
The art of crossing to promote variation, with choice of resultants,
constitutes the fine art of selective breeding. Selection without segre-
gation or separation is ineffective, whether natural or artificial. The
results of segregation rise in greater and greater importance, with
closer study of their character and meaning.

All these subjects as related to the breeding of animals and plants,
and men, for men are higher animals, will find treatment in this new
magazine. We are sure that such a repository of available truth on
flie vital questions will find a deserved welcome. — David Starr
Jordan.

140 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Through the agency of plant and animal forms the United States
annually produces wealth to the amount of eight billion dollars. Of

this, at least five billion is produced by cultivated

Breeding: A plants and domesticated animals, in which the forces

Great Economic r i i- • i i

Movement ^ heredity are, m a large measure, commg under

the will of man. Authenticated records exist of
instances in which the value of the product has been increased 10, 25,
and even 50 per cent by systematic breeding. Practically all those
who have had successful experience in creative breeding agree that
it is conservative to estimate that by this means an average of 10 per
cent can be added to the value of this five billion dollars worth of
products.

The American Breeders Association has assumed to lead in the
organization of cooperation among private and public agencies to
bring about annually the addition of this $500,000,000 of wealth. A
number of States are organizing plant breeding establishments. The
United States Department of Agriculture is cooperating with the
State experiment stations in this work; and both have much inde-
pendent creative breeding work with many species of plants and
breeds of domestic animals. The State experiment stations, the
United States Department of Agriculture, and other research or-
ganizations, as the Carnegie Institution, Harvard University, Cornell
University, and Leland Stanford University, are studying the laws
of heredity.

c c c

The American Breeders Association selects for publication in the

American Breeders Magazine, from the papers given at the annual

meetings, and reprints most of them in the bound Annual

Report. For the latter are reserved other articles, but
Magazine to hi , , . .^ ^ ,

a Friend especially those rather too ultra-scientific for the MagOr

zine. Thus the scientific articles appear in the bound

volumes. The five Annual Reports already published show what a

rich library on heredity and breeding may be built up by every member

of the Association.

The plan of giving the Magazine when read to a friend enables

the members to use their copies of the Magazine to help them in

securing new members. Therefore when you have read a number

hand it or mail it to someone who ought to be a member of the

Give the

EDITORIALS. 141

American Breeders Association. Speak to him or write him a letter
inviting him to become a member. If you think it would, help write
the Secretary of the Association requesting him to join you in inviting
your friend to become a member. Try thus to make your four quar-
terly numbers help you get one or more new members.

«. c c

People generally have a wrong conception of the process of creat-
ing new hybrids between varieties, breeds, or species. The hybrid is

not a general compounding: of the two parental
Making of Hybrids . r^u ^u ^ ^ k t

Not Understood. forms. Often the average of a large number of

hybrid individuals of the first, second, or later
generation is not an improvement over the original. Sometimes the
first generation hybrid is an improvement because a group of valuable
characters are dominant in this generation. This dominance may not
mean, however, that the average of the second and later unselected
generations is superior to either parent. The mass of individuals —
progeny of a union of two given species — cannot be called a hybrid
variety or breed. Any such mass is made up of many varying
elements; often it is apparently a tangle of unit characters. A pure-
bred variety or breed can be produced only by most rigid selection
from large numbers of the hybrid, both to secure excellence and to
secure at least reasonable uniformity. In other words, the breeder
produces many hybrid individuals and discards all but possibly one iri
thousands. This closely selected hybrid stock then represents not
the average between the parents but the recombination of certain
desired characters of both parents. The original act of hybridizing
is usually a very simple matter. The scientific method, the artistic
skill, and the long-continued, careful, patient effort from the second
generation on are the larger factors. Intelligence almost akin to
genius is required in hybridizing, to extract from the hybrid those
blood lines which will make the most valuable recombination of the
characters possessed by the two parents.

The experiment in hybridizing Brahma and European cattle, as

described on page 91 by Mr. Borden, and the brief statement by Mr.

Riley on page 107 introduce the subject of the wider intra-

H brids Auction and hybridizing of domestic and wild animals. Wide

cooperation between institutions interested in improving

our domestic animals and the keepers of zoological parks has been

142 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

suggested in order that more may be known of the kinds of hybridizing
which may be done among species and among domesticated breeds
and wild species. The editor invites a general discussion of this
subject.

In connection with the importation of Brahma cattle, numerous
questions arise: Would pure-bred Brahma cattle pay better in our
southern section from Texas to Florida than the cattle
^'*^"*^ of Europe? Would it not be wise to introduce both the
Hybrids ^^^^ milking breeds and the best meat breeds from India?
Mr. Fairchild reports that there are good milking breeds
in India. Would it not be well to import them and to produce for our
Southern States a cross between our highly developed dairy breeds
and these Brahma dairy breeds? May it not be possible to produce
hybrid beef breeds with considerable dairy ability ? Might not an
infusion of the blood of the best European and American beef cattle
form a better basis for economic meat production in India than the
present breeds of Brahma cattle? Could not India greatly improve
her dairy breeds by widely hybridizing the best native dairy breeds
with the best pure-bred dairy blood of Europe and America? Mr.
Fairchild's reference to the beef and milk breeds of Brahma cattle
in Bulletin No. 27 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 1902, seems to
have opened up a most interesting question.

It would seem that there exist in the various races of horses,
donkeys, and zebras characters which if recombined to the best ad-
vantage might produce hybrid work animals much superior
H b 'd ^^ ^^^ forms we now possess. The fact that the horse-
donkey hybrid is sterile need not be taken as an unsur-
mountable obstacle. There may be found ways of so crossing three
or more species that fertile hybrids may be produced which include
the blood of the horse, the donkey, and the wiry zebra. And it may
be possible to segregate from many such hybrids a few rare individuals
with the power to become a mighty race of horse hybrids. There are
certainly qualities in these species which if the recombination could
be made and segregated would make most valuable animals. Those
in charge of investigations with horse hybrids are anxious to trace
up any cases of alleged fertile horse-donkey hybrids.

EDITORIALS. 143

Under the terms of the vote changing the Constitution, the
chairman of 4:he Committee on Eugenics, President David Starr

Jordan of Leland Stanford University, and the secre-

Orffanizati(m ^^^^' ^^' ^* ^' I^^venport of the Station for Experi-
mental Evolution of the Carnegie Institution, become
respectively the chairman and secretary of the new section. It is
understood that the sub-committees of the Committee on Eugenics
will now be called committees of the Association. It is hoped that by
the next issue the committee organization can be given. Dr. C. B.
Davenport by virtue of his office as secretary of the Eugenics Section
becomes one of the editors of the Magazine and of the Annual Report.

C <L C

Those who led in organizing the study of heredity in man as
a branch of the work of the American Breeders Association saw

something of the difficulties as well as of the possi-
The Movement \^ixi^{q^ foj. go^^ jn this line of effort. It was firmly

Eiurenics believed that the membership and the scientific leader-

ship in this virile new organization furnished the best
available auspices under which work in eugenics could be begun.
Here are associated those who will conserve the formal traditions and
will seek for truths upon which still better traditions may be built.
The group of workers chosen by the membership of this Association
to work at this problem will be sane, safe and conservative. It Is
believed that such a group of chosen leaders will gain an authoritative
place in the discussion of the subject which will reduce to a minimum
the irrational discussion of the subject by those merely seeking
notoriety or by those who might carelessly weaken the morality which
is growing up with family life.

«. c c

None know so well as the breeders of plants and the breeders

of animals the narrow limitations prescribing the selective breeding

of the races of men. On the other hand, the para-
Narrow Limits for ^ • ^^ r i.u • i n
,. -^ mount importance of the species makes even small

improvements relatively of large value. While

restrictions upon people with abnormal heredity may be a result of

scientific investigation, doubtless much the larger work is the develop-

144 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

ment of a body of sane knowledge and its dissemination for voluntary
use. The religious impulse of the human family to do that which is
good for the whole people and is beneficial to posterity will no doubt
serve in putting into operation such suggestions as the science of
eugenics may find it important to make. In no other line can science
and religion so closely cooperate as in the production of races of strong
people. None should feel a more vital interest in research in eugenics
than those who have been chosen to direct the moral and religious
life of the community.

The extensive moral and educational movements on which
eugenics must chiefly depend to carry forward its teachings will come
whenever the time is ripe. But this may be added, that social workers
are learning how to start, organize and carry on nation-wide and
world-wide moral movements. The world is learning how to marshall
its spiritual and intellectual and moral forces. That these movements
do at times proceed grievously slow should not be held against them,
but is rather in their favor. It would be effort well spent if as a
result of an educational eugenics campaign this country could show
at the close of the century a reduction or at least a check in the
expenditure of $100,000,000 annually now being made for the main-
tenance of hospitals for the insane, asylums for the feeble-minded,
prisons, reformatories, and similar institutions.

A greater total of human happiness, higher social standards, higher
average of individual efficiency, greater personal security would be
the gain, if within this century it became possible to reduce the present
three and a quarter million defectives, criminals, insane, vicious and
incapables in various institutions in the United States by ever so small
a fraction, purging the blood current of the nation of base heredity
elements and producing less of the human wreckage which fills 'those
institutions. Once the energies of man are directed to the study of
heredity in his own race it may be that both the average of heredity
values and the number of geniuses may be increased. In any event
good and not harm is assured from the movement modestly but
powerfully inaugurated.

Who knows but that students will make discoveries of stupendous
moment in eugenics? This word is yet so new as the chosen symbol
to name the theme of the study of heredity in man, that relatively
few have even seen or heard it. Yet ere a generation has passed, it
may be that the leading characters of all the members of each family

EDITORIALS. 145

in the entire country will be card-indexed. When will there be courses
of study to prepare men and women to collect, tabulate, and interpret
the statistical facts of how heredity manifests itself in all families
and races and in all the many mixtures of the blood of peoples which
have come from all climes and represent all tongues? The fact that
the Committee on Eugenics of the American Breeders Association
appreciates and insists that eugenics must be investigated before it
can be taught, is an assurance that this work will proceed cautiously
and with due regard for all family and general social traditions.
It is not unlikely that portions of these teachings can best
be promulgated through the church and through other educational
agencies less public than the common schools. But that the
fires of science will light up mariy places now dark in the better-
ment of plant, animal and human forces is a foregone conclusion.
The American Breeders Association has made no mistake in assuming
to guide the thought along these lines as well as to promote great
activity in their consideration.

c c c

An office for eugenics records has been opened at Cold Spring
Harbor, Long Island, New York, by C. B. Davenport, secretary of
An Office for ^^^ Eugenics Section. This office will be under the

Eugenics Records, i^^^^^^iate charge of Professor H. H. Laughlin,

superintendent. Through the assistance of a friend
of the work, a house has been secured, a small fireproof addition will
be built, and the work of installing records already collected and of
gathering additional records has begun. Six field visitors, working
for the most part in connection with State institutions, will assist in
the study of the records. It is hoped that professional men and those
successful in various lines of activity will take an interest in aflfording
data for the study of inheritance of their family traits. Blanks for
such family records are still available and will be sent out from the
above mentioned office.

The London Times, of Wednesday, April 13, 1910, contains a
thoughtful leader under the heading "Eugenics." It is pointed out

that the systematic extension of the new science of
School ChUdren. ^^^^"^cs is beginning to make itself felt in the in-
vestigation of many questions of great significance,
concerning which it is important for the national welfare that we
should arrive at correct conclusions.

Investigations by Mr. Heron, Galton Research Fellow, in the
Gal ton Laboratory for Eugenics,, are referred to in the article. Mr.
Heron, from research based upon the London County Committee
school survey, embracing twelve schools, formulates as his conclusions
from that particular investigation that "There is no sign of an en-
vironmental condition producing an effect on the mentality of the
child, at all comparable to the known influences of hereditv."

D D D

In an article appearing in the initial (January) number of the
Zeitschrift fuer das gcsamtc Getreidewesen (Grain Journal, Breslau,

Germany), Dr. Kurt v. Ruemker, director of the
of Winter Eye Agricultural Institute, Breslau, describes the

methods by which he originated two new and com-
mercially valuable varieties of rye, and summarizes the results, obser-
vation, and experience of eight years' work in the breeding of rye.

Color of the grains of rye is an hereditarily transmissible charac-
teristic, capable of fixation by selection, and therefore of direct prac-
tical value. The bluish green color of grain transmits more inten-
sively and regularly than the grass-green or yellowish green shades.
A characteristic of the grains of the latter two colors is that the
resulting plants are coarse, the grain heavier but softer, and plants
inclined to lodge. The green-grained varieties were observed to stool
more freely than the yellow grained varieties. Brown-grained varie-
ties lacked hardiness and also were low yielders of both grain and
straw. The darker the shade of brown the lower were the yields.

NBJ4^S AND NOTES. • 147

This also applies to varieties with brown-tipped germ ends. There is
objection also to short-grained ryes, because shortness of grain is
intensified by heredity and is correlated in direct ratio to yield of
straw and per cent of grain. No relation could be established between.
color of grain and shape of spike, and length of the growing and
fruiting period. The per cent of grain to straw decreased almost
regularly as stooling propensity increased. Where a variety shows
inclination to stool abundantly, it is important, in making selections,
to give preference to the heaviest yielding stalks.

Protein content has less relation to color of grain than to plump-
ness, increasing as that increases.

Yellow-grained varieties were more difficult to develop than the
green-grained, but once developed transmitted that characteristic with
greater regularity and certainty and much sooner reached the point
of gametic purity than the green. Rye seems to produce xenias in the
same way as corn. Yellow-grained varieties of winter rye seem con-
vertible into spring rye more easily and quickly than the green-grained.
Whatever be the color or variety, it has little established agricultural
value unless its heredity is known and unless it comes of selected
strains.

With open-pollinated species, selection and separation of types
in the first generation is not sufficient to fix types, but must be fol-
lowed by repeated selections. Even with close - pollinated species
selection must be continuous.

D e O

The Khedivial Agricultural Society of Egypt has voted funds for
the establishment of a Mendelian Experiment Station, at Cairo, Egypt,
for the study of heredity in cotton. This is probably the first institution
devoted to the study and application of Mendelian principles to the
improvement of plants for economic purposes.

D D

The Garden Island Honey Company, of Honolulu, H. I., is
planning to establish a breeding station for the improvement of
Italian bees on an isolated island of the group, as soon as necessary
arrangements can be made. The company hopes not only to improve
the bees but also to furnish an early supply of queens to bee keepers
in the Northern States. — E. F. Phillips.

148 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

The legislature of the State of New York recently appropriated
$90,000 for a poultry building at Cornell University and a 50-acre

tract has been set apart for poultry work on the Uni-
Bnlldinff versity Farm. The poultry division of the College

of Agriculture of New York has a corps of nine
technical people. Prof. J. E. Rice, the head of this division, is to
be congratulated.

To most people the hen seems an unimportant part of American
agriculture. They do not seem to be aware that our poultry, with a
product of nearly $700,000,000 annually, stands beside the dairy,
wheat, and cotton as one of our great interests. These aggregate
figures show its real significance from an economic point of view.
The fact that this business is divided into so many small units on the
family farms of the country results in its receiving little concentrated
attention. This makes it all the more necessary that the science and
practice of the feeding, breeding, and management of poultry be
wrought out by public departments and experiment stations. Leaders
in poultry departments in our State colleges and agricultural high
schools need no longer be backward in assuming the importance of
the needed public work in the interests of poultry. The achievements
in education and research with poultry at the Rhode Island, New
York, Maine, and other experiment stations show that public money
spent under wise direction will enable our agricultural colleges and
experiment stations to assist most profitably in the production of
poultry.

• » • •

The death of James L. Reid, of East Lynn, Taswell County,
Illinois, which occurred recently, has removed a highly useful man,

one whose services were rendered in the simple.

Breeder of Com P^^^^^^ ^^X Peculiar to so many noble characters who,

having found their work, pursue it singlemindedly,
quietly, and perseveringly. Mr. Reid took up the improvement of
corn in 1846, a time when the word plant breeder was not used as
frequently as now, nor with the same peculiar significance. Mr. Reid
had devoted his lifetime to the creation of the variety of yellow corn
which now bears his name. He gave the world a fixed, prepotent,
and characteristic variety of yellow corn. The value of his service
cannot well be computed in exact sums of money, but that farming in

NBIVS AND NOTES, 149

the great corn belt has been benefited in a material way, is realized
by all who know the importance of the corn crop in American
agriculture.

• • • •

There is always a strong impulse on the part of many poultry "
breeders to attend too exclusively to markings of color, and to form.

These are valuable identifying characters in pure-
Breeding Poultry \y^Q^ fowls, but sometimes the egg-laying power, the
for EfffiT
Production thickness of meat on breast and legs, and also early

maturity and other utility characters receive too little
attention. An idea has come from Australia to the American Breeders
Association of a plan for use by State fairs, experiment stations,
agricultural colleges, and agricultural high schools in encouraging the
breeding of chickens with high egg-producing ability. The memo-
randum below was designed as a suggestion for the board of man-
agers of the Minnesota State Fair. It would seem quite as valuable
a suggestion for other State fairs and even more especially for ex-
periment stations, agricultural colleges, and agricultural high schools,
and is therefore presented herewith:

PRIZES FOR COMPETITION IN EGG PRODUCTION.

Prizes open to the world are offered for pens: of chickens which make the
best annual record of production of eggs.

The time of beginning the test shall be August 15, and the time of closing
shall be the same date of the succeeding year.

Pullets shall be not more than six months old and hens shall be not less
than fourteen months old at the time of entering upon the contest.

A pen shall consist of six females and one male.
Group I. For pen of hens producing largest number of eggs (averaging

2 ounces each) $50

II. For pen of pullets producing largest number of eggs 50

III. For pen of hens producing greatest profit above cost of feed. . 50

IV. For pen of pullets producing greatest profit above cost of feed. . 50
Entries will be closed one month before the beginning of the tests, that

suitable pens and runs may be provided for all entries. The management will
provide for the housing, care, and feeding of the pens of fowls: and will prescribe
a uniform plan of feeding for the several pens. All hens will be trap-nested
and individual tgg records will be kept, including the weight of the eggs. In
addition, an accurate account will be kept of the value of all food used and
of the number and value of all eggs laid by each pen and of all other factors
which enter into the competition

150 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

The fowls shall be left for exhibition at the State fair (or other show) fol-
lowing the completion of the contest

A cock or cockerel suited to the production of pure-bred chicks of the same
breed must accompany each pen of females. The eggs laid by the hens shall
become the property of the State board of agriculture (college, or other organiza-
tion in charge) and may be sold for breeding purposes at customary prices for
pure-bred eggs.

Entries must be made at least a month before the date of beginning of the
contest. Unless at least ten pens are entered, the management reserves the
right not to proceed with this contest, and unless more than one entry is made
in a group the management will not start that group for the contest.

The minimum age at the beginning of tlie^ contest will of neces-
sity be chosen to meet the conditions as affected by the time of the
year chosen for opening and closing the contest. Experience may
dictate a change in the date at first chosen. Pullets usually begin
laying at about six months of age. Where it is desirable to have
the hens start at the same time as the pullets it may be necessary
to choose a date on which they can best start into their second year
of laying, as in the autumn when they are a year old.

/ Where the work is done on the grounds of the State or other
agricultural fair, the test year may be set to begin a week or two
before the opening of the fair. Those visiting the fair can then see
the experiment in progress; and the birds which have finished in the
previous year's contest can be on exhibition, showing their relative
standing at the close of the year's contest. The outgoing pens of
fowls can be on exhibition in the general poultry show building, where
the details of the contest can be displayed on charts or in other suit-
able manner. — W. M. Hays.

When our local, State and national live stock shows develop
comprehensive exhibits showing centgener families of dairy stock,

trotting horses, and poultry, these exhibits will have a pro-
g. found influence in placing the breeding of the classes of

live stock named on a statistical basis of individual and
centgener values, which will help to lead up to a broader philosophy
of breeding meat-producing and work stock.

The editors have received many words of commendation, hearty
good will, and encouragement upon the appearance and contents of

the first number of the Magazine. All this is greatly ap-
w rd preciated and will stimulate to renewed effort and faithful

service. Here is a thought which each individual member
will do well to appropriate: With the intellectual, highly trained, and
successful class of men who compose the membership of the Asso-
ciation, and each contributing, the Magazine can be brought to an
unusually high standard of excellence and can be made very helpful
and valuable. Each member should make it his duty to contribute
in a way that he thinks will add to the interest and variety of contents
of the Magazine, and will enlarge its usefulness as a means of inter-
communication and as a repository of scientific facts.

Here is what Hon. Wm. George, Vice-President of the Associa-
tion, says:

I wish to congratulate you upon the fine appearance of the initial number
of the American Breeders Magazine. It certainl}^ needs only a little of your
energy and push to make it a success.

Prof. James E. Rice, Cornell University, writes as follows:

This is to congratulate you on the splendid first issue of the A. B. A.
Magazine. From every standpoint it is high grade and unique. This will be
a splendid inducement for securing new membership.

An editor's opinion of the Magazine — Edwin C. Powell, editor
Farm and Home, Springfield, Mass:

I have looked over the Magazine with much interest. I want to congratulate
you on not only the high type of articles but the very readable manner in
which they are presented.

Another editor, John B. Conner, of the Indiana Farmer:
We are well pleased with the Magazine.

From W. J. Wright, Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Penn-
sylvania State College :

152 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Please accept my congratulations for the excellence of Vol. I, No. i, of

the American Breeders Magazine, which has just reached my desk. As a

teacher of plant breeding at this: institution I shall expect to derive much
benefit from its pages.

And we are no little proud and pleased over the following from
Prof. Charles E. Bessey, of the University of Nebraska:

I am very much pleased with the appearance of the first number of the
American Breeders Magazine. It is well gotten up and the subject matter
contained in it is good and I think must prove to be useful.

The office of the American Breeders Association is unable to
fill any orders for back volumes of the Annual Report, except Volume
IV. These may be had at $2 per volume. There is a con-
« stant call from new members for back numbers of the Report,

and we are obliged to disappoint these many inquirers. Old
members who happen to have spare copies of the earlier reports
which they care to dispose of are requested to give the Secretary their
names and addresses and number of the volume for sale.

Libraries desiring to keep complete sets of the publications of
the American Breeders Association will find it greatly to their ad-
vantage to take life memberships in the Association.
Pubii ti ^^^ Secretary has on file a number of applications from

libraries, for back volumes, which can be filled only with
difficulty and will probably require considerable time. With the ad-
dition of the Eugenics Section the publications will assume a larger
importance and command a wider interest than ever before, and will
be valuable additions to general libraries.

Members are requested to be prompt in notifying the Secretary
of changes of address, and it is suggested that city addresses be given
complete as to street and number.

The delay in sending out the programs for the last annual meet-
ing, held at Omaha, Neb., was due to the fact that several members

ASSOCIATION MATTERS. 153

were slow in sending in the titles of their papers. It

Send in Titles j • i_i ^ -j ^t.- l -i. x-

Pa« IS very desirable to avoid this embarrassing situation

this year. The programs of our annual meetings dis-
play very advantageously the strong features of our organization and
the immense scope of its work. Moreover, an interesting program,
sent out in ample time for the recipients to make preparations to
attend the meeting, may be instrumental in securing a large attend-
ance. Notwithstanding the fact that the Association cannot com-
plain on that score, as all meetings have been well attended heretofore,
we must constantly strive for larger possibilities; while a fair at-
tendance is good, a big attendance is still more desirable. Hence the
Secretary suggests that members having papers in course of prepara-
tion should send in the titles as early as it can conveniently be done.

At the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Breeders Associa-
tion, following a suggestion communicated by the secretary of the
Committee on Eugenics, Dr. C. B. Davenport, Professor
The New -^ g Hansen gave notice of a proposition to change the

Tin (rati 4 /*a c ir o

Section Constitution of the Association to raise the Committee on
Eugenics to a third section coordinate with the Plant
Section and the Animal Section. On April 26 the Council voted to
submit this proposed change to a vote of the membership. x\ccord-
ingly, the Secretary mailed a vote to the members on June 2 and on
July 1 the vote was counted, Mr. C. W. Warburton, Dr. C. G.
Palmer, and Mr. Nat. C. Murray acting as tellers, and certifying the
vote. It stood 499 for the change and 5 against, and notice of the
change is hereby given.

From the time of the meeting in December, when the matter of
submitting the change of Constitution was brought up, until a vote

by the members of the Association was obtained, the

Constitution pointing of the Constitution of the Association was held

of the r - ^ 1.1 1 .1

Association ^^ abeyance, although many requests have come to the

Secretary's office, especially from new members, for
copies of the Constitution and By-laws.

The amendment having carried, the Constitution as printed here-
with is brought up to date, and between the covers of the Magazine
is in permanent and handy form for reference.

154 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Constitution.

Article I. — Name. — The name of this Association shall be the American
Breeders Association.

Article II. — Purposes. — The purpose of this Association shall be to study
the laws of breeding and to promote the improvement of plants and animals
by the development of expert methods of breeding.

Article HI. — Membership. — The annual membership shall consist of per-
sons, societies and institutions interested in the objects of this: Association
and paying the prescribed annual fee. There shall also be life members, who s:hall
have paid a fee of twenty dollars; patrons, who shall have made a gift to the
Association of the value of one thousand dollars or more; and honorary
members.

The names of patrons shall be retained in the lists of patrons as long as
the Association exists. Any person who shall have done notable service in
advancing the objects: of the Association may be elected an honorary member
by the Council. No more than two honorary members may be elected in any
one year, and there shall be no more than ten honorary members.

Honorary members, life members and patrons shall be exempt from annual
dues.

Article IV. — Organization. — The officers shall be a President, a Vice-
President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. An honorary President may be chosen
at any annual meeting.

There shall be a Plant Section, an Animal Section and a Eugenics Section,
each with its" Chairman and its Secretary.

There shall be a Council of nine members, which shall have charge of the
affairs of the Association when it is not in session and during its meetings
shall be at the command of the Association. The Vice-President, the Secretary,
the Treasurer, and the Chairmen and Secretaries, of the Plant Section, of the
Animal Section and the Eugenics Section shall be ex-officio the nine members
of the Council.

Any action taken by any section relating to the public policy of the Associa-
tion, to become operative must be approved by the general association.

Article V. — The Council. — AH resolutions and all amendments to the Con-
stitution and By-Laws shall be submitted to or referred to the Council and
approved by them before they may properly come before the Association.

Article VI. — Meetings. — A meeting of the Association shall be held annually
at such time and place as may be determined by the Council.

Article VII. — Elections. — Election of officers for the ensuing year shall be
held the last day of the annual meeting, and sttch election shall be by ballot.

Article VIII. — Amendments. — Amendments to this Constitution may be
made by a majority of the Council with the concurrence of two-thirds of the
members of the Association voting upon the question by mail within thirty
days after the notice is mailed by the Secretary, providing that the amendment
shall have been discussed in general sessions at the previous annual meeting,,
and that printed notice shall have been given to the entire membership.

\

ASSOCIATION MATTERS. 155

By-Laws.

Section I. — Meinhership. — ^The active members shall be: First, delegates
of societies of plant and animal breeders, horticultural societies, agricultural
societies, biological societies, of colleges, universities or experiment stations,
or of other organizations interested in the objects of this Association; Second,
plant and animal breeders and those interested in the improvement of plants and
animals, or in investigations or instruction relating thereto, and other persons
interested in the purposes of this Association. The Council shall determine
the eligibility of the applicant. Application for membership shall be made to
the Secretary on a printed form furnished by the Secretary.

Section II. — Privileges of Members. — All classes of members shall be
entitled to vote. Each member is entitled to one copy of the annual report
issued by the Association.

Section III. — Delegate Membership. — Librarians: of institutions and secre-
taries of societies, in their official titles, may become members and receive
publications, and their official addresses may appear in the list of addresses
of members.

Section IV. — Dues. — ^The membership dues of persons, of societies and
of institutions shall be two dollars and shall be payable upon notification of
election and annually thereafter.

Section V. — Arrears. — A member in arrears over one year shall cease to be
an active member, but may be restored by paying all arrears.

Section VI. — Officers. — ^The officers shall perform such services as are
ordinarily required by their positions and shall serve until the election of
their successors.

Section VII. — The President. — The President shall serve for one year,
shall preside over the annual meetings for which he is elected and shall give
the annual address.

Section VIII. — The Vice-President. — ^The Vice-President shall serve for
one year and shall preside in the absence of the President.

Section IX. — The Treasurer. — The Treasurer shall serve for two years,
shall receive and hold all moneys coming to the Association, and shall disburse
or invest as Trustee all moneys as directed by a majority vote of the Council,
and shall keep an accurate and detailed account of all receipts and disbursements
and make a report of the same to the Council at or before each annual meeting,
and a summarized report shall be furnished the Council, which shall be made
to the annual meeting. The records and accounts of the Treasurer shall be
open to the inspection of merhbers. The Council shall require a suitable bond
of the Treasurer.

Section X. — The Secretary. — The Secretary shall be the executive officer
of the Association, acting under the direction of the Council. He shall keep
a record of all proceedings of the Association and of the Council, of membership
dues and miscellaneous receipts collected, and pay all moneys received and aJl
balances promptly to the Treasurer. He shall arrange with local committees
for the annual meetings, send notices, receive, record and hold in trust
property of the Association other than investments and funds in the hands of

156 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

the Treasurer, arrange for the printing and distributing of reports and other
printed matter, procure all material and .assistance required in the prosecution
of these duties and perform all other duties delegated to' him by the Council.

Section XI. — Duties of the Council. — The Council shall appoint committees
of its members or of the Association, shall control the presentation, discussion
and publication of papers, shall determine upon the place and time of the annual
and special meetings, shall arrange through the Secretary for local committees
to receive and entertain the Association, shall examine the reports and accounts
of all officers and committees and shall pass upon all other business not trans-
acted by the society. The meetings of the Council shall be called by the Chair-
man, through the Secretary.

Six members present, or voting by mail, shall constitute a quorum and a
majority vote shall determine all questions. At its annual meeting the Council
shall hear the reports of the Treasurer, of the Secretary and of committees
and shall transact other necessary business. The Council may vote by mail
ballot upon questions submitted to them by the Secretary, voting for or against,
or to refer to the Council at its next meeting.

Section XII. — Meetings. — The Annual Meetings are to be called by the
President on the approval of the Council.

Section XIII. — Publications. — The annual reports are to be edited by the
Secretary, assisted by the Secretaries of the Plant, Animal and Eugenics Sections.

Section XIV. — Committees. — The Council with the concurrence of the
Association may organize committees to bring about co-operation and to deal
with such subjects as it may deem important. These committees, besides con-
sidering the general features of their respective subjects, shall annually report
upon the progress of work in specific subjects, work in foreign countries, etc.

Section XV. — Sectional Meetings. — The Council, in making up the program
for the annual meeting, shall so apportion the subjects for discussion to the
general session, to the Animal Section, to the Plant Section and to the Eugenics
Section as shall best serve the interests of all members.

Section XVI. — Amendments. — Amendments to the By-Laws, upon recom-
mendation of the Council, may be made by a majority vote of the Association.

The American Breeders Magazine

Issued Quarterly for Practical and Scientific
Breeders of Animals and Plants

Edited by Willet M. Hays, N. E. Hansen, H. W. Mumford

and C. B. Davenport.

Contributions to the American Breeders Magazine come from the
membership of the American Breeders Association, which comprises the
brightest students of heredity and the most successful breeders of plants
and animals in America and foreign countries. These men are achiev-
ing results that loom large in science, in farming, and in commerce,
contributing not only to the world's wealth but also to its real welfare.
Nowhere else will one find so much important matter dealing with
heredity and breeding enclosed within the covers of a single publication.
Next quarter the following will be among the contributions:

HEREDITY OF FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS

By H. H. Goddmrd

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BREEDING NUT AND
FOREST TREES By Geo. B. Sudworth

THE MULE-FOOT HOG By W. J. BpiUmmn

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ANIMAL HYBRIDS

The study of the heredity of feeble mindedness furnishes Dr. God-
dard material for an interesting article, which is illustrated by fifteen
remarkable heredity charts.

Mr. Geo. B. Sudworth, as the Dendrologist of the U. S. Forest Ser-
vice, is especially qualified to report on breeding nut and forest trees.

Of the breed of mule-foot hogs described by Professor Splllman
there are 285 breeders in twenty-two states. The breed is not a recent
production, since it seems Aristotle knew of it. The article describes its
origin and history, its relation to disease, and the anatomical structure
of the solid hoof. Several excellent illustrations elucidate the text.

The report of the Oommittee on Animal Hybrids gives a birds-eye
view of the cross-breeding work carried on at the several experiment
stations for the purpose of establishing new tsrpes and breeds. The
breeding of cattaloes, Brahma cattle, wolf-dog hybrids, pheasant-
chicken hybrids, and crosses of existing pure-bred races is briefly dis-
cussed.

Other articles wUl be provided, varied enough to engage the most
diverse interests.

Secure the Magazine by taking membership in the Association.
Dues, $2.00 a year. Single copies may be had at 90 cents each.

Address AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

Washington, D. C

The American Breeders Magazine

Published Quarterly by the American Breeders Association

FOR THE USE OF ITS MEMBERS

PRICE OF SINGLE COPIES, FIFTY CENTS

Address communications to American Breeders Association, Washington^ D. O.

Vol. I. Third Quarter, 1910. No. 3.

CONTENTS. p^Q,

Joseph Gottlieb Koelreuter (portrait) 158

Koelreuter, Bakewell, and Rimpau (biographical sketches) 159

Robert Bakewell (portrait) 161

Wilhelm Rimpau (portrait) 163

Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness (illustrated). Hknry H. Goddard "^165

History and Peculiarities of the Mule-Foot Hog (illustrated). W. J. ^Ptti*-

MAN V^ . . 17a

Climate and Eugenics. Chas. E. Woodruff 183

Report of Committee on Breeding Nut and Forest Trees. Geo. B. Sud-

WORTH 185

Report of Committee on Animal Hybrids. W. J. Spii^lman 193

Report of Committee on Breeding Fiber Crops. J. H. SheppERD. 197

Walnut-Oak Hybrid Experiments. Ernest B. Babcock 200

Report of Committee on Breeding Cereals. C. A. Zavitz 203

Breeding for Type of Kernel in Wheat (illustrated) . Herbert F. Roberts . . . 204

Acclimatization in Breeding Drought-Resistant Cereals. Robert Gauss. . . 209

EDITORIALS: l

Need of Members 218

Aims of the Magazine 219

History Repeating Itself. George W. Knorr . . 220

Heredity in Man . . . : 221

Efficiency Records of People. W. M. Hays 222

NEWS AND NOTES:

Increasing Weight of Fleeces. Nat. C. Murray 228

Unrewarded Merit 229

Private Game Preserves Beneficial 231

Dark-Skinned Animals in the Tropics 233

Wild Prototypes of Wheat and Other Cereals in Palestine , 234

Variation and Correlation in Timothy 234

ASSOCIATION MATTERS:

Committee Members 235

Eugenics Section : Its Organization 235

157

Joseph GottuEb KoetsEoiER.

THE AMERICAN
BREEDERS MAGAZINE

" Speaking of all the generations past
To all the generations yet to come." — J. G. Holland.

Vol. I. Third Quarter, 1910. No. 3.

KOELREUTER, BAKEWELL, AND RIMPAU.

Koelreuter has a place of honor as the first breeder to hybridize
plants. Bakewell is in a class by himself among the early pioneers
in originating the British breeds of livestock. Rimpau was first among
the German breeders of cereal crops. Each of these men gained not
only prominence among their contemporaries, but also a place in the
history of breeding. It seems strange that the inspiration instilled by
the work of Koelreuter did not earlier lead to investigations along
practical lines in making hybrids. Bakewell's example in forming
new breeds, on the contrary, was followed by many men and many
communities in forming new breeds of domestic animals.

JOSEPH aOTTLIEB KOELBEUTEB.

1733-1806.

Joseph Gottlieb Koelreuter received an intellectual endowment
from his father, who was a chemist at Sulz on the Neckar, in Wiirt-
temberg, Germany, In 1748 he entered the University of Tubingen,
a very small German institution noted for the famous men it had put
forth. He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1756 and
was soon called to a position in the Imperial Academy of Science at
St. Petersburg. Here he had charge of the extensive collections of
the Academy; here he published his observations on the sexuality of
plants, and it was here that he accomplished the first artificial hybrid-
ization of plants of which botanists have record.

Koelreuter left Russia in 1761 to take the professorship of natural
history at Calw, and in 1763 he was made "director of the gardens"
of the Margrave Karl Friedrich at Karlsruhe, which for that time
had a remarkable collection, the catalogue showing more than two
thousand different species of plants.

160 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

The interest in his work was increased by the fact that the Mar-
grave, and also his wife Margravine KaroHne Louise, were botanists
of some attainments and were also in close touch with Linne and
other noted scientists of that day. Koelreuter^s presence aided in
making the Margrave's gardens a noted scientific center and place
of pilgrimage, and much of the botanical work was made to relate to
farming for the purpose of promoting the agricultural welfare of
Wiirttemberg.

These activities eventually led to the organization of an agricul-
tural society by the Margrave, with Koelreuter as its most active mem-
ber. The records of the society, which are still preserved, show that
he outlined among many other experiments a series of trials with
manures and fertilizers in which the plans used were much the same
as those used in the plot experiments of the experiment stations of
the present day.

ROBERT BAKEWELL.

1725-1794.

Robert Bakewell was the first of those great creative breeders
primarily responsible for the origin of so many definite and valuable
breeds of livestock formed in the British Isles. He was born at Dish-
ley, Leicestershire, England, and began his breeding operations in
1755. . Selecting his foundation from the native sheep of his own and
surrounding countries, within his lifetime he transformed a coarse,
late-maturing breed into one so early-maturing and so fat at a year
old that the markets of the time considered them hardly edible. It is
said that he secured some sheep from Lincolnshire to improve the
wool of his sheep. To Bakewell is due much of the credit for having
redirected the breeders of his time from breeding for size alone and
to begin to breed for form, early maturity and long wool.

By selection and very narrow breeding he produced a flock or
breed which served as a central source of prepotent or dominant
blood that was a very potent factor in the formation and improvement
of English long-wool and middle-wool sheep. Prices for males rose
from several dollars to hundreds, and in rare instances to $5,000.

Some of Bakeweirs contemporaries criticised a certain secrecy
with which he shrouded some of his operations and business, but the
probability is that his contemporaries did not understand the scientific
work of Bakewell. Collections of bones and pickled parts of sheep

ROBEW Bakewxix.

162 AMERICAX BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

anatomy, together with his habit of keeping from view certain breed-
ing animals, notably the "black ram," presumably furnished the neigh-
borhood the material for gossip and for questioning his methods.

Bakewell also improved the heavy ''Shire" horses of his county.
He was also the first great improver of the Longhorn cattle, having
sold the bull of that breed for $1,000. His impress was also placed
upon the Yorkshire swine of the region. The animal forms molded
by him a century and a half ago, and found today on the farms of
every continent, are living witnesses to his genius.

No marble slab marks the burial place of Robert Bakewell. But
his monument exists in the herds of those who are benefited by his
skill as a scientific, practical, and, above all, successful breeder. Bake-
well earned for himself lasting fame as a creative breeder. He truly
was an originator. His peculiar service was in supplying potent ma-
terial with which other breeders could work, and many improvers are
carrying out the work for which he provided foundation material.

The portrait herewith is from an old print loaned the American
Breeders Association by Mr. Richard Gibson, Delaware, Ontario,
Canada, who furnished the facts in the above statement. Visitors to
the Saddle and Sirloin Club, Stockyards, Chicago, enjoy seeing a por-
trait in oil painted from this original.

WILHELM BIMPAU.
1842-1903.

Dr. Wilhelm Rimpau was born at Schlanstedt, Germany. His
father, Wilhelm August, was known as one of Liebig^s most enthusi-
astic disciples and one of the very first to apply his teachings to prac-
tical agriculture. After graduating at the ''gymnasium" or secondary
school he spent two years of apprenticeship on the estate of Von Hop-
penstedt at Liebenburg, to familiarize himself more widely with farm
methods.

He then spent two years at the agricultural academy at Poppels-
dorf and later took up university studies under the famous botanist,
Julius Sachs. Returning to his father's estate, he soon became the
sole tenant; and in 1892 came also in possession of the beautiful estate
Langenstein, in the foothills of the Harz Mountains, where the present
writer visited him in 1899. A large part of the area of the several

164 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

thousand acres of these two farms was devoted to the production of
seed crops, chiefly cereal and sugar beet varieties of Rimpau's own
origination.

While his work in plant breeding extended to many cultivated
crops, he devoted most attention to the breeding of new varieties of
grain, chiefly rye. His method of breeding, which was largely wrought
out with rye, would be termed in the more modern nomenclature
"brqad breeding." The German method of broad breeding of cereal
grains is sometimes contrasted with the American and Swedish cent-
gener rnethod of narrow breeding. Dr. Rimpau's publications covered
a wide scope in the fields of science, agriculture and economics. He
had rriuch to do in inspiring the modern movement in systematic plant
breeding, and so far as the writer knows was the earliest German
breeder of field crops to work in a broad and large way to create better
vari^ies-6f those great products.

■ .». ■>

<\

X

f

HEREDITY OF FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS.

Henry H. Goddard, Vineland, N. J.

The admission blanks of institutions for the feeble-minded gen-
erally have some questions relating to the ancestry of the applicant.
Upon examination of those on file at Vineland, N. J., it was felt that
the answers were not sufficiently accurate to be valuable. In some
cases, at least, parents had stated that which they thought would
get the child into the institution.

Recognizing the difficulty of preventing these inaccurate state-
ments, it was decided to publish a new blank which should be called
the "After-admission Blank,'* containing very careful, detailed ques-
tions about the relatives of the child. This blank was sent to all
parents and physicians, with a little note urging them for the sake of
the child to tell all they possibly could about the child's relatives, their
condition, any diseases they had had, any habits, such as alcoholism,
any insanity or the like which had occurred in the family. It was
expected that this would only be preliminary to more detailed and
careful work later. We were, however, greatly surprised at the
amount of information received, which has since been proved to be
generally very accurate. Upon the basis of this information, we
prepared charts of the children, which were truly remarkable in what
they revealed as to the etiology of feeble-mindedness.

This spurred us on to more careful and detailed work. We were
fortunate enough to find some philanthropic people who were glad
to furnish the funds necessary to employ two field workers. It was
felt that this was very delicate business, but the relation between the
superintendent at Vineland and the parents of the children is so in-
timate and friendly that we have had complete cooperation from the
start. The field worker goes out as the superintendent's personal
representative with a letter from him recommending her and urging
the parents, for the sake of the child, to tell all they possibly can,
and to send her on to other relatives or to any one who may be able
to give the information, which may be used to help their child, or
some one's child. The response has been full, free, and hearty.
Parents do all in their power to help us get the facts. There is very
rarely anything like an attempt to conceal facts that they know. Of
course, many of these parents are ignorant, often feeble-minded, and
cannot tell all that we should like to know. Nevertheless, by adroit

166

AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

questioning and cross-reference, we have been able to get what we
believe to be very accurate data irt a very large percentage of our cases.

The charts here presented are typical of about eighty so far
completed. The symbols used in the charts are the following : Square
indicates male. Circle indicates female. A capital letter indicates
disease, habit, or conditon, as follows: A, alcoholic (habitual drunk-
ard); B, blind; C, criminal; D, deaf; Dwf, dwarf; E, epileptic; F,
feeble-minded, either black letter, or white letter on black ground
(the former when sex is unknown) ; I, insane; M, migraine; N, nor-
mal; Sx, grave sexual offender; Sy, syphilitic; T, tuberculous: W.
wanderer, tramp, or truant.

Any of these letters may be used with no square or circle when
sex is unknown. When even the letter is omitted the vertical line
points to the fact that there was an individual of whom nothing is
known.

Small black circle indicates miscarriage — time is given (in
months) when known; also cause; stillbirth is shown as a miscar-
riage at nine months ; b = born ; d = died ; m = married ; inf = in-
fancy ; hand shows which child is in the institution for feeble-minded ;
illeg = illegitimate; heavy line under any symbol indicates that the
person is in some institution at the expense of society.

El-rO

[St-T-O

B

[-j^i:^6i6[j^^

£

N ■

Chart I.

On the lowest line, which represents the brothers and sisters of
the child in the institution, the children are indicated in order of
birth — the oldest to the left. In other cases the order would be indi-
cated, if known, by numerals placed above the horizontal line.

Chart I shows the maternal grandparents feeble-minded, and they
have as usual only feeble-minded offspring — two girls. One of these
married a feeble-minded man whose brother was feeble-minded and

HEREDITY OF FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS.

167

a criminal, and whose sister was disgracefully alcoholic. However,
a normal brother of the husband married a normal woman and had
six normal children. The offspring of the feeble-minded woman and
this feeble-minded man were three feeble-minded children and two
others who died in infancy. An illegitimate child of this woman is
feeble-minded and a criminal.

(§©Sr&-r4^S^

6ibbii.6

MOS.

i

d6 AZl
MOS. MOS

AT aiRTH

Chart II.

Chart II shows a combination of alcoholism and mental defect
in the ancestry of the parents, resulting in alcoholism on the one side
and direct feeble-mindedness with alcoholism on the other. The
offspring of these two indivduals are all defective — one still-born^
two that died young, one miscarriage, and two feeble-minded.

Q-r®

iS^l-r-®

t]i O 6H-(S) I^ I& (& (§)

T 1 1

iNr. »wr. iwr.

d 7 d «
VBS. VB8.

Chart III.

Chart III is instructive, in that it seems to show the effect of a
combination of alcoholism and mental defect in the father, when the
mother's family is good — herself and sisters being normal. The result
of this woman's marriage with a feeble-minded alcoholic man is five
feeble-minded children, five that died in infancy, two others that died
before their mental condition could be determined, and one normal
child. Apparently a clear case of transmission through the father.

\

168

AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Chart IV, also, seems to show the defect coming through the
male, the grandfather, a feeble-minded man, marrying a normal
woman, the result of this marriage being two feeble-minded children

lNj-r-<N)

€)

A TWINS

d 10 I 17MOS.

MOS. h OLD

Chart IV.

k

and two normal ones. One of these normals married a normal man.
They had six normal children, one feeble-minded, one who died in
infancy, and one infant still living, but condition unknown.

EJ

<S) D

(n) [nJ (n) (^ [a]

o

Q

i«t wire

[n] [S] (S) [nJ [A] [n1(n

E}

d
7 YHS.

£)

Chart V, A.

El

O

(N)|N]©(^lA|-r-4^(N)[i](A)(A)

an4 WIFC

i TWINS

Chart V, B.

Chart V is presented in two parts — A and B, It gives us what
may be called a natural experiment of extreme suggestiveness. The
father of our child was twice married. He himself is alcoholic, other-
wise his family seems to be very good. His first wife was a normal

HBRBDITY OF PBBBLB-MINDBDNBSS.

169

woman, but a victim of tuberculosis. The result of that marriage
was eleven children, of whom five are known to be normal, the others
died young. This man married for his second wife a woman who
was alcoholic and feeble-minded, and who had two sisters, a brother,
a father, and a mother that were also alcoholic. The result of this union
was seven children — three feeble-minded, two that died young, and
two that are as yet unknown. It seems to be fairly clear in this case
that the father's alcoholism may have caused the physical weakness
that led to so many early deaths in the first family, but the mother's
defect has been directly transmitted in the second family, with the
result that there are at least three feeble-minded children. We might
also add the two others that died young, because, according to the
definition of Tredgold which describes an idiot as "one who cannot
avoid ordinary dangers,'' these children were also defective, since
they were both killed at play, apparently not being able to protect
themselves in a usually harmless game.

(§^h-©

(5I^SSSS^&

n

MOS. MYS

TWINS

Chart VI.

Chart VI shows a marked instance of the defect skipping a gen-
eration. The maternal grandmother was feeble-minded, her husband
was alcoholic, but not one of their children was defective. Indeed,
four of them were distinctly normal. However, the mother of our
child had had St. Vitus dance, a brother is alcoholic, a sister had had
St. Vitus dance, and another hysteria, but mentally, they were not
defective. The father has no history of mental defect in his family;
he himself was alcoholic, but his five brothers and sisters and the
parents were normal. Nevertheless the result of the union of these
two is three feeble-minded children, one still-born, one that died in
five days, two miscarriages, and two normals. If we had this family
only, perhaps it would be too hazardous to ascribe these three feeble-

170

AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

minded children to the influence of the feeble-minded grandmother,
but when we look at the other children of this grandmother we find
that a second daughter has a feeble-minded child, and a third daugh-
ter had an illegitmate child that died young, and later two feeble-
minded children born in wedlock, and the third child of that woman
was defective in eye-sight. The husbands of these women are not
known to have been defective. It seems a clear case of the defect
passing over from the grandparents to the grandchildren.

D

O

2n4 l«t

Wire Wire

pifii(S)(S) iSl

d 6
WK9.

I — I — r

T

F

F

Chart VII.

Chart VII shows the father twice married. His first wife was
feeble-minded, and bore him one feeble-minded child and another
child that died at six weeks. As will be seen, this wife's family is
a bad one, there being five feeble-minded children from a father who
was tubercular and a mother who was tubercular and feeble-minded.
Two of the sisters married. One had at least two feeble-minded
children, the other had one. Coming back to the father of our child,
he married the second time a normal woman who gave birth to three
normal children and one who died at two years.

Chart VIII (in two parts) is in some ways the most astonishing
one we have. There are in the institution at Vineland five children
representing, as we had always supposed, three entirely independent
families. We discovered, however, that they all belonged to one
stock. In Chart VIII, A, the central figure, the alcoholic father of
three of the children in the institution, married for his third wife a
woman who was a prostitute and a keeper of a house of ill-fame, herself
feeble-minded and with five feeble-minded brothers and sisters. One
of these sisters is the grandmother represented on Chart VIII, B.

On A it will be seen that this alcoholic man was four times mar-
ried. He comes from a good family but was spoiled in his bringing
up, became alcoholic and immoral — a degenerate man. His first wife.

HEREDITY OF I'EEBLE-MINDEDNESS.

171

however, was a normal woman and it is claimed that the two children
were normal. For his second wife, he took out of the poorhouse a
feeble-minded woman. Her children were : two normal, one that died
young, and one feeble-minded. He married the third time. The
woman was the prostitute above referred to. She had three illegiti-

D-rO

a-rO

j^ ± ± — I — I — I — I — r

(Md^IOjQ tssmm

wire

2n4

wire

<§M ^

T

mr.

^tOA^^^

k k k

AUNSNOUSC

Chart VIII, .4.

mate children, all feeble-minded. After their marriage, they had three
children, all of whom are feeble-minded. Two of these are in this
institution. The father then deserted this woman and married a
fourth wife who is alcoholic and a prostitute. Of this union, however,
there are no children.

There is, moreover, very strong evidence that he is the father
of the third child in this institution by another woman, who is also
feeble-minded.

D

ALMSHOUSC

<D

H-H^ddl^l^d

[5SBWS^fii-H^o^^S^^

^""J^'fiWS^oSWS^^i

k

Chart VIII, B.

Chart Vni, B, will be understood if we note that the mother's
mother is a sister of the third wife of the much married man of Chart
\^in, A. This sister married a feeble-minded man, and the result

172

AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

of that union was seven feeble-minded children, of whom one is a
criminal and one an epileptic. Four are married. The feeble-minded
epileptic woman married a normal man, who is one of a fairly good
family. His mother was insane, the father died in an almshouse;
however we find no mental defect. As the result of this marriage,
we have seven feeble-minded children, four others that died in infancy,
and there were two miscarriages. This is the fourth child of this
strain that is in our institution. The fifth one referred to is a half-
sister of the other girl referred to on Chart VIII, A.

D-

HUSBAND

Oi-D

Ch-O

Itt
HUSBAND

Ut

wire

[a| ' (N)|N](i)(N)

I I I I I I I I I I I I I

rnesE all uieo uNoef{3>« xrs.

Chart IX, A.

Chart IX (also in two parts) is another one of nature's experi-
ments. The father of the child in this institution, an alcoholic man,
was married twice. His first wife was a normal woman of good
family. The result of this union was nineteen children, all born
within a period of nineteen years. Thirteen of these children died
under three and a half years of age, three are distinctly normal, one

2nd
HUSBAND

O-KD

HUSBAND

B

2ntf

wire

€)

^ D <1 d d

Chart IX, B.

neurotic, one alcoholic, and one unknown. This man had a congenital
defect in the number of joints in the fingers. However, not one of
these nineteen children showed that defect.

This man was married a second time to a feeble-minded and
alcoholic woman, the daughter of two alcoholic parents. She has a

HEREDITY OF FEEBLB-MINDEDNESS. 173

feeble-minded brother, besides a normal brother and a normal sister.
The result of this union was eleven more conceptions, three resulting
in miscarriages and the rest mental defectives. Every one of these
children shows the father's defective fingers or toes, one of them is
also deaf. Apparently the first wife was prepotent and overcame
entirely the husband's defect of fingers, and there was no feeble-
mindedness. In the second marriage, however, this defective woman
was not prepotent in that she allowed him to transmit his physical
defect, although she transmitted her mental condition.

MUM»IO HUSBAND

«

€>-T-iSWfiEi 90h1I-hSh

lid^^ iJSTT^rBS^

m

tf d <i
^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^fmr mr. mr,

i O MOS. MOS.

ClIAKT X.

Chart X shows the descendants of a feeble-minded woman who*
was married twice. Her first husband was normal. There were four
normal children, one of whom is alcoholic. This alcoholic son married
a normal woman and produced two feeble-minded and three normal
children. This is another instance of the defect skipping a genera-
tion, being transmitted by the grandmother through the father.

The second marriage of this feeble-minded woman was with an
alcoholic and immoral man. The result was four feeble-minded chil-
dren. One of these became alcoholic and syphilitic and married a
feeble-minded woman. She was one of three imbecile children born
of two imbecile parents. The result here could, of course, be nothing
but defectives. There were two still-bom, and three that died in
infancy. Six others lived to be determined feeble-minded. One of
these was a criminal. Two are in the institution at Vineland. The
mother's sister also has a feeble-minded son.

Chart XI also brings together in its two parts (A and S) two
children in the institution that were not previously known to be
related. The maternal grandmother in A is the maternal grand-
mother in B, being the grandmother of both of these children, as well
as of several other defectives. The mother of our child on A was

174

AMERICAN BREBDURS MAGAZINE.

an illegitimate daughter of this woman. She was feeble-minded;
she married a feeble-minded son of a feeble-minded man. The result
was two children that died in infancy, three miscarriages, and two
mental defectives. Going back to the grandmother, we find that she
married, later, a normal although neurotic man. The result of that
union was one feeble-minded, one normal and neurotic, and three
that we do not know about.

^h

66b6db66ikn-«®diidti

^fi?)

I^TLiX

r

F

Chart XI, A.

Chart XI, B, is somewhat complicated, but shows many variations.
For example, one of the sons of this same woman had three children,
one of whom was feeble-minded. A neurotic daughter married a
feeble-minded man who had two feeble-minded brothers and two
normal brothers. The result of this union was the child that is in our

6ii

(^® igS

^

OCCCNOANTS

<S»5S5

mm

mr

m

Chart XI, B.

institution, two that died young, one miscarriage, and one normal
man. This normal man married a normal woman and had two chil-
dren, one of whom is feeble-minded.

Going back to the father of our child, we find that one of his feeble-
minded brothers married a woman who was spoken of as a pervert.

HEREDITY OF FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS.

175

They had two children, one of whom was a criminal and the other
insane. Two other brothers were normal. One had a normal son and
a normal grandson ; the other has a normal son, and a grandchild that
died in infancy. Going back to the third generation, we find that the
grandfather was twice married. He was normal; his first wife was
normal. They had four" normal children and fourteen descendants,
all normal. He married for his second wife the feeble-minded woman
who was the mother of the children already referred to. She had a
brother who was feeble-minded, and another brother whose mental
condition is unknown, but whose child was feeble-minded.

Eh-©

El

O

I^ (5) (1) III [^ I^I [n] ^ (n) [n|-p(n) (n) [nJ

(^ 1 [n][n][n](n)(n)|^|;^

k

Chart XII.

Chart Xn shows a type of imbecility that is clearly not hereditary.
It will be seen that all this family on both sides are normal people,
with the exception of one woman who is reported as being insane

O

D

liO(S)Ot]

®>

d 2
WKS.

®
®

&

o

2^
VHIFC

Chart XIII.

with religious mania. The child in our institution is what is known
as the Mongolian type, and we have come to believe that there will
be no other mental defectives found in such families. Usuallv such

• Only two shown on chart.

176

AMERICAN BREUDBRS MAGAZINE.

2l child is the last born. In this case, there was one other child later,
but he died at the age of ten months. Mongolism is an arrest of de-
velopment resulting from some cause acting in utero, perhaps about
the second month.

Chart XIII presents nothing new, but emphasizes what we have
already seen. Two feeble-minded parents have five feeble-minded chil-
dren. The paternal grandfather, however, seems to have been the one
that transmitted the defect on the father's side.

UhrO

D

^(&($)IlI-H^

(§^^SiS¥5o5 B-Hfo^

iil^H^

inr

Ch^rt XIV.

mr.

[nJ Qy

Chart XIV is particularly interesting as showing the mental de-
fect running through four generations, and through the mother's
family in three of these, although there is defect on the father's side
also in the third generation.

Chart XV perhaps adds nothing new for heredity, mainly em-
phasizing the exhibits of the other charts. However, for a social
study, it is perhaps the best of anything that we have yet found.
Here we have a feeble-minded woman who has had three husbands
(icluding one "who was not her husband"), and the result has been
nothing but feeble-minded children. The story may be told as
follows :

This woman was a handsome girl, apparently having inherited
some refinement from her rnother, although her father was a feeble-
minded, alcoholic brute. Somewhere about the age of seventeen or
eighteen she went out to do house-work in a family in one of the towns
of this State. She soon became the mother of an illegitimate child. It
was born in an almshouse to which she fled after she had been dis-
charged from the home where she had been at work. After this.

HBRBDITY OF FBBBLB-MINDBDNBSS:

177

charitably disposed people tried to do what they could for her, giving
her a home for herself and her child in return for the work which
she could do. However, she soon appeared in the same condition.
An effort was then made to discover the father of this second child,
and when he was found to be a drunken, feeble-minded epileptic living
in the neighborhood, in order to save the legitimacy of the child, her
friends saw to it that .a marriage ceremony took place. Later an-
other feeble-minded child was born to them. Then the whole family
secured a home with an unmarried farmer in the neighborhood. They
lived there together until another child was forthcoming which the
husband refused to own. When finally the farmer acknowledged this
child to be his, the same good friends interfered, went into the courts

D

O

o o-riSgi

n"

d d d
INF. iNr. mr.

S9— 1 — MJM iN^' "*'• Ufl Is

diidii¥^n^^ ^^ 66

k

9
M0S.M08.

Chabt XV.

and procured a divorce from the husband, and had the woman married
to the father of the expected fourth child. This proved to be feeble-
minded, and they have had four other feeble-minded children, making
eight in all, born of this woman. There have also been one child
still-born and one miscarriage.

As will be seen from the chart, this woman had four feeble-minded
brothers and sisters. These are all married and have children. The
older of the two sisters had a child by her own father, when she was
thirteen years old. The child died at about six years of age. This
woman has since married. The two brothers have each at least one
child of whose mental condition nothing is known. The other sister

178 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

married a feeble-minded man and had three children. Two of these
are feeble-minded and the other died in infancy. There were six
other brothers and sisters that died in infancy.

Such is the bare presentation of a few of our cases already worked
up. We have made no attempt to study these points, or to mark
them statistically, as such labor will be more worth while when all
of our cases are completed.

It should be stated that while Chart XV and Chart VIII are un-
doubtedly the worst cases we have come across, the others here pre-
sented are hardly exceptional. They can be matched by many that
we already have on file.*

We have nearly four hundred children in the institution, and we
may reasonably hope to present a fairly complete family history of
at least two-thirds of these. If this prediction is verified, it will give
us enough data to deduce something of importance concerning human
heredity. The work is going on as fast as we can push it. We have
now three workers in the field, and will perhaps add a fourth before
very long. Later we shall hope to present a full report of all our
findings.

HISTORY AND PECULIARITIES OF THE MULE-FOOT HOG.

W. J. Spili<man, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

The principal peculiarity of this breed of hogs lies in the fact
that the hoof is solid, like that of the horse or the mule, instead of
being cloven, as in ordinary swine. In other characteristics they do
not differ noticeably from common breeds. In color they run the
whole gamut of swine colors, though most breeders are endeavoring
to establish solid black as a breed characteristic. The first two illus-
trations show representative specimens of this breed.

DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNlTlvD STATICS.

The idea is prevalent in this country that these hogs originated
in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, or what is now the State of
Oklahoma; but from what follows it will be seen that this is doubtful,

*» Since this was written this family has been further investigated with the result
that we now know the facts concerning 319 members, of whom 119 are feeble-minded
with only 42 known to be normal.

THE MULB-FOOT HOG. 179

though they have been common in that section for more than half a
century. Mr. C. E. Quinn, who was formerly connected with the
Department of Agriculture and who was interested in this breed of
hogs, secured addresses of breeders of mule-foots as follows : Indiana,
145; Missouri, 16; Illinois, 13; Iowa, 12; Ohio, 9; Minnesota, 8;
Arkansas, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, each, 4; Kansas, Kentucky,
Nebraska, and South Carolina, 3 each; California and Texas, 2 each;
and 1 in each of the States Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Caro-
lina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee ; a total of 235 breeders
in twenty-two States. This shows that the breed is rather widely
distributed. Two breeding associations have been formed for the

H. Morrla, IncllaQxpolIs,

registration of mule-foots, one at Mammoth Springs, Ark., organized
in 1904, D. D. Gilson, president; the other organized in 1908 at In-
dianapolis, Ind., W. H. Morris, secretary.

In the short time I have had to prepare this paper I have been
unable to verify the statements which follow concerning the history
of these hogs. One breeder in the State of Oklahoma says: "These
hogs some sixty years ago were originally brought from the South Sea
Islands and turned loose in the Kimish and Little River Mountains
in the Choctaw Nation for the use of the Indians, and have lived there
up to the present time." He further states that he has a considerable

180 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

trade in these hogs with zoological parks. He does not ^ve his
authority for the statement concerning the shipment from the South
Sea Islands.

Other breeders, in their catalogues, make the claim that the mule-
foots originated from a cross between the peccary and the hog. This
claim is evidently based upon the supposition that the peccary has a
solid hoof, which, however, is not the case. The peccary does lack
one toe on the hind foot, but it is one of the small hanging toes, so
that the peccary has a split foot like that of the ordinary hog.

IndlaaapollB, Ind.

Another breeder states that the mule-foots were brought to Dela-
ware from Sweden in the year 163'?. This statement is of some in-
terest in connection with a statement of Mr. Q. I. Simpson, of Palmer,
III., that an old writer speak.s of a solid-hoofed breed in Sweden in
the vicinity of Udall. Mr. Simpson is also authority for the statement
that one of his neighbors, Mr. Madison Curvey, on a trip to Texas
some sixty years ago, saw these hogs in the Choctaw Nation, and
states that the tradition of peccary ancestry was then held by the squaw
men. Mr. Simpson further states that Darwin, in ]859, mentioned

THE MULE-fOOT HOG.

181

the appearance of these hogs in Scotland. Mr. Madison Curvcy,
above referred to, also states that he saw mule-foot hogs at Nauvoo,
III., in 1844. Mr. Simpson further states that Aristotle, in writings
entitled "Researches about Animals," about 370 B. C., tells of solid-
hoofed swine in Greece.

v)

m V

D Ibe specimen at tbe Jeft tbe \i
are separate, as -In ordLnar;
of phalanges U cutapletely

FBOU THH Foot of a Mule-Foot Hoa.
at two pbalani;ea are united ; the remalnlQg pbalaDjcea
hoga. In the specimen at the right tbe last pair
intCed, and tbe neit pair partially so.

While 1 have not had an opportunity to verifj- the evidence here
presented, it suggests that solid-hoofed hogs have come down from
ancient times, and it is not improbable that this characteristic has been
found in certain strains of hogs since these animals were first domes-
ticated.

182 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

RELATION TO CHOLERA.

Not the least important fact concerning this breed is that breed-
ers are selHng mule-foot hogs with the guarantee that they are immune
to cholera. The writer has seen numerous statements from farmers
who claim that they have exposed mule- foot hogs to cholera and that
none of the hogs took the disease. He has seen one or two statements
from farmers contradicting this. Recent tests at some of the experi-
ment stations indicate that the claim of immunity to cholera is not
well founded. Mule-foots exposed to cholera died as promptly as
other breeds. The Indiana State Experiment Station has made such
a test, and reports as follows in Bulletin No. 140 (1910) :

Four pure-bred mule-foot hogs and four hogs of mixed breeding, averag-
ing about 40 pounds in weight, were used in making the test. The hogs were
exposed in the natural way, by turning them into an infected pen in which
hogs having acute hog cholera had died. All of the mule-foot hogs con-
tracted the disease, three developing the acute, and one the chronic form.
Three became fatally ill and the fourth recovered after several weeks. Three
of the hogs of mixed breeding sickened and died or were killed, and the fourth
showed no symptoms of disease.

ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE.

About two years ago the writer obtained from Mr. Q. I. Simpson,
of Palmer, 111., the foot of a freshly killed mule-foot hog, from which,
after the flesh had been removed by boiling, a photograph was taken.
(See page 181, figure at the left.) From this specimen it will be noted
that the metacarpals, basilar phalanges, and middle phalanges are
separate as in ordinary hogs. The ungual phalanges have coalesced.
The figure at the right shows the bones from the foot of another
individual. In this specimen two pairs of phalanges are united.

It is interesting to note that in crosses between mule-foot hogs
and ordinary breeds the mule-foot character seems to be dominant.
Some hogs of mixed breeding have hoofs that are solid at birth but
in which the toes split apart usually at about nine months of age.
In some individuals the rear toes split apart in this manner, while
the front toes remain solid through life. An anatomical study of a
series of bones of these mixed breed hogs would probably reveal facts
ot considerable interest in connection with the inheritance of the
muie-foot character.

CLIMATE AND EUGENICS.

Chas. E. Woodruff. •

It is rather remarkable that, though it is an accepted biological
axiom that a species of living thing survives because it is adjusted
to its environment, there is a strong reluctance to apply the same law
to varieties of man. There is a widespread notion that man is inde-
pendent of environment by reason of his intelligence, by means of
which he can create artificial protection against adverse factors,
climatic or otherwise. This is all the more amazing in view of the
overwhelming mass of evidence that types do die out when they
wander too far from the locality which evolved them. In this process
of decay, the successive generations are more and more degenerate,
until extinction ends the line. One of the purposes of eugenics is
to investigate these migrants, to determine the causes of the injury,
with a view to advocating means of avoiding the adversities and
perhaps insuring permanent survival in places where it is now
impossible.

The first step to take is to acknowledge that the characters of a
type or race have been evolved to adjust it to its environment, either
as a passive protection against harmful influences or as an instrument
in the active struggle for existence. Color, stature, bulk, and each
other character therefore means something vital to survival in the
environment which evolved it; but when migration takes place a
character may no longer be of use, although if it is not a disadvantage,
other than the expense of producing it, it may persist permanently.
Head shape may be of this nature. On the other hand, stature and
bulk, by ordinary laws of radiation, are of vast importance in pre-
serving body heat in a cold environment, and a fatal disadvantage in
hot climates. The bulky are found in the" one and the slender in the
other, and with equal longevity, but American life insurance statistics
show that our overweights are notedly shorter-lived than the under-
weights. Von Schmedel proved fifteen years ago that pigments were
evolved to exclude the dangerous short waves of light and the ultra-
violet so fatal to unprotected protoplasm. The investigations of the
last five years have established his generalization on a firm basis, and
it has been repeatedly shown that light types are evolved in regions
where it is so cloudy that there is not much need of protection, but
that when they migrate to light countries they meit away. If they

184 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

happen upon cloudy places, as in the mountains of central and southern
Europe, they apparently survive permanently. Similar survival will
follow appropriate residence in America, but in our sunny Northwest
numerous observers have reported appalling conditions even in the first
generation of native-born descendants.

Here, then, is a condition of affairs which prohibits healthy,
normal development, and eugenics must take it into consideration.
The importance of the matter needs no comment, as it is evident that
these types from northwestern Europe furnish our best citizenship
and must be preserved. They are the best that Europe breeds and
must be bred up here through the creation of a perfectly hygienic
environment. It is of Jittle permanent value to the race to have these
types flourish for one or two generations, if the subsequent ones are
to melt away from tuberculosis. Even in the more cloudy New
England they do have a higher death rate and the population becomes
steadily more brunet by the survival of the fittest. Ordinary men only
consider present conditions and do not compare with the past as
scientists, but eugenics must look forward centuries in a process of
breeding in which only three generations extend over a century.

Before final extinction of a type, it necessarily furnishes one or
more generations more or less unfit for the struggle for existence,
and these become social parasites. An examination of the inmates of
hospitals, sanitariums, asylums, prisons, and almshouses in each part
of the coimtry is a vital necessity, to show what types are in an undue
percentage. My own investigations have been purely as to pigmenta-
tion, and they prove conclusively that in this latitude as in the similar
ones of southern Europe the lightest types are the least fit, and that
propagation of normal offspring is impossible. All other characters,
like tallness and weight, must also be investigated and the inmates
grouped according to their resemblance to the three main types in
Europe — Nordic, Alpine, and Mediterranean — remembering, of course,
that the Mediterranean type once extended all over Europe and still
survives nearly everywhere, though it developed the Nordic tyj>e at or
before neolithic times, and that the Alpine intruded itself about the
bronze age.

The next great work is an ethnological survey of .the whole
population, together with a determination of whether there has been
any change in families of more than four generations' residence.
It must be remembered that by Mendel's law it is possible for more

BRBBDING NUT AND FOREST TRBBS. 185

or less pure types to appear even when the parents differ. Conse-
quently, if all the blondes disappear the family may become brunet
and of approximately pure type. We cannot assume amalgamation,
but merely an alloy in which one metal distills off.

My investigations so far show that climate evolves type and that
migrants survive or perish according as they settle in a climate
similar to or different from the ancestral one. When there is a marked
difference it is a bar to eugenic development. Moreover, if the adverse
factor can be discovered, it may be a simple matter to guard against
it and produce healthy, vigorous posterity of the brainy race of
northern Europe. Of course, all hope of increasing the size of the
brain by selection of proper mates must be abandoned as absurd, and
in addition some of the best thinkers are physical defectives, unfit
for procreation. Bizarre suggestions to select mates and breed jiip
a physically better type may result in handsome imbeciles. A selection
so far found practicable is that based upon property and has been in
successful operation a long time in Europe among the upper classes.
The only thing we can do is to allow the young to marry whom they
please — a thing they will do anyhow — and then prevent the destruction
of the offspring by avoidable factors in the environment, and the most
deadly of these are climatic. An enormous birth rate has hitherto
been necessary to supply material for human natural selection, but it
is too expensive. We must utilize what the more frail modern woman
can produce — a woman who would promptly perish were she to bear
children as often as her ancestors. Eugenics then must devise means
of rearing a higher percentage of infants, for at present the death
rate among them is still appallingly high.

[Presented by the Committee on Eugenics.]

BEPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BREEDING NUT AND FOREST

TREES.

Geo. B. Sudworth, Chairman.

This Committee on Breeding Nut and Forest Trees has, within
the last few years, fully surveyed in its annual reports the field of
tree breeding and pointed out its possibilities and limitations. The
work now before the committee is to follow the course outlined, and
to report from time to time the progress made and the results obtained.

186 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

It is only natural to expect that more rapid progress will be made
in the breeding of nut trees than in the breeding of forest trees, as is
shown by the papers of individual members of the committee accom-
panying this report. The results obtained are presented in detail in
these papers. In the case of nut trees the improvement sought is in
the form and quality of the nut, a fruit produced either annually or
at short intervals, and, therefore, more responsive to human influences.
The establishment of new varieties of nut trees can be brought about
more readily by grafting and budding than by a selection of seed.
In the case of forest trees the improvements sought are chiefly in
the physical properties of the wood, or in the production of species
or varieties resistant to drought, insects, and fungous diseases. If
these qualities are to be produced alone by breeding, they can not be
secured except by the long, tedious process of seed-selection, which
may require several generations of trees. Since, however, the breeding
of forest trees is still in its infancy in this as well as in older countries,
no results can be expected within a short time. Progress, though,
has actually been made along this line by the creation of the necessary
means of carrying on such long-time experiments in the form of two
forest experiment stations. One is located at Flagstaff, Ariz., and
known as the "Coconino Experiment Station." The other is on Pikes
Peak, near Manitou, Colo., and is known as the "Fremont Experiment
Station."

As a preliminary step toward such experiments at these stations
a study was made last season of the differences in the size, weight,
and vitality of tree seeds of the same species, obtained from individ-
uals grown under different conditions of climate and elevation. Per-
haps the most interesting results along this line were those obtained
with older and younger Western Yellow pine (locally the young trees
are known as "black jack"). Tests of seed from old trees ranging
in age from 280 to 425 years gave an average per cent of germination
of 68.4 ; while seed from young trees, ranging in age from 125 to 145
years, gave 83.2 per cent of germination. These results demonstrate
the superior value of young Western Yellow pine for seeding pur-
poses. If to the inferiority of old yellow pine be added the greater
danger of being thrown by wind, one can appreciate the importance
of these results for forestry, particularly in timber forest planting.

In the table of germination tests (page 188) there have been
brought together the results of seed tests of nine different species of

BREEDING NUT AND FOREST TREES. 187

native conifers obtained from thirty-eight widely separated localities
in the western half of the United States.

Samples of seed of Pinus ponderosa have been received from
eighteen Forests; these Forests are so scattered that the samples may
be taken as fairly representative of the variations met with in the
seed of this species. While only one sample, that from the Datil
Forest, was stated to be of the variety scopulorum, it is quite probable
that several others were in reality this variety, and one or two are
perhaps mixtures of the pure species with the variety.

In two characteristics the samples of Pinus ponderosa vary to a
remarkable extent, namely, in size or weight of seed (number of
seeds per pound) and in rapidity of germination (shown by the
germination per cent at different times). Furthermore, these two
characteristics are apparently correlated, for the light seed usually
germinates much more rapidly than the heavy seed. Again, there is
a distinct connection between these characteristics and the region
from which the seed comes. The light quick-germinating seed comes
from the eastern slope of the Rockies and from the south, while the
heavy, slow-germinating seed comes from farther north and west.
This connection between the characteristics of the seed and the region
from which it comes has been noticed by European purchasers of
American seed (Rafn) ; it was also pointed out in the 1907 Forest
Service circular on "Germination of Pine Seed.*'

By means of these characteristics of the yellow pine seed, it is
possible to divide the National Forests into three definite regions.
The first includes the eastern part of District 1, all of Districts 2 and
3, and the southeastern part of District 4. Here the seed is usually
small (it varies greatly in size, however, especially in Arizona) and
germinates very rapidly. The second region includes the western
part of District 1 and the northern part of District 4. Here the seed
is large and usually slow (but somewhat variable) in germination.
The third region is the Pacific Coast, District 6, and probably the
northern part of District 5 (no samples of P, ponderosa have been
received from California during the past winter). Here the seed
is very large and very slow and irregular in germination.

The sample from the Helena Forest appears to be intermediate
in character between the samples of the first region mentioned above
and those of the second. The seed is considerably larger than any
of the samples from the former, yet it germinated (in soil) more
rapidly than any other of the eighteen samples.

188

AMERICAN BREED BRS MAGAZINE.

2

Hi*
I

t

o

•«*

8

•fc*

>0 CO 61 i-i 0> es| ub t^ <0 (O X 1-it-i fH i-id tH o

pppopggggggOg;

^ » • »

^^hr

;s8

oToT

CO

'A

mm

o

a

K

d
o

3

0)

I

M

GG

I

9

o

u
4)

I

^

o
fie

H

•0m

u

o

ti

0)

o
o

el

2;

Ud O O O O O >0 O »0 lO >0 >0 >0 to O O lO O O O Ud >0 »0 to O O iO O *e iC U3 p O >0 lO O iO c o

Q t-i t-i « 00 00 ^ oo oo ^ «p 00 ^' ^ « csi N ^^ « «p' V o> cc ^ "-^ w w
^Nt-icit^i-t«8J2>t^oOt^oot^oo«o^t^r^«5i>««»5t>.oot^^^t-i55«e«i ^cocno c^i

00>000>0»OOOOUd*OiOUdO»OtOOOOO>OOOCO>0>00>000

'iCiCtC

«ot^o>i:-oo«ot^«^»ooocoe5i>.^N«o»-"QO«^o>»-<e5o>o>«DMco^
^eocoe«i^t-it^to^o<oot>><ooo-^^t^(0«r^co'^^b>u5u3^MMt^ci

00»0>COOUd*0>OtOtOO>0>COtOOO»OOiOiCU3iO>OOCO>OiOOtCC>OCO>00»0

^a»N»C0000^t>»Q0^«Ot^t^«-t<P^Wt^^^C5»CC0O>'»'<DC0«-'CSip«-ip^«-'OICCi-it«Oii

eibi-i^i-ib.i-io<o«r^oooot^ooo^b>'^^«oc«c)^ious^-<t<<-iC4ccc4 c^ico •« ^

>00000>0>000>OiCOtOiCOtOiOOOOiOiC>OiQU3iCOO>0000

o»o»ci

N^a»i>.N«oo>i>.oQ»o»oe5t^Mr^^N»oeot^«-'Nt^«0"«fNooo>»oooN^
neoM^'-i«o«OM»o«5M5iocooo^^t^co^«oe>ii-teo»0'«it<iC'*Mt-<t^c«i

ic»oio>CiOou?ooocooio>oooooooo*c>oooou:»oo>oicoox:o>co>c

iC4<^ooa>o'csiaopt»
CO w ec CO cc »-t iH »c fH ^ i-h

0»»Hi0CCt^C0»^»O'«fe0<0«-tp»-'^»HC<0<0t^»O<000M'*f050>OCS|00pi>«'«^<C0iOQr)t»flC

0>00>C»00000»0 00>Ot<SOi>000*00>Oi>OiOO>CiOOUdiOiOOO •

tJ OS CO CO t«i CO «5 ci 1-1 1-1 Q 00 1-1 b>^ CO CO OS CO »0 00 O 00 ^ CO 00 00 CO CO CO ^^ ■
CO C« CO N CO 'H CO ^ M «0 » « ^ lO 00 -"it* CO t^ ti M -"It* 1-1 t-iMNiO^Mt-<€0« ■

■ iC»C»C

.,-lC4i-4

tOO»0>OtOiO»OOOOU3iCOOtOOO>0>00'CiO»00>000>OP>OOtO^OOO>OtCiO

iO>C0C0M<^PC0i-<
i-t 1-1 »H CO Cs ^^ •-<

«O0»^l>.C<C0l>.P0>PC0O^OP0»OO»MW00»0i-i0>C0C0'^"«^PC0i-iC0WPOC»O«000
^ l>. ^ CJ » ^ lO l>. ■<* N !>. 00 »0 CO CO ti

1

s

es
•o-

8

5

tO>0>0000>OOU30»0>0000>0000>OiOiC»00>CiOOOOUdOO

• io>o>c

b>c4ooo)cor^t^coeoooiOi-ioooo>o^»ooot^coi^coa>to^OQcior^o

t-ii^i-H CS| ■^ i-< 1^ CO CO N ^ ^ t^ CO W CO 1^ ^COi-H ■^i^

CO CIO

3^

o

la^

0)

c

0)

«k

o

o .«

5 9^5^ «»2 o a-* $ ® 2 *.2.:^'S Sol'1'3 S «^2^'S o

00

0)

QD

.2

•g o o o

08

m
o

u
0)

gooogoooooooooooooooooocoo3ooooo

H

•c

08

a

09

e

&4

T3 op

* * O ■> '

« gsg

3<8 E e8
a 5 3 «

BREEDING NUT AND FOREST TREES. 189

Samples of seed of Pseudotsuga taxifolia have been received
from thirteen Forests, locate^ chiefly in Districts 2 and 4. The quality
of the seed varies so much, however— many of the samples containing
large percentages of empty seeds — that the number of seeds per pound
gives little clue to the weight of the filled seeds. Furthermore, the
germination per cent is mostly so low that the rapidity of germination
can hardly be stated. It appears, however, that seed from Idaho
takes considerably longer to germinate than seed from Colorado. It
may eventually be possible to separate a quantity of filled seeds from
each sample and thus obtain more useful figures.

Of the twelve samples of Picea engelmanni (shown in the first
report), eight came from Colorado, and it is quite probable that the one
sample from Montana is mixed with seed of P. canadensis. Thus
no definite statement can be made regarding this species.

The nine samples of Pinus murrayana show considerable variation
in size, but very little in rapidity of germination. While the samples
from the Targhee and Shoshone Forests are much larger than any
other, it is hardly possible to outline definite regions from this char-
acteristic,

Some other characteristics of the seed, which are not brought
out in the tables, are worth mentioning. The seed of some species
appears to have two periods of germination: the majority of the
viable seeds will germinate, and then, after a pause, a further number
will do so. This is most noticeable in Larix occidentalism all four
samples of which have behaved in this way. The samples of Pinus
ponderosa from Washington and Oregon, and one or two from Idaho,
show signs of the same habit. This behavior is sometimes seen very
clearly in seed which has been stored for a long time; stored samples
of Pinus ponderosa and P. attcnuata, tested during the past winter,
have shown it in a marked degree.

The behavior of Pinus monticola is as yet uncertain. It is quite
evident that the seed is very slow to germinate, so slow that no
report on the germination of the samples can yet be made. The seed
from the Coeur d'Alene Forest, sent for storage experiments, has
germinated 40 per cent in twenty-two weeks. Various methods of
germination are being tried, with good promise of success.

The importance of these results for planting are obvious.

The next step at these stations will be to start next spring planta-
tions with seed obtained from difi^erent sources as to region, elevation.

190 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

age, and soundness of mother trees, and to record for the next several
years the growth in height, the root development, the weight, the
date when new foliage appears and the old is shed, etc. The species
to be experimented with at the Coconino station will be chiefly the
Western Yellow pine {Pinus ponderosa). Seed of this pine has
already been gathered from one hundred different individual trees.
Each tree receives a separate number and a description including the
following points:

Tree number; height (feet) ; diameter breast high (inches) ; age
(years); yield in cones j^ bushels ) ; condition of cones; condition of
tree; clear length; condition of crown; whether fire-scarred; whether
spike-top; other peculiarities; site — slope, ground cover, stand.

At the Fremont Experiment Station the species to be tried are
the Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir, Western White pine, and Western
Yellow pine.

These experiments will enable us to choose intelligently just the
right kind of seed for a given locality and thus save the inevitable
disappointment and loss of time and money which come from the
use of seeds not adapted to given soil and climatic conditions. Definite
results can not be expected in less than five years.

The practical importance of such experiments will become appar-
ent when one realizes that during the last year the national govern-
ment alone has gathered about 14,000 pounds of tree seed, while the
amount of seed to be used in the next five to ten years will be many
times this amount. Upon the choice of this seed will depend the char-
acter and quality of the future forest that will come from it.

The improvement, however, of our forest resources does not need
to be delayed altogether until we can secure, by gradual selection,
species and varieties that will meet our economic needs better than
the species on hand. There are other means of improving the quality
of our forests besides breeding. The introduction of exotics and
silvicultural treatment of the forests are two methods which may bring
about identical results, and in a much shorter time than would be
possible by breeding alone. The introduction of new blood and the
improvement of the stock on hand are requisites for the accumulation
of qualities for transmission by breeding. The introduction of exotics
and silvicultural treatment must, therefore, be considered as essential
parts of the general plan of breeding new varieties of forest trees, and
progress has been made along these lines.

BREEDING NUT AND FOREST TREES.

191

INTRODUCTION OF EXOTICS.

During the last year an actual trial was made with the following
53 exotic species, of which 39 are eucalypts :

Pinus sylvestris,
Pinus austriaca,
Pinus gerardiana,
Morus alba tartarica,

Pinus chinensis,
Casuarina equisetifolia,
Picea excelsa,
Pistachia chinensis,

Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus

amygdalina,

diversicolor,

globulus,

gonipcalyx,

longi folia,

leucoxylon,

marginata,

melliodora,

mulleriana,

obliqua,

pilularis,

polyanthema,

punctata,

regnans,

rostrata,

Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptusr
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus

albens.
Eucalyptus

siberiana,

saligna,

almenoides,

bi color,

boristoana,

botryoides,

cornuta,

corynocalyx,

crebra.

deanci,

gunnii,

hemphloia,

hemphloia

masculata,

Pinus canadensis,
Cedrus libani,
Cedrus deodara,

Eucalyptus trabutii,
Eucalyptus microtheca.
Eucalyptus paniculata,
Eucalyptus pulverulenta,
Eucalyptus resinifera,
Eucalyptus rudis,
Eucalyptus siderophloia,
Eucalyptus sideroxylon,
Eucalyptus tereticornis,
Eucalyptus viminalis,
Acacia melanoxylon,
Syncarpia laurifolia,
Quercus suber.

This list does not, of course, include all of the exotic species
which can be tried. The following additional species are selected
for trial in the near future:

Pinus laricio,

Pinus excelsa.

Abies pindrow.

Pinus pallasiana,

Picea morinda,

Larix leptolepis.

Pinus pinaster.

Picea orientalis,

Larix curilensis,

Pinus pinea.

Picea alcoquiana,

Larix siberica,

Pinus halepensis,

Abies pectinata,

Cupressrus sempervirens,

Pinus bungeana,

Abies cephalonica.

Chamaecyparis obtusa.

Pinus cembra.

Abies nordmanniana,

If these prove adaptive to given local conditions, they may in
themselves form a valuable addition to our forest resources, or by
hybridizing with native species furnish material for further selections
and breeding. Of these introductions the most interesting will be the
sowing next spring of over 3,000 pounds of Austrian pine. This
species may enable us to extend in the Southwest the lower timber
line further down into the foothills, where our native yellow pine stops
at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, giving way below this level to a
scrubby growth of oaks and other chaparral species.

192. AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

IMPROVEMENTS BY SIL,V1CUI,TURAL TREATMENT.

The quality of the wood and the growth of forest trees in a
stand depend, as every observer knows, upon the way the stand has
grown, that is, whether in an overcrowded, dense, or open stand;
whether the leaf litter was regularly burned or otherwise removed,
or allowed to remain and form a humus; whether the existing stand
began under dense shade and remained suppressed for a long time,
or started in dense shade of older trees, comprising trees of all ages
and sizes, or whether it started in an opening and made a uniform,
even-aged stand. It is empirically established that, in the case of
broad-leafed species, rapid growth, all other conditions being equal,
means, as a rule, a straighter grain and stronger and more serviceable
wood; while slow growth means brittle, twisted, and less useful wood.
The biological reason for this difference in the quality of wood of
the same species grown at different rates, lies in the fact that every
decrease or increase in the width of the annual ring means a decrease
or an increase of the summer or winter wood, while the kind of wood
formed early in the season and known as "spring wood" remains, as
a rule, approximately the same in both rapid-growing and slow-
growing trees. The summer or winter portion of the annual ring
contains few fibro-vascular bundles, is less porous, has thick-walled
wood-elements, the presence of which, in larger or smaller quantities,
always determines the relative strength of the wood as a whole.
Therefore, for broad-leafed trees, the wider the rings, or the more
rapid the growth, the stronger the wood, while the narrower the rings,
or the slower the growth, the weaker the wood.

In the wood of coniferous trees the reverse is true, owing probably
to the simpler structure of their wood, less marked periodicity in the
appearance of the foliage, and less transpiration.

It is entirely within the power of the forester to stimulate the
growth of trees in the stand by proper and timely thinnings, to pro-
duce clear or knotty timber, and thus by silvicultural treatment to
control the quality of the timber grown. To what extent improvement
of the wood thus brought about may be transmitted by heredity
through breeding is still an open question. If, however, as we already
know, the size of the seed has an undisputed influence upon the
stock produced from it, and the size of the seed varies . with the
position of the tree in the stand, whether it is dominant or suppressed

WORK ON ANIMAL HYBRIDS. 193

— a condition which may be produced artificially in any forest — it may
be expected that seed obtained from cylindrical straight-boled trees
will stand a better chance of producing wood of more desirable quali-
ties than seed from suppressed knotty, crooked trees. The proof of
this, however, can and will be obtained only through the experiments
to be started on the relation of the source of the seed and the
resulting trees.

SUMMARY.

To sum up, there are three important problems before us:

(1) Selection of tree seeds which are to produce our future forest.

(2) Improvement of the present forest by silvicultural treatment,
thus creating better trees capable of transmitting the qualities brought
about by such treatment.

(3) Introduction of exotics into regions whfch either do not
support tree growth at all, or, have trees of inferior quality, thus
adding directly to the forest wealth of this country and furnishing
new material for hybridization and further selections.

Of these three problems the one which promises definite results
within a short time is the selection of tree seeds.

This committee considers it most essential at present to lay down
principles and methods of tree seed selection for the guidance of
foresters and other tree seed collectors in whose hands rests the
future of our timber forests.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ANIMAL HYBRIDS.

This committee recently addressed a letter to each of the experi-
ment stations asking for a statement concerning the animal hlbridiza-
tion work at those institutions. The following experiment stations
report more or less work of this character, either now in progress
or recently so: Indiana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Arizona,
Florida, South Carolina, North Dakota, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois,
New York, Oklahoma, Iowa, North Carolina, Wyoming, and
California.

At some of these stations Mendelian phenomena in the crosses
between the breeds are being studied, and in most of them the aim
of the work is the establishment of new types or breeds. The follow-

194 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

ing table gives the lines of work being carried on at each of the
stations :

Cross-breeding work with animals at the experiment stations.

Nature of cross. Station doing work. Reported by —

Yorkshire swine with representative breeds
of the lard type Indiana J. H. Skinner.

Breeds of sheep to determine extent of
operation of Mendelian law ; also to pro-
duce sheep particularly adapted for rais-
ing hot-house lambs. Reciprocal crosses
made with Dorset Horn and Southdown.
Hampshire, Southdown, Shropshire, and
Dorset rams crossed on Rambouillet
ewes and New Hampshire native ewes New Hampshire. . .T. R. Arkell.

Algerian sheep with native breeds, to com-
bine adaptability K>i Algerian to hot dry
climates and resistance to pests and dis
eases, with better mutton and wool-pro-
ducing characters of other breeds Arizona R. H. Forbes.

Poland China hogs with large English
Yorkshires South Dakota Jas. W. Wilson.

Beef cattle: Native cows with Shorthorn,
Hereford, and native males Florida P. H. Rolfs.

Kentucky Standard-bred horse with Ger-
man Coach horse South Carolina J. N. Harper.

Hogs, sheep, and poultry North Dakota J. H. Shepperd.

Berkshire X Duroc-Jerseys Georgia P. N. Flint.

Swine Michigan R. S. Shaw. •

Some work in progress ; nature not indi-
cated Illinois E. Davenport.

Barred Rocks and White Leghorns New York C. A. Rogers.

Oklahoma station contemplates some cross-
breeding work with sheep, but work not
yet started Oklahoma Jno. A. Craig.

Crosses between different breeds of cattle Iowa W. J. Kennedy.

Grading up. razor-backs by means of pure-
bred Berkshires North Carolina C. B. Williams.

Crosses between breeds of sheep Wyoming J. D. Towar.

Crosses between Persian and Merino sheep.

(Done some years ago) California £ j Wickson.

The Rhode Island Experiment Station has a hybrid between a
pheasant and a chicken, which was produced in some experiments
conducted by Dr. L. J. Cole, formerly of that station. Dr. H. J.
Wheeler, the director of the Rhode Island station, says concerning

WORK ON ANIMAL HYBRIDS. 195

this bird: "Its male parent is an ordinary Ring-necked pheasant and
the female parent a yellow mongrel Bantam. In plumage the hybrid
promises to be more or less intermediate. In build it is rather large
and more rangy than the pheasant, and its head, bill, and feet are
mueh like those of the pheasant. In disposition it is extremely wild."
Dr. Wheeler states that the Rhode Island Experiment Station will
later publish a full description of this hybrid.

This committee is keeping in touch, as closely as may be, with
the work of three men who are breeding h)^brids between cattle and
buffaloes, namely, Mr. Mossom Boyd, Mr. Chas. Goodnight, and Mr.
C. J. Jones.

Mr. Boyd is continuing the important work upon which he re-
ported to the Association two years ago, and we expect to have other
important reports from him in the future. Mr. Goodnight, in answer
to a request from the committee to prepare a paper for this meeting,
wrote :

To go into all the details and facts leading up to what success I have
made would make too lengthy an article; but as regards the practicability of
getting a race or strain of these hybrids, I believe in the end it can be done
and that such a race will be of much benefit, supplanting, in a measure, cattle.
A grave drawback at the present time is the scarcity of the hybrids. I have bred
mostly to Polled Angus. The cross can, however, be made with any cattle.
I have made a list of twenty-three points in which I think the hybrids are
superior to cattle. Some of the more important of these are :

(1) They eat less.

(2) They digest better.

(3) They put on more flesh with the same amount of food.

(4) They cut more good meat; as far as I can ascertain about 66 per cent
of the best cuts.

(5) They are subject to fewer diseases. They seem to be entirely im-
mune to blackleg until they are reduced to about one-eighth buffalo blood,
the buffalo itself being absolutely immune.

The extra rib of the buffalo is present in the half-breed, and in some cases
in the quarter-breed. The cross-breds are more docile than the buffalo. I
have animals varying from half-breed buffalo to one-sixteenth buffalo.

BRAHMIN CATTLE.

Prof. C. h. Willoughby, of the Georgia Experiment Station, is
making records of crosses between grade Brahmin cattle and other
cattle in Georgia. We hope to be able to present a paper from him
on this subject at this meeting, but certainly at the next meeting of
the Association.

196 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

WOLF-DOG HYBRIDS.

Mr. O. B. Shumway, of ChilHcothe, 111., reports his extensive
experience with hybrids between the wolf and the dog. He has
captured young wolves and raised them in captivity.

Generally speaking, those wolf characters which differ from those
of the dog are dominant in the cross. Some of the hybrids have been
raised for the purpose of selling their scalps as wolf scalps.

OTHER WORK

Prof. F. B. Mumford, dean and director at the Missouri Station,
has undertaken to collect a bibliography of animal hybrids.

Mr. Q. I. Simpson, of Palmer, 111., is continuing his valuable
experiments with swine hybrids.

Mr. P. E. Fogle, of North Carolina, has for several years been
making careful records of the results of crosses between Herefords
and Shorthorns. A brief paper by him will follow this report.

The committee would call attention to the important work of
Prof. W. E. Castle in animal hybrids, and especially to the recent
publication of the Carnegie Institution giving the results of his work
on rabbits.

Some of the most important lines of work in animal hybrids,
from an economic point of view, at present in progress in this country
are the work with cattaloes, with Brahmin cattle, and with some
of the sheep crosses which are being made at several of the experiment
stations with a view to producing new breeds better adapted to local
conditions.

The committee is in touch with most of the zoological parks in
the country, and we have ascertained that at several of them arrange-
ments can be made for the use of some of the animals they possess
in, crossing with farm animals.

W. J. SpiUvMAn, Chairman,

Q. I. Simpson,

W. J. Kennedy,

W. E. Castile,

F. B. Mumford,

P. E. Fogle,

.. C. L. WiLLOUGHBY,

Committee,

BEPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BREEDING FIBEB CB0P9.

J. H. SheppERD^ Chairman,

Your committee consisting of Dr. Lyster H. Dewey, Professors
Alvin Keyser, H. L. Bolley, and myself have not found it possible
to have a committee meeting, although the chairman has met Pro-
fessors Keyser and Bolley for a conference over this matter of
breeding fiber crops. Dr. Dewey has furnished a brief paper for
the committee, which gives a general review of the situation with
the three commercial fiber-producing plants which concern this com-
mittee. This statement is as follows:

"The two fiber crops most promising for this country are hemp
and flax. Prof. C. P. Bull, of the agricultural experiment station
at Saint Anthony Park, Minn., is working in the selection of hemp
seed in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Hemp
can doubtless be cultivated successfully for fiber as far north as the
southern part of Minnesota, and in favorable seasons good crops may
be obtained in the Red River Valley; but I would regard it as too
uncertain a crop for that region when it requires at least 3^ months
for its development. I think that better results in the production
of seed may be obtained in regions farther south, even south of
Kentucky. Some seed of the fifth generations of selection at St.
Anthony Park was tried last year at the experiment station at
Lexington, Ky. The plants produced were shorter, and with shorter
internodes, than plants grown under similar conditions from Kentucky
seed which had not been subjected to any selection. I think this
inferiority was due in part to the change of location. Professor Gar-
man, of the Kentucky Experiment Station, tells me that in nearly
all instances where he has obtained seeds of other crops from regions
where the climatic conditions were different from those in Kentucky
the crop of the first year from this introduced seed was inferior.

"There is not only a need for improvement in the quality of hemp,
but also a very important need for an increase in the quantity of
seed available. Last year the prices of hemp seed ranged from $5
to $7 per bushel, but there was a break in the prices at about
sowing time owing to the fact that many of the hemp farmers in
Kentucky, discouraged by the high price of seed, turned their atten-
tion to tobacco. The latter crop has given them handsome returns
this year because the prices have been higher than heretofore. Hemp

198 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

seed is now selling at $4 to $5 per bushel, and some of the dealers
and farmers think that the prices may rise as high as, or possibly
higher than, last year. It would be impossible to oecure seed to plant
as large an acreage of hemp as the average of the past ten years.

"During the past year the Department of Agriculture began some
work in the selection of flaxseed for fiber production in eastern
Michigan. Plants were selected in the fields of flax, which is there
grown primarily for fiber production. These plants were subjected
to careful laboratory tests in accordance with the principles of plant
breeding which have been developed at the Minnesota and North
Dakota experiment stations, and the seed from the best plants will be
used in setting out 100 plant-breeding plats next spring.

"There is a demand for two rather distinct fiber types of flax,
one to have coarse strong fiber, suitable for the manufacture of binder
twine and other coarse twines, and the other to have a fine flexible
fiber, suitable for the manufacture of fine twines, shoe threads^ and
carpet yarns. There is no demand in this country as yet for a
flax fiber for the manufacture of fine woven linens such as are
imported. If the flax industry is to be developed in this country,
it seems more promising to begin with the coarser and less expensive
lines, which may be produced with less skilled labor, and develop
gradually toward the finer linens.

"While abaca, the plant cultivated in the Philippines for the pro-
duction of fiber commonly known in our markets as "Manila hemp,"
can not be grown in this country, we are interested in its production
because we are the principal consumers of abaca fiber. A fiber
expert, Mr. M. M. Saleeby, has been employed by the Philippine
Bureau of Agriculture in Manila, to devote his entire time to investi-
gations of the abaca industry. He has found that, while abaca may be
propagated from seed, and in fact many abaca seedlings grow in the
plantations, none of the seedling plants ever develop into a good
type like the plants grown from suckers. This fact may be of
quite as much value in breeding plants of similar character as it
is in attempting to introduce these plants into new locaHties. VV^e
have tried to introduce the plants into Porto Rico by means of
seedlings, because the seeds were more easily transported than the
suckers, but we have never been successful in securing good plants
there."

BREEDING FIBER CROPS. 199

In the opinion of the other three members of your committee,
the breeders of flax need more the plans and specifications from the
manufacturers as to what the latter will use in a commercial way.

The breeder has shown that he can produce a 12-inch flax plant
or a 4-foot plant, an attenuated plant in its shaft or a tall one
which has greatly elongated branches; one that produces three, four,
or five stems or one that produces a single stem. He has produced
coarse-stemmed and fine-stemmed at will, but the manufacturer has
failed to find a way to use the crop of fiber produced at a price
for which it can be grown in this country.

With these facts in mind your committee entered on a campaign
to learn the status of the manufacturers of linen fabrics in this
country with a view to helping them if possible. About twenty
flax fiber and tow mills were located in North Dakota within a
decade and were favorably situated as regards business concessions
from commercial clubs, supply of flax straw, and salvage in the
form of flax seed remaining in the straw, but they have all closed
down and quit business.

Some firms which claim great recent success and new develop-
ments were approached by your committee for information as to
their status and what we can do to aid them, but we have met with
little success. Some of these firms insist that they have processes
completed or nearing completion for retting and handling flax, which
will soon revolutionize the fiber business, but these processes are
valuable and consequently secret. Your committee believes that further
effort along this line should be put forth.

An earlier report from this committee (A. B. A. vol. 4, pages
219-233) indicates that the hemp plant is also very plastic in the hands
of the breeder and offers good returns for systematic work which
will aid the producers and manufacturers. Both hemp and flax are
unusually pliable in the hands of the breeder and should prove good
subjects for the man who desires to study methods.

WALNUT-OAK HTBBID EXPERIMENTS.

Ernest B. Babcock, Berkeley, California.

EXPI.ANATORY NOTE.

In the fall of 1907 the attention of the writer was called to certain
trees growing in southern California which were locally known as
'*walnut-oak hybrids/' The origin of this name together with a
description of one of the trees may be found in Jepson*s "Silva of
California" (now in press). Before any facts were known which
would help to explain the identity of this anomalous form, experiments
were begun in the effort to secure data that would substantiate or
discredit the hypothesis of origin through hybridization between oak
and walnut. It was reasoned that the failure of a large number of
careful efforts to secure such a hybrid would discredit this hypothesis,
whik the production of one such hybrid artificially would tend to
strengthen it. The only native walnut of southern California is
Juglans calif ornica Wats. The oak which was locally considered to
be the male parent is the coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia Nee.

EXPERIMENTS IN 1908. i

Very early in the spring two wild walnut trees were selected.
They were located one at the front and the other at the rear of a j

large city lot in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Through the courtesy ]

of the residents, they have been well protected from any interference
during the critical stage of the experiments. They will be designated
below as Tree I and Tree II. By March 25 the pistillate catkins could
be found terminating the new branchlets of the season. Manilla paper
bags were used to cover 50 pistillate catkins on each tree. On April
9 no pollen was being shed on Tree I. Eight bags were left in place
as checks. The flowers on 23 pistillate catkins were pollinated with
oak pollen obtained from a large acorn-bearing coast live oak tree
growing in the neighborhood. The method of gathering the pollen
was to hold a wide-mouthed vial so as to include several shedding
catkins as they hung on the tree, then tapping the branchlets so as
to cause the pollen to fall. In this way sufficient perfectly fresh
pollen was secured to treat a large number of walnut flowers by using
a camel's hair brush. In the same way pollen was obtained from one
of the "walnut-oak hybrids" in Garden Grove, which will be referred

WALNUT-OAK HYBRID BXPBRIMBNTS.

201

to below as Freak. This pollen was used on 19 pistillate catkins
on April 11. On this date also the 50 bags that had been placed on
Tree II were opened, except 6 that were left in place as checks. Of
the remaining pistillate catkins 27 were abandoned because most of
the flowers were still very small, and 17 were pollinated with oak
pollen as on Tree I. The conditions on the above dates were nearly
ideal; warm, sunny mornings, plenty of fresh oak pollen, and, on
Tree I, the pistillate flowers apparently in the proper stage of develop-
ment, although no pollen was being shed on that tree. On Tree II
some pollen was being shed, but care was taken not to expose the
pistillate flowers in pollinating them. The results of this work are
shown in the following table:

Summary of walnut-oak hybridising experiment for 1908.

TRE

E I.

1

Source of
pollen.

Nmnber of

pistillate

catkins

pollinated.

Number of

catkins on

which nuts

formed.

Nimiber of

nuts
produced.

27

13

Nuts that

germinated

in 1909.

Trees

growing in

1909.

24

12

Oak

Freak

Checks. ..

1

23
19

8

14
8

26

13

TREE II.

Oak

Checks . . .

17
5»

16 37 33
1 2 2

»h:riments in 1909.

32
2

" One ct

leck missixi
KXP

The same walnut trees were used as in 1908, and extra effort was
made to secure good control. It was planned to use pollen from other
species of Juglans also. Double thickness oiled paper bags were tied
over the new branchlets on March 16. As the season was somewhat
later than in 1908, the pistillate flowers were not conspicuous, and,
of the 50 bags used on Tree I, only 11, out of 43 examined, were
found to contain pistillate catkins, on April 23. Of the 7 left for
checks it was found later that at least 4 had covered pistillate flowers,
their' dried remains being present in the bags. The oak tree from
which fresh pollen was obtained in 1908 had quite passed the blooming
period by this time so that no pollen could be obtained. The 11
pistillate catkins were pollinated as follows: 8 catkins (18 flowers)

202 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

with pollen from Quercus agrifoliq brought from Berkeley, collected
April 20, and on that day giving a satisfactory germination test; 3
pistillate catkins (9 flowers) with pollen from Juglans sieboldiana
brought from Niles. This was gathered April 19 but not tested.
One week after being collected it failed to germinate in 10 per cent
sugar solution.

On Tree II, when examined April 24, 23 out of 45 bags covered
pistillate catkins, 5 bags being left as checks. The 23 pistillate catkins
were pollinated as follows: 3 catkins (9 flowers) with Juglans regia
pollen gathered in East Whittier on April 22; 3 catkins (14 flowers)
with Juglans sieboldiana pollen, as on Tree I; 3 catkins (12 flowers)
with pollen taken from one of the "walnut-oak hybrids" in East
Whittier, on April 22; 7 catkins (36 flowers) with Quercus agrifolia
pollen from Berkeley, as on Tree I; 5 catkins (17 flowers) with pollen
taken from two trees of Quercus engelmanni in Sierra Madre on
April 23.

No nuts whatever were produced as a result of any of the 1909
crosses. This totally negative result may be partially explained by
some of the conditions; for instance, on Tree I, probably the pollen
used was too old; on Tree II, the pollen of Quercus agrifolia and
Juglans sieboldiana was the same as on Tree I; the pollen from
Juglatis regia was obtained from catkins that had shed most of their
pollen already ; the "walnut-oak hybrid'' in East Whittier seldom bears
nuts and its pollen may be sterile. Only the pollen of Quercus engel-
manni, which was gathered less then 24 hours before it was used,
was abundant in quantity, may be considered as in ideal condition, and
this was applied to only 17 flowers. It is hoped that, during the
coming spring (1910), similar experiments may be carried out on a
large scale, with proper observations on pollen germination. Any
suggestions from those interested will gladly be received.

Supplementary Note (May 1910). — There are now 151 nuts developing
in the two walnut trees at Garvanza, as the result of pollinating 79 pistillate
catkins with pollen from Quercus agrifolia as in 1908. There are also 29 nuts
as a result of pollinating 16 pistillate catkins with pollen from Quercus engel-
manni as in 1909.

The behavior of the seedlings secured from these nuts, as well as the 1908
seedlings now growing, will be carefully observed. Cions will be grafted on
thrifty walnut trees in order to induce early fruiting and thus secure second
generation trees as soon as possible.

fPresented by Committee on Breeding Nut and Forest Trees.]

(

REPORT OF COMMITTEOE; ON BREEDING CEREALS.

C. A. Zavitz, Guelph, Ontario, Chairman.

MKMBKRS.

Prof. Alvin Keyser, Ft. Collins, Colo. M. A. Carleton, Washington, D. C.

Prof. Iv. S. Klinck, Macdonald Col- Dr. C. E. Saunders, Ottawa, Canada,

lege, Quebec. Prof. J. H. Shepperd, Agricultural
C. G. Williams, Wooster, Ohio. College, N. Dak.

obje:cts.

The duties of this committee shall be (1) to investigate and re-
port on the methods and technique of improving the cereals by
breeding, and (2) to encourage the production of improved varieties
of all the cereals for each agricultural region and for each use.

PLAN.

The committee on the breeding of cereals desires to have the work
conducted along as definite and systematic lines as possible. We
believe it is a good plan for breeders and breeding establishments
to conduct the work with the different species of field crops along
some general plan, such as the one here indicated.

Status of the species.

Physiological facts to be considered by breeders.

Strong economic characters.

Characters needing improvement.

Securing foundation stocks.

Plan of breeding.

Testing progeny.

Distribution of improved strains.

This outline has been suggested, not only to breeders, but to those
who are to present special papers at the annual meeting.

In order to ascertain what is now being done at various institu-
tions in the line of plant breeding, the chairman of the committee
wrote to about sixty experiment stations, as follows:

I would greatly appreciate Receiving a concise statement of the work which
is being done at your institution in the breeding of cereals, especially along
the following lines:

1. The main objects in view.

2. The outline of what is being done.

3. The method of operation.

4. The most important results which have already been obtained.

5. The name of the person directly in charge of this work.

204 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

The greater number of the institutions have already been heard
from, and when all have reported some most excellent information
will be at hand for assisting in the future work of the committee.

PAPERS PREPARED.

The papers which have been specially prepared for presentation
at the annual meeting for 1909 are as follows :

The Breeding of Barley, Prof. J. H. Shepperd, Agricultural College, N. D. ;

Prof. Alvin Keyser, Ft. Collins, Colo.
Wheat Breeding, Prof. H.* F. Roberts, Manhattan, Kans.
The Breeding of Grain Sorghums, C. R. Ball, Washington, D. C.
A Large and Small Grain Experiment, Supt. R. L. Waldron, Dickinson, N. D.
The Problem, its Limitations and Possibilities, R. Gauss, Denver, Colo.

BREEDING FOB TYPE OF KERNEL IN WHEAT.

Herbert F. Roberts, Manhattan, Kans.

Considerable attention has been devoted to the breeding of a par-
ticular type of kernel in corn, but, to the writer\s knowledge, nothing
has hitherto been done to ascertain the most desirable type of kernel
in wheat, as judged from the economic standpoint, or to breed for
such a type.

The present paper proposes to discuss the results of a preliminary
investigation directed toward this end.

In the first place, so far as the miller is concerned, there are
certain well-defined preferences with respect to a desirable wheat for
milling purposes. Leaving out the primary necessity, in our region at
least, of a hard semi-translucent wheat, rich in gluten and preferably
a winter wheat with ci dark reddish-amber color, we find that, so far
as the form of the wheat kernel is concerned, the millers and grain
dealers desire a full, plump berry in preference to a slender berry,
on account of the relatively smaller proportion of bran which such a
kernel produces; and, for the same reason, a berry with a shallow
crease is preferable to one with a deep crease. The deep crease is
also an objectionable feature because of the considerable quantity of
dirt that it holds, which must be cleaned out in the scouring process as
thoroughly as possible. A type of kernel devoid so far as possible

TYPB OP KBRNBL IN WHEAT. 205

of the mass of hairs surmounting the ovary, called the "brush," is
likewise desirable because of its lesser liability to carry dirt particles.
So much for the preferred type of kernel for milling purposes.

The present investigation, however, was directed in part, and so
far as the data to be herein presented are concerned, toward another
matter, namely, the relation of the form-factors of the wheat kernel
to the volume-weight of the grain.

Wheat, before being sold, is "tested" by means of a standard
"grain tester" in order to ascertain the number of pounds per bushel
it will average. Upon this average bushel-weight and upon other
considerations affecting the quality of the grain as judged by its
appearance, hardness, etc., the gram is "graded" according to the
system of standards prescribed by the grain exchange or the State
inspection department as the case may be. The grade as thus fixed
for any lot of wheat determines its market price. Wheat is, to be
sure, sold entirely by weight in our market, but if two lots of wheat
weigh 1,000 pounds each, and one tests at 66 and the other at 62
pounds to the bushel, the latter will bring the higher price (at present,
in the neighborhood of 5 or 6 cents more per bushel).

What factors determine the differences in volume-weight which
thus affect the selling price of wheat ? On first consideration it would
naturally be assumed that the specific gravity of the kernels would be
the most important factor.

However, it was noticed, that, among several hundred pure races,
originating from single mother plants, of wheat harvested in 1908 at
the Kansas Experiment Station, certain distinctive types of kernel
existed, which seemed to pack more closely into a given volume than
did others, and an investigation was instituted to determine the
optimum type of wheat kernel in this regard. To this end, 52 pure
lines of wheat were selected, which seemed to aft'ord a series of very
diverse types of kernel in respect to length, width, contour, etc.

From each of these races, five series of 100 kernels each were taken
by random samplings. In each series of 100, the average length and
average width of the kernels were determined. It was found that the
variations in averages among the five different hundreds of each lot
were so slight that in general a lesser number than 500 would have
sufficed. However, this number was adhered to in the determination
of the averages in question for the entire sferies of 52 races. The
ratio of length to width was taken as a form-factor — a large ratio

206 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

denoting a long grain and a small ratio a short grain, as a irattter
of course.

The determination ot the average volumes of the kernels (by dis-
placement of 95 per cent alcohol in a burette) gave a means of dif-
ferentiating, say, two races having the same length-to-width ratios,
but in which the kernels were of different average size.

The volume-weight of the kernels of each race was then deter-
mined by weighing as much grain as could possibly be packed into
a 250-cc graduate, the packing being effected by vigorously tamping
the graduate a given number of times for each fractional portion of
its contents as the same was put in. This volume-weight in grams
per 100 cc will be converted into terms of pounds per bushel for the
purpose of this paper.

The amount of unoccupied air space left among the kernels of the
packed grain was then determined in the case of each of the 52 races
in the experiment, by filling the graduate, in which the grain had
been packed as described, with 95 per cent alcohol. The amotmt of
alcohol thus delivered from the burette, and necessary to exactly cover
the grain, reduced to a basis of 100 cc and subtracted from 100, gave
exactly the percentage of actual solid grain material in each case.

There were thus at hand data for determining the relation be-
tween any specific type of kernel as expressed in terms of the length-
to-width ratio and the average kernel-volume on the one hand, and
the percentage volume of grain in 100 cc on the other; and between
all of these factors on the one hand and the bushel-weight on the other.

The full details of the methods followed, as well as the complete
tables of the experimental data, are reserved for a bulletin prepared
by the writer for the Kansas Experiment Station.

In the figure on page 207 is shown the relation of the form of
the wheat kernel expressed in average length-to-width ratios, to the
packing of the grain as expressed in the percentage volume of grain in
100 cc, where all of the 52 races of wheat in the experiment are taken
without reference to average kernel-volumes.

Abscissae denote the average length-to- width ratios of the kernels ;
ordinates denote the percentage volume of grain in 100 cc.

The plotted data indicate very plainly that as the leng^h-to-width
ratio increases the percentage volume of grain that can be packed
into 100 cc diminishes, irrespective of the actual size of the kernels
as expressed by their average voliunes.

TYPE OF KERNEL IN WHEAT.

207

In the figure on page 208 is shown the relation of the size or
average volume of the kernel in the same 52 pure strains of wheat to
the packing of the grain as expressed by the percentage volume of
grain in 100 cc.

Here the abscissae denote average volumes of the individual kernels
in cubic millimeters; the ordinates denoting again, as before, the
percentage volume of grain in 100 cc.

Here the plotted data indicate even more plainly the fact, that,
with the increase in the average volume of the individual kernel, there
is a corresponding increase in the percentage volume of grain that can
be packed into 100 cc.

/«0 t*f *CO t»S *J0 <&V ttO M^f <CJ0

.«««- MSB jtsr tso

mJo mr Jfo dju <ue Jt»r *to jor

5
I

ts

\

\

I

«•

n

1 1

ATlOt
JC/ftC

■ ~i

1 1

1 1

I

V or rnc roftMor rnt: tiVHCAr h

ro THe /'ACHI/^ or THtr CftAIN. -
sia> IN ^cftcrNTAses or thcs/*ainim

C/TAta.
/a*

CUBIC

fOO

9J9ea

M

rnCAra, w/rnot/r ffcrc^cr^cc to ^vc^A^ix

oc^^Tnich/reraorMn
mm.a a7MTr/itmeiM.nmAi. eourae

mm

•

•

I

■

1

mo»

rvinov

f

(

(

•<

i« 'o

•

•

•
•

i

1

i

1

•

•

1 o

•

•

•

1
• •

•

•
•

•

•

•

»

►

•

•

•

•

■

-

\

ro

«7

«5

«/

S7

lao «r t«o tar <« ear too *ia

*i

^uno

nmTH

e<*s tjo Ajs Kigo temr ejc e-ra

iHAmuucmm

*as t»o tag iao aof jie

Since this is not what we should have been led theoretically to
expect, it was determined to analyze the data somewhat further,
eliminating if possible some of the variables, so that the relation be-
tween the average kernel volume and the packing of the grain, as
expressed by the percentage volume of grain which would go into
100 cc, might be more clearly seen.

All of the cases having like length-to-width ratios of kernels
were taken together, making a series of 12 pairs. In 6 of these pairs
the higher percentages of grain containable in 100 cc of space followed
the higher average kernel- volume ; in tlie other 6 pairs the reverse
was the case. In general, however, it occurs that in the cases with the

208

AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

lower ratios, i. e., the shorter kernels/ the correspondence of good
packing quality, as expressed by the percentage of grain containable
in 100 cc, with the higher average kernel-volume, i, e,, with the larger-
sized kernels, seems to be more marked than in the cases of the high
ratios, i. e,, of the long kernels. The data on the whole are too few
to warrant any general conclusions, but the results thus far seem to
indicate that the large-kernelled races of a wheat with short grains
will leave the least waste air-space in a measure, or, in other words,
will pack the bushel most perfectly.

A

t M

f m

V /

* 4

t 4

t «

* *

at

t 0t

t

« *

r M

* «

' 04

t 04

M

1 *

t *

> «

Ji

r «

1 9

Ji

1 «

t

V

»

V

to

a»

00

m

0r

K0f

00

•

*

«r

1-

— T-

*

♦

1

•
•

.♦

1 •

•

♦

■

t0

(

>

♦

*

• •

♦

*
• •

•

ss

*

+

•

•
•

>

r

?

♦

1-

♦

'

. ♦

*■

♦

mcLAnoN ar^kK-n^sc mcmme^ or
tmcur KcmcLS to rucmotn/sar rncs^^tf.

c

ovnM-fOM. 0mMter0 ormMt i— w <w«
mmKt» VM««M( tefif0n(/tmtn0m^wt00 <

rmvmtB *mA¥mm0ATia0fmii*0jf^**i

ir0i-0r

^

04

M

*00UJ'
0/tmtKBH.

04

y*mrt^^*fr0ra»»
0tMrr A0HKi/n0»M.

'000.

Li

mfr.
eauu

•me.

*

L_

\l m

* 4

r 4

• ti

r' It

t • M

> A

> 4

1 A

d

it d

W 4

W 4

*

{T d

V

J

<o i

V J

» J

U J

►* .1

W 4

W J

r J

•!

•

/^M)*0C Mcm^cv rocmiK mi evmc MH0trn:in4.

Now what relation does this have to the volume-weight as ex-
pressed in pounds to the bushel? The manner of determining the
volume-weight has already been described.

Taking again all of the cases under experiment, where like length-
to-width ratios of kernels existed, and plotting as abscissae the average
volumes of the individual kernels in increasing order, and with three
sets of ordinates, denoting respectively pounds per bushel, percentage
volume of grain in 100 cc, and average kernel-weight, it appears from
the data that in every case of like ratios the bushel-weight follows the
percentage volume of grain iu 100 cc rather than the average kernel-
weight. Where this percentage volume increased, the bushel-weight
increased, and where the volume of grain in 100 cc decreased, the
bushel-weight decreased, almost absolutely independently of the aver-

DROUGHT-RBSISTANT CEREALS, 209

age weight of the individual kernels, which sometimes rose and some-
times fell.

This is not what would perhaps have been expected, and the small
ntmiber of cases having like ratios makes a general conclusion of
rather doubtful value. The facts thus far, however, seem to point
to the following as inferences from the experimental data.

1. The shorter the wheat kernel and at the same time the larger
its volimie, i. e,, the more nearly it approaches the sphere in form, the
more perfectly will the kernels pack, and the less air-space unoccupied
by the grain will be left in the measure.

2. Where the kernels are long, increased average kernel-volume
does not insure increased solidity of packing to the measure, but
rather the reverse.

3. In general the long types of kernel pack less perfectly than the
short types, and should be discarded by breeders in favor of the latter,
where pure-bred wheat races are in question.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Cereal Crops.)

ACCLIMATIZATION IN BREEDINO DROUOHT-BESISTANT

Robert Gauss, Denver, Colorado.

The dominion of climate is invincible. All who come within
its range must obey its laws. It grants no pardon. It makes no
compromise. Compliance with the conditions imposed is the license
to exist, and these conditions determine the limits of activity. Even
the achievements of irrigation are the fruits of constant warfare.
Every irrigated field is territory wrested from this dominion and
maintained by unceasing eflfort and never failing vigil. The city of
Denver preserves its beauty and its charm by constant struggle
against the ever encroaching desert, which, encamped and entrenched,
maintains sleepless siege against the town. The desolation of Nineveh
and the ruin of Babylon are evidence rather of surrender to an
adverse climate than of destruction wrought by the hand of man.
Thus the testimony of history and the witness of nature demonstrate
the truth of Montesquieu's declaration that the most enduring of all
empires is the empire of climate.

210 AMERICAN BRBBDERS MAGAZINE.

Acclimatization and naturalization are two radically different
methods of introducing new varieties and species. Naturalization
is the introduction of plant species from foreign countries where
they have become adapted to climatic conditions closely resembling
those of the region to which they may be transferred. Were it
practicable to find in other lands valuable species so drought-resistant
that they would thrive in the arid places of this country, the problem
of acclimatization could be laid aside, for its solution elsewhere
would render needless its investigation here. But the fact that no
such adapted varieties of the common cereals and other valuable
crop species can be found makes acclimatization the supreme problem
of the arid West.

Wallace defines acclimatization to be "the process of adaptation by
which animals and plants are gradually rendered capable of surviving
and flourishing in countries remote from their original habitat or
under meteorological conditions different from those which they have
usually to endure, and which are at first injurious to them." This
definition contemplates not only complete acclimatization, but also
those slight changes in constitution which enable a plant to endure
a moderate climatic difference without the development of new
specific characters. Thus one variety may be more drought-resistant
than another, and it may have acquired this power by slight varia-
tions which would probably disappear upon transfer to a humid en-
vironment. Between such varieties and those less drought-resistant
members of the same species which have always enjoyed the advantage
of abundant moisture, there is not that specific difference which
separates the plants of distinctly desert regions from those of dis-
tinctly humid regions. Complete acclimatization from humid to
desert conditions involves the development of new specific characters.

That degree of acclimatization which involves the development
of distinctly desert species is by some naturalists looked upon as
chimerical. Prominent among these is Professor de Vries, the
eminent Dutch botanist, whose writings form, probably, the most
notable recent contribution to the doctrine of evolution. In a little
book entitled "Plant Breeding," he expresses the belief that the desert
species in the intensely arid region of southern Arizona acquired their
drought-resistant qualities by mutations which occurred under humid
conditions, that they were expelled from the humid environment, that
they reached the desert by migration, and that the desert environment
had nothing to do with their evolution.

DROUGHT-RESISTANT CEREALS. 211

This theory ignores the fact that adaptation is not found ex-
clusively in the occurrence of a favorable mutation, but in both
the occurrence of the mutation and its subsequent perpetuation. One
might admit that a drought-resistant mutation could arise under
humid conditions, but one could not admit that a mutation of that
kind would be an advantage unless there were drought to be resisted.
Were a drought-resistant mutation to occur in a region of abundant
moisture, it would be a disadvantage, and hence, in all probability,
it would disappear before the species could escape by migration. It
is only when a mutation is in harmony with the environment that
it gives the plant in which it occurs any advantage; and since it
is through the advantage given individual plants by this harmony
that natural selection operates, the guiding factor in the perpetuation
of drought-resistant mutations must be the arid environment to
which they conform. Thus the desert, acting as a sieve, determines
that drought-resistant plants shall live and that non-drought-resistant
plants shall die. From this we are bound to conclude that as a rule
desert species have been developed in desert regions.

The assumption which many writers make — among them De
Vries — that nutrition can be distinguished from climate in the effect
upon plant growth, involves a serious as well as- common error.
In fact it is impossible to distinguish them, for nutrition and climate
can not be separated. In the case of all vegetable organisms, nutrition
is the process by which they absorb nutriment and transform it into
living tissue. They do this, subject to conditions of heat, light, and
moisture. But a prevalent combination of heat, light, and moisture
in nature is what we call climate. Hence climate is a factor in
nutrition and a measure of the ability of a plant to utilize the nutri-
ment within its reach. A favorable climate stimulates, an unfavorable
climate restricts nutrition. The all-important thing to consider is
that aridity puts, as it were, hobbles upon nutrition. It is the aim of
acclimatization to overcome these restrictions and enable the plant
to carry on the work of nutrition in spite of the lack of water.

The way in which aridity restricts nutrition is disclosed by the
fact that the service performed by water is almost exclusively
mechanical. It holds in solution the nutriment in the soil, conveys it
through the roots to the plant tissues, and by keeping the tissues
moist facilitates the requisite physiological processes. Ordinarily, a
reduction of the supply of water would reduce the nutriment and

212 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE.

restrict physiological activity. In the case of desert plants structural
adaptation overcomes this in a measure and enables them- to get
greater service from the water which is available than they would
without this adaptation. The fact that the water which is not retained
in the plant is returned to the air by transpiration presents the pos-
sibility of a special adaptation. By this act of transpiration a plant
may lose a great deal of the moisture taken into its system; and
hence a structural adaptation which would check needless transpira-
tion would. promote economy in the use of water. The problem of
acclimatization is to secure this and other desirable changes in
structure.

One should not conclude, however, that in relation to profitable
agriculture the possibility of successful acclimatization to arid con-
ditions is confined to the development of direct modifications of the
kind in question. For the argument's sake, one might admit that
there would be a reduction in the aggregate growth of a plant in
consequence of a reduction in the available quantity of water, although
observation shows that it is really much less in the case of a plant
with drought-resistant adaptations than in one not so adapted. While
admitting for the argument's sake the reduction of growth, one should
take into consideration the conflict between vegetal growth and re-
production, which has been recognized by botanists since the beginning
of vegetable physiology. The circumstances under which this conflict
becomes manifest were elaborately presented by Herbert Spencer
nearly sixty years ago in one of his most interesting contributions
to the theory of evolution. Botanists may differ in regard to the
exact nature of the conflict ; but that it exists and is closely associated
with nutrition is beyond dispute. When nutrition is strong, showing
itself in large vegetal development, reproduction is relatively less
active ; but when a check is placed upon vegetal growth, reproduction
sets in. Mr. Patrick Geddes, the British botanist, has given this
subject much attention, and he is one of the leading advocates of
the proposition that the conflict in question plays a highly important
role. Arthur, quoted by Professor Bailey in his work on plant breed-
ing, says: "A decrease in nutrition during the period of growth of
an organism favors the development of the reproductive parts at
the expense of the vegetative parts." Although the case presented
is not exactly parallel to that of plants subjected to unbroken poverty
of nutrition from the beginning of their lives, the same discrimination

DROUGHT-RBSISTANT CBRBALS. 213

seems to take place when an entire species is compelled to struggle
against adverse conditions. In the latter case, natural selection
seems to have preserved or perpetuated a tendency to favor the
reproductive. In any event, whatever favors the reproductive func-
tions is of advantage to agriculture. Aridity may restrict the
aggregate growth, but through a relatively large yield of grain dis-
crimination in favor of reproduction may leave a margin of profit
to the farmer. In further support of this view, I may point to
the fact within the observation of nearly all wheat growers that a
heavy growth of straw is often followed by a disappointing yield of
-grain, whereas an unpromising development of straw frequently pre-
cedes a harvest which yields much more than the appearance of
the crop indicated.

In passing, I may remark that if the line of acclimatization is
through deterioration, affecting chiefly the vegetal development, but
from which the reproductive would not be exempt, the effect upon
wheat would probably be seen in a reduction in the size of the grains.
If this assumption is correct, small grains might be a mark of acclimati-
zation which the breeder should not ignore.

The methods to be pursued by the breeder now demand considera-
tion ; and in this connection I find myself heavily indebted to Professor
de Vries, for he has g^ven me a new weapon with which to combat
Tiis theory that acclimatization is a dream. One who may be engaged
in breeding drought-resistant cereals will have to conduct his experi-
ments only a few years to discover that the desired end is not to be
attained by adding one favorable variation upon another. When I
began my experiments ^ in 1896 I thought that could be done; but
in course of time I discovered that, whereas in one year a plant might
show a variation in what might seem to be the right direction, its
offspring the next year might just as effectually vary back to the
original standard and obliterate all that had been gained. Thus the
l)reeder might find himself swinging like a. pendulum between narrow
extremes of variation without making any progress. I must confess
that, when I was at that stage of my work, I knew nothing about
the vicious circle of fluctuating variations concerning which Professor
<le Vries has so instructively written. There is little hope in the
struggle with fluctuating variations. But by his theory of mutations
Professor de Vries has pointed out the path of possible escape from
the entanglement; and I am now convinced that the acclimatization

214 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

of cereals to our arid climate can be accomplished by taking advan-
tage of favorable mutations. But while in theory this simplifies the
problem, it greatly increases its practical difficulties. It removes the
work to be done from the domain of agricultural to that of botanical
experimentation. Solution of the problem calls for a large and fully
equipped experiment station, ample funds for carrying on the work,
and a force of botanists and other trained men to conduct the experi-
ments. Of the truth of this I am fully convinced by both observation
and personal experience. While recognizing that in my own field
work I have not solved the problem of acclimatization, I think I
have learned something about its nature. My investigations have
convinced me that the end to be attained is beyond the reach of
individual effort. The work should be done by the Government;
and, since the problem is distinctly scientific in character, its solution
should be intrusted exclusively to botanists of experience and proved
ability. In the hope that in this spirit the work will be done, I
look upon it as extremely fortunate that the Department of Agriculture
has taken it up. The regret I shall feel in severing my own connec-
tion with work of this kind — which I shall have to do in the near
future — will be greatly offset if my views respecting the nature
and importance of the problem find acceptance. There is reason to
fear, however, that a good deal of the labor at the experiment stations
now maintained by the Government may be in vain so far as the
problem of acclimatization is concerned. Growing numerous small
plats of wheat does not hold out much promise of success. Possibly
a comparison of yields may show some superiority in one variety
over another; but a great deal more than that is needed. The prob-
lem is radically different from the one which presented itself to
Mr. Hays when he was making his highly successful and instructive
experiments to improve the wheats of Minnesota. Acclimatization
was not even a factor in his problem. It is the whole problem here.
Were we in possession of a fully acclimatized species of wheat,
there would probably then be call for experiments like those conducted
by Mr. Hays, in order to improve the species and secure a larger
yield.

Probably the first thing requisite is full, clear recognition that
acclimatization is in reality the problem to be solved, and that its
solution calls for distinctly botanical investigations. I fear that at
least some of the government experimenters are struggling with the

DROUGHT-RESISTANT CEREALS. 215

fluctuating variations of which I have spoken. In their case there
is need of recognition that it is only through the discovery of mutations
that they can hope to succeed. What is required is the discovery
of a new elementary species, drought-resistant in characters distin-
guishing it from species adapted to a humid climate. It would probably
require the trained eye of a botanist to discern these specific characters
or differences; but, however thfis might be, the mutations giving rise
to such characters will, in my opinion, have both to occur and to
be perpetuated, before acclimatization to an arid environment will
be fully accomplished. That mutations of this kind occur from time
to time is highly probable; and so my advice to the experimenters is
to look for "sports." But let them recognize that a sport showing
adaptation to aridity would probably present a very different appear-
ance from that of a sport in a region of abundant moisture. It might,
measured by humid region standards, be a most unpromising looking
plant — the "singed cat" of the entire field. Probably it would be
short in stature, present a dense as distinguished from an open
growth, possess a large though short stem, thick coarse leaves and a
big development of root. In many respects the last named may be
the most important. Neither late-maturing nor early-maturing plants
should be rejected. The former might show greater adaptation to
aridity; but if the latter should show a special adaptation to the
length of the rainy season, they might prove to be very valuable
from the standpoint of practical agriculture, although scientifically
less interesting than the others.

One obstacle in the path of a breeder compelled to conduct his
experiments upon a restricted scale is the comparatively small number
of plants available for examination. There is more hope of finding
the desired mutations among tens of thousands of plants than in
little experimental plats. Should the Government do the work, it
could afford to grow five hundred thousand individual wheat plants,
if Burbank could grow ten thousand shrubs in the hope of finding a
single one with the desired character. The individual plants should
be grown sufficiently far apart to give room for careful examination,
and they should be numerous enough to give hope of finding the
desired mutation. Extensive experimental planting is a prime requi-
site; for it is not by a kind of training process that acclimatization
is to be achieved, but by actually going out and finding the mutations
in case they occur.

216 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

This leads to a suggestion respecting a way in which success
might be achieved. Sheriff, the famous British breeder of fine
wheat varieties, devoted his time to looking for sports in the fields,
and sometimes years elapsed after finding one before he found another.
But from sports discovered by him several superior kinds of wheat
arose. Some of the best wheats now grown in the United States
are products of similar discoveries. Bearing this in mind, and while
still asserting that acclimatization is a botanical and not an agricul-
tural problem, I may consistently suggest that any intelligent and
observing man engaged in growing cereals in the arid region by the
more or less precarious methods of "dry farming" might stumble
upon the desired sport. Hence all dry farmers should be encouraged
to look for mutations or sports of that kind. In order that they might
search intelligently, it would be well if the Department of Agriculture
were to publish a bulletin containing information on the characteristic
appearance of drought-resistant plants, which could be distributed
among the dry farmers of the arid and semi-arid regions.

One other suggestion to the Department of Agriculture remains
to be made. The greatest thing which has ever been done for the
study and investigation of arid region plant growth is the establish-
ment of the desert laboratory near Tucson, Arizona. It was established
upon the suggestion and under the direction of Mr. Frederick Coville,
botanist in the Department of Agriculture, and Mr. Daniel T.
MacDougal of New York, both of them botanists of ability and
distinction. In the maintenance of that laboratory an example is set
which the Department of Agriculture should follow in connection with
the endeavor to breed drought-resistant cereals and other valuable
crop species. As I already have said, the problem is botanical. It
needs botanists for its solution. At one of the arid region experi-
ment stations — and I know of none more suitable than the one at Akron,
Colorado — a botanical laboratory should be established. This laboratory
should be the center from which all the acclimatization work should
radiate. Every supposed "sport" or mutation, whether discovered at
the station or in the field of a dry farmer, should be subjected to careful
examination; and no doubt much could be done in that way to
determine its real value in respect to drought resistance. Mr. Coville
did a splendid thing when, in connection with Mr. MacDougal, he
secured from the Carnegie -Institution the means and later established
the desert laboratory near Tucson, Arizona. I should like to see

DROUGHT'RBSISTANT CEREALS. 217

him follow up that achievement by organizing under the Department
of Agriculture a similar laboratory for experiments in acclimatiza-
tion under the comparatively moderate desert conditions of this part
of the country.

Let no one look with indifference upon the possibility here out-
lined of acclimatizing valuable crop species to arid regions, or under-
estimate the magnitude of the achievement suggested. The problem
itself is as full of interest to the biologist as the possibility of its
successful solution is rich with the promise of benefit to mankind.
Excluding the untillable mountains and the hopelessly irreclaimable
deserts, acclimatization of the food cereals would make arable nearly
300,000 square miles of the now arid part of the United States,
increase by thousands of square miles the productive area of Canada,
solve some of the pressing problems of agriculture in German South-
west Africa and the South African possessions of Great Britain,
extend- far into the interior the tillable area of Australia, and by
increasing the yield of the fields expel the specter of famine from
the g^ain regions of southeastern Russia. So vast an achievement
would rank with the discovery of a new continent in its enlargement
of the sources of human subsistence; and well might the hope of
success quicken the activities of the most sluggish and awaken
ambition in the least daring.

[Presented by the Committee on Breeding Cereals.]

The American Breeders Magazine is passing through its period
of trial, of experimentation as to the makeup of its subject matter, and
as to its editorial arrangement ; also as to suiting the views
Need of q£ ^^^ members of the Association. Clearly the scientific
papers presented by the members at the annual meeting and
those written especially for the Magazine should constitute the bulk
of the Magazine. That portion of the Magazine is largely the result
of new research. It is the vanguard of new thought on heredity and
breeding. It is the applied science of the investigators.

Since the larger body of the membership can not be scientists,
but must come from practical breeders of animals and plants, there
is need of subject matter in which they are individually interested.
The historical sketches in the front part of the Magazine will interest
many, as will also the notes and news in the back part. The section
set apart for editorials gives opportunity for expression on timely
topics of general interest to breeders. And here it is designed that
there shall be spun the general threads of this whole discussion. The
broad philosophy of breeding stated in popular terms will form the
woof into which the scientific articles will be woven, each part serving
as a part of the web in making up the whole fabric of fact.

The Association will expand the quarterly Magazine into a
monthly as soon as the financial income will provide the expense. A
monthly magazine of the character already established and a bound
annual report — which receives high praise everywhere — ^appear to be
a large return for a two-dollar membership fee. But it now seems
easily possible to include both of these, and eventually to enlarge the
Annual Report to a book of five or six hundred pages, thus placing
in bound form the most vital body of knowledge on heredity and
breeding. The achievements of modern publishing make this seem
entirely feasible. Once the Association has ten thousand members
its own income will enable it to successfully make a campaign for a
hundred thousand members. A hundred thousand members will carry
American plant and animal breeding forward past all obstacles toward
adding the possible billion dollars more to the nation's annual crop
of raw products of food and clothing.

BDITORIALS. 219

The American Breeders Association is a voluntary cooperation.
It is the opposite of a corporation. The officers lead this cooperation
without pay except the satisfaction of seeing it succeed. The teething,
stage of the Association has long passed. Its lusty growth shows that
the youth is coming to a large majority. The annual meetings, the
Annual Report and the Magazine have .all become successful. No one
need doubt the future of the Association, nor indeed stop short of
large hopes for this movement to conserve and utilize the mutating
heredity of the rare plants or animals which, with almost no cost, will
add a billion each year to our farm products.

The time has come for the members to become full-fledged co-
operators in this movement. The only way to do this is to work. And
aside from writing articles, the big work for each and every member
is to add to the membership. At the last annual meeting forty-four
men promised to secure eleven hundred new members. Some have
secured all they promised and more, others have made good progress.
There is until February first to make the promise good, and we be-
lieve every one will reach at least the full quota promised. And the
Magazine now appeals to members who were not at that meeting.

Induce friends who should do so to join, you or they sending the
two dollars annual membership fee or the twenty-dollar fee as is con-
venient. Write to friends inviting them to become members; and at
the same time write the Secretary of the Association to send a letter
seconding your invitation. Ask for small folders to be inserted in
your letters to breeders, and where proper to do so close your letters
with a sentence calling their attention to the invitation to become a
member. Indifference will not compete with other societies which seek
members. With a large membership all the rest is possible. That the
members can secure other members is being proven by those who
made the pledges at Omaha. The Secretary assumed to secure one
member for each four secured by others making promises, and his
quota is already filled.

c c c

The American Breeders Association has assumed the important
function of bringing the practical breeders into closer touch with

the scientists, and the scientists into a clearer knowl-
Aims of the ^j^^ q£ ^^^ practical problems of the plant and animal

breeders. Its meetings have proven the value of an
open forum where practical and scientific men interested in breeding

220 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

can discuss heredity and breeding in all tiieir relations to the living
forms as found in nature and in reference to the production of races
of plants, animals, and men with better heredity. The Association
assumes the publication of the American Breeders Magazine because
it feels that there is need of an independent open court for public
expression published by a copperative organization. The Council,,
under the authority of the Association, in deciding to extend this
forum in the form of a magazine realizes both the difficulties and
the possibilities of such a step. The effort will be to sustain a high
standard of scientific excellence, and at the same time produce a
readable magazine. The Association has not been organized to for-
ward the interests of any group of men, but will give a fair and
open hearing to all. It aims to achieve scientific and economic results
of the highest order and of the widest scope.

c c c

In the early days of history, when law had much less hold upon>
men than now, shrewd statesmen and priests ruled the masses through
religious customs and observances engrafted upon prac-
History tically all institutions and acts that concerned the common
Itself good. Prominent among these were the agricultural ac-

tivities such as seed sowmg and harvesting and the setting
apart of the seed for the next year's crop. With some tribes the rites
and functions connected with these events were most elaborate and
impressive.

That history repeats itself, that customs though modified move in
cycles, is illustrated in a recent proclamation by the Governor of
Minnesota to the farmers of that State to set apart the week be-
ginning September 12 as "seed-corn week." Surely this completes a
cycle in agricultural history in America. It may be that the beginning
of the cycle dates back to the dim era of the mound builders coming
up through the Zuni and Mayas and Aztecs to the present silo building,
milk separating, auto driving and telephone using American farmer.
This modern setting apart of a time for seed saving has been developed
through the efforts of the agricultural extension divisions of the State
colleges. It differs from its prototype in that it is less compulsory,
being no longer a religious rite. It differs also in that it is carried out
not alone by the leaders but by the whole people, who appreciate the

EDITORIALS. 221

science of seed selection. It recognizes, however, that most people
need to be led into being thrifty; into preparing for a rainy day by
saving in the autumn a plentiful supply of seed for the time of planting.*

And in a large sense the choosing of viable seed of the best
heredity and preserving its full vitality for the coming year's crop
is not merely a matter of duty to self and to family. With the rise
in prices of food it has become an affair of State and of Nation that
each individual part of our great agricultural machine do its work
well, that food may be abundant and cheap for all. The States and
the Nation cooperating are doing a great work in inducing tens of
thousands of boys on American farms to enter corn- judging and corn-
growing contests. The part which thousands of rural district schools,
hundreds of consolidated rural schools and agricultural high schools,
also collegiate short courses and farmers' extension departments, are
doing to teach the selection of seed corn is also productive of large
results. Science is taking the place of mere formal rites and the
increased production which is coming from the scientific breeding
of corn and other seeds is beginning to mount up to large aggregate
figures.

To plant over 100,000,000 acres of corn next year our farmers
must store tens ^f millions of bushels of seed corn. Half a billion
bushels of corn annually depend on the selection of seed corn of
good heredity so preserved that each kernel will grow. To get a full
crop each hill must have two or four stalks so bred as to produce on
each stalk a large ear or two ears. In the light of these facts the
saving of seed corn certainly looms up as a most stupendous breeding
operation and one that is well worthy of the proclamation of the
Governor of a great State. It is well worth observing by the large
farming constituency of Governor Eberhardt and is well worth per-
petuating as an "agronomic cult," as it was among the ancients. —
George W. Knorr.

c c c

Records of the efficiency of pupils in our schools, of their success
in later life as members of society, and of the potency with which

parents project efficiency into their progeny, would, if care-
Heredity £y||y tabulated, provide data which would induce the more

rapid increase of the more efficient strains of human blood
and also bring about the less rapid multiplication of the less efficient
strains. Work already accomplished under scientific direction in. plant

n

222 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE.

and animal improvement has done much toward providing satisfactory
methods of recording and tabulating such data.

Now that compulsory education in many places brings nearly all
youth under such conditions that their school-working abilities can
be determined, very useful data may easily be recorded; and as our
schools are further developed so that the manual as well as cultural
studies are included, the abilities of the youth can be judged more
completely and more in relation to adaptability to particular vocations,
especially to the practical life of the farm, the shop, and the home.
It is entirely practicable to record the personal life efficiency of each
pupil; and under careful development such a plan of school records
may lead to wide cooperation in making such records privately, or
even in making publicly accessible the records of the characteristics
and efficiency of each and every person in the country.

c c c

The accumulation of efficiency records of large numbers will
make possible the tabulation of such efficiency in family records.

From a study of such records may be determined the
Efficiency nature of inheritance of efficiency; and* (approximately)
People ^^^ power or value of each individual as a prospective

parent of efficient children. Such records would show
which are the more efficient races, families, and individuals, upon
whom, under suitable social and political conditions, the burden of
abundant child-bearing might be made to rest. Definite knowledge
of this kind would conceivably give the less efficient races and strains
of men a feeling of less responsibility in the maintenance of a large
progeny, while in families where the parents represent high hereditary
efficiency, and especially in families which also occasionally produce
geniuses, it would undoubtedly add greatly to the desire for a goocjly
number of children. Again, it would presumably greatly deter from
abundant child-bearing those families in which the expectancy of
efficiency is low; and it ought especially to do so in those cases in
which defective and criminal children occur. It seems clear that since
the public has come to favor conservative scientific study of heredity
in man we may have a usable science of eugenics which can be taught
-rf-possibly through some such conservative organization as our State
college extension departments.

EDITORIALS. 223

The teachings of Mendel, De Vries, and others have very greatly
magnified the place which the unit character has in our consideration

of problems of heredity. It is almost startling: to think
M ^ ®' that the inhibitions responsible for honesty and dis-
honesty, morality and licentiousness, temperance and
drunkenness, as well as strength of mind and defectiveness, talents
for music, for poetry, for oratory, for mechanical invention, and the
absence of these talents, may be even in a partial degree subject to
the Mendelian laws of segregation, dominance, and recombination.
The article by Doctor Goddard, of New Jersey, on page 165, reporting
investigations into the heredity of feeble-mindedness, may be epoch-
making in drawing the attention of Mendelian students to the import-
ance of investigations of unit characters in man. This one line of
investigation has proven to the Association the wisdom of inaugurating
investigations in human heredity. "Facts are God's arguments." Facts
so clear and so vitally important to the strength of mind and strength
of purpose of the future race at once break down the feeling that
these subjects might be made vulgar by "investigation. The sunlight
of fact cleanses and purifies every subject; and the normal mind is
ever open to the truth. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free.''

The almost unanimous vote of the members of the Association
to raise the Committee on Eugenics to the dignity of a Eugenics

Section encourages the officers of the Association

Wide Cooperation in ^o make more vigorous efforts to promote investi-
Eugenics Desirable. ,. , ^i • t n/r u r .1 . a

gations along this line. Members of this Asso-
ciation and general readers of the Magazine are urged to secure
members from among those interested in the subject of eugenics.
And what intelligent person is not interested in heredity in
man? The hope is arising that the Association may build up a very
large section in its membership of persons who wish to encourage
and assist the committees in promoting investigations along the line of
eugenics. The officers are determined to guide the investigations along
scientific lines. It is believed that the forthcoming discussion in the
Magazine of heredity in man will be of interest to criminologists,
physicians, teachers, and preachers, since these deal with the more
intimate phases of the lives of men, and have especial need of a knowl-
edge of heredity in man. It is easy to predict also that no other class
will have a livelier interest in the discussions of heredity in man than

224 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

those who are technically interested in plant and animal breeding.
Since the philosophy of animal breeding was first wrought out in a
practical way the breeders of plants, adopting the philosophy of animal
breeders, have in the past decade distanced animal breeders in the
application of the philosophy to the technique of breeding. May it not
be in the end that our students of heredity, rather than physicians,
anthropologists, and humanitarians, will be most efficient in the de-
velopment of the science of eugenics?

Funds are being provided by private parties to carry along work
relating to heredity in man. Seme public and semipublic institutions
are also cooperating. There is no line in which private parties could
better invest funds for public service. The laboratory established
in London by Sir Francis Galton is doing a good work, and similar
institutions are needed in all leading countries. Many new questions
are coming up for solution, and the further the subject is developed,
the more problems which seem open to solution, are presenting them-
selves.

The subjects of breeding plants and animals and heredity in

general are passing from the stage of indefinite knowledge to a status

of ore^anized science. There is being: rapidly wrought
Breeding as a o r- .^ o

School Subject ^"* ^ ^^^ ^* knowledge which is interesting, highly

instructive, and even inspirational. This knowledge
is of such a character that once it is presented in pedagogical form
it will be very useful as a means of mental development. A compre-
hension of the laws of heredity and breeding and an intimate knowledge
of many of the natural and artificial forms in which heredity manifests
itself g^ives the mind scope to analyze facts of nature and economics.
A knowledge of the philosophy, the processes, and the art of creative
and practical breeding will ere long be regarded as a substantial part
of culture in many college courses. But the large place which breeding
will claim in schools will be in vocational courses. Men who are
preparing to be technicians along plant and animal lines will demand
graduate courses in natural and artificial evolution. Splendid collegiate
c6urses in breeding will be developed for the student in agronomy,
horticulture, forestry, and live-stock management. Studies on Tieredity
in plants, animals, and men will be placed as culture studies in many
general and technical courses, and especially in medical colleges.

The simple common-sense features will ere long be winnowed out
of the chaff and straw. Separate text-books for secondary schools
will deal with the more fundamental and practical laws and with the

EDITORIALS. 225

methods of plant and animal introduction and creative breeding, the
growing of pedigreed animals, seeds, and plants, and the dissemination
of new and valuable varieties and breeds. The text-books for agricul-
tural and other collegiate courses can be highly scientific and at the
same time give comprehensive treatment to the methods of creative
breeding, the production of pedigreed stock, and the principles of
plant industry. Breeding is peculiarly a separate part of agronomy,
horticulture, and Hve-stock management. That it relates most vitally
to all three of these subjects gives it an unusual degree of importance,
and the simpler elements may even find their way into the higher
classes of the separate agricultural high school, or the high school
classes of village and consolidated rural schools. This subject will
continue to gain a more and more important place in such forms of
college and department extension as correspondence courses, itinerant
schools, farmers' institutes, and demonstration farming.

Our colleges of agriculture should begin to systematically build
up divisions for instruction in breeding, that they may provide
teachers of this subject for secondary schools. The first essential is
to create a separate division, placing in it the ,best available man as
leader and providing him with facilities and assistants as rapidly as
he can use them to advantage. The colleges should also train men
for the work of research and for creative breeding of plants and
animals under public and private auspices. There is already starting
a demand for men trained to be circuit superintendents in animal
breeding, for men to guide associations for the cooperative ownership
of males, cow testing associations, and other like institutions. Men
are coming into demand to manage plant and animal breeding experi-
ments and creative plant and animal breeding enterprises under na-
tional. State, cooperative, corporate, and private auspices. The de-
mand for demonstrators, researchers, teachers, and practical breeders
may come forward in this line of work as rapidly as classes of enter-
prises have demanded men in forestry during the last decade. Because
this subject is larger, represents a several times larger interest, and
involves a several times larger possible increase of income, it may afford
employment to a larger number of technical men than even forestry
•does. Further, the work is even more technical and varied than for-
estry. The young men who are qualified by nature for this work
and who will thoroughly equip themselves may hope for most enjoy-
able and profitable employment and may anticipate the satisfaction of
having done a substantially large service.

226 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

A group of our strongest agricultural colleges, north and south,
should push into the work of preparing men for the work of technical
research in heredity and breeding. All States should begin to devise
plans for the introduction of breeding as one of the required subjects
in all secondary courses for farm youth. College extension depart-
ments should develop this subject so that it may be better presented
through their various avenues for the giving of practical instruction
to adult farmers.

Publishers have here a new field for profitable enterprise in get-
ting out text-books suited to the various grades of schools. The field
for the sale of manuals on breeding is also rapidly enlarging. Every
five years the increase in knowledge along this line will warrant the
issuance of new text-books and manuals to meet the needs of different
grades of students and of the different classes of growers of plants
and animals.

The experience of the officers of the American Breeders Associa-
tion warrants the statement that recent developments in the science
of heredity and breeding, and the developments in prospect in the
near future, are revolutionizing the thought and methods in breeding
throughout the world. The Mendelian study of heredity first aroused
plant breeding from its position trailing far behind the work of animal
improvement. And now the self-complacent animal breeders, having
begun to realize that plant improvement has recently chased past them,
are awakening from the sleep they entered upon soon after Charles
Darwin had given them an awakening half a century ago. It was by
chance that the present writer was for more than a decade practically
the only American specialist who was working in both fields of animal
and plant breeding. It has been an interesting experience to see
plant breeding arouse itself from a position far in the rear, and push
forward until it is now leading animal breeding into new scientific
methods.

The bringing together in the American Breeders Association of
the plant breeders and the animal breeders, as well as the scientists
interested in heredity of the two organic kingdoms, was a result of
the accident of the writer's dual interest, which led him to observe
that, since the laws of heredity are mainly common to both kingdoms^
each could assist the other. It is true that the earlier plant breeders
have received the basic elements of their philosophy from the animal
breeders. But it is also true that later the plant men are more than

EDITORIALS. 227

paying the debt in the philosophies of the subject, and especially in
working out many elements of practice.

Mendel, De Vries, Neilson, Burbank, Williams, Fairchild, Zavitz,
and others have devised methods of experimentation, of creative
breeding, and of introduction and distribution which are full of sug-
gestions to those who improve our large farm animals, fowls, pet
stock, and also the semi-domesticated and wild meat and fur animals
and wild birds.

The science of heredity and the practice of creative breeding
may be said to have a parallelism to the science and practice of
aviation investigation. Langley bore somewhat the same relation to
the new developments in the aeroplane that Mendel did to statistical
records of heredity. De Vries would pronounce the achievements
of both mutations. Count ZeppeHn has isolated a pure race of dirigible
balloons of prodigious size, evidently of a type designed for military
purposes. Breeding has had no such literary character as Darius
Green with his flying machine. Burbank and the Wright brothers
are contemporaneous; McDougal with his saline solution evidently
crossed the English Channel separating the inorganic from the organic
impulses, and may have produced variations by environmental stimu-
lus applied to the ovule at the moment of marrying the pollen grain.

While this seems a digression from the subject, the great mutating
plants and animals must not be neglected in a statement concerning
the development of education along the Hnes of breeding. Messenger,
the father of the American driving horse; the original tree from
which sprang the Wealthy apple; the potato seed from which came
the Burbank potato; and other mutants, will stand along with the
theoretic truth brought forward by De Vries. Vilmorin's monumental
work with the sugar beet, in instituting centgener breeding, now
spreading throughout plant and animal breeding all over the world,
will long head a leading chapter in books on practical breeding.

The opportunities for brilliant achievements have not all been
embraced. The cream of this subject has by no means been all
skimmed off. Not only in research but in the pedagogics of the sub-
ject is there room for many brilliant careers. The science of heredity
and breeding is so comprehensive, so complex and extensive that there
is scope for the brightest minds. The economic goaj is so large that
society can well afford to devote to research and creative breeding
the talents of large numbers of its brightest sons. — W. M. Hays.

News and Notes

The Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Agriculture has
recorded the average weight of wool fleeces each year since 1891

(except in 1892) ; within this period the average
Increasing Weight ^^ight has increased from 4.9 pounds per fleece in

1891 to 6.8 pounds in 1909, an increase of 38.8 per
cent. In 1910 the average weight is 6.7 pounds. The steadiness of
the increase is shown in the following table of the weight per fleece
in each year:

Year.

Pounda.

Year.

Pounda.

Year.

Pounda.

Year.

Pounds.

1891

4.9

1897

5.8

1902

6.3

1907

6.7

1893

5.3

1898

5.8

1903

6.1

1908

6.6

1894

5.4

1899

5.9

1904

6.4

1909

6.8

1895

5.6

1900

6.2

1905

6.6

1910

6.7

1896

5.7

1901

6.2

1906

6.7

The production of wool per sheep as recorded in the last decennial
census was 6.7 pounds in 1900 (the average of the fleeces, exclusive
of those obtained in the fall shearing of 1899), 5.6 pounds in 1890,
and 4.8 pounds in 1880. The census returns for 1850 and 1860 were
defective, but indicate approximate yields of 2.75 pounds in 1850
and 2.96 pounds in 1860. From these data it appears that the produc-
tion of wool per sheep has increased about 150 per cent from 1850
to 1910.

It is interesting to observe that a similar improvement in the
breed of sheep for wool has taken place in Australia. The official
Yearbook of New South Wales for 1907-8 states: "Of late years
considerable attention has been given to the question of breeding,
and the result is seen in the great improvement in the weight of
fleeces." The average weight of wool per fleece in New South Wales
(which contains more than half of the sheep of Australia) in 1881-
1885 was 5.24 pounds; in 1886-1890, 5.42 pounds; 1891-1895, 6.44
pounds; 1896-1900, 6.71 pounds; 1901-1905, 7.61 pounds; 1906-1907,
7.82 pounds.

NBWS AND NOTES. 229

It appears from the figures above that in these two great sheep-
growing countries improvement in breed and in the care of flocks
has within the last twenty years increased the average weight per
fleece more than 35 per cent. — Nat. C. Murray.

The world continues to erect piles of enduring stone to im-
mortalize the military hero and the statesman. The "man on horse-
back" has at all times, and in all countries, occupied a
Unrewarded prominent place as decoration in parks and squares. On

the other hand, a feeling is more recently arising that
the real builders of our civilization have received comparatively little
attention. The men who broke the prairies, cleared the forests, built
up the world's commerce; who contributed to culture, education and
art; who gave us books, labor-saving machinery and all the con-
veniences and luxuries of modern buildings, have all received too little
credit. And especially has the race neglected its mothers, great and
small, who have nursed into being the agencies and the builders that
have made our civilization possible.

It is worth while to raise the question as to whether we have
shown due appreciation to those who have domesticated plants and
animals and to those who have created new forms of life useful to man.
One may truly be pardoned for the rashness of proposing a monument
to the creature, troglodyte or human, who for the first time rubbed
out the scanty diococcum heads, placed the grains in a skin or bag
and stowed it away in cave or hut, guarding it against rodents or
thieves and carrying it over to the next seeding season to grow an-
other crop. This masterful interference with nature by a dawning
intelligence may have occurred before the discovery of the use of
fire and even of articulate speech. However this may have been, that
genius was the first farmer in history and also the first plant' breeder.
And, by the way, there is excellent reason for the belief that that first
farmer was a women. But passing that and approachmg more recent
times, one might speak of those enthusiasts, each in his day, who
labored, hoped and probably starved to realize the desire that burned
within his soul to give the world a fruit, a cereal, or a flower better
adapted, suited to more uses, and more profitable than any that pre-
ceded it.

230 AMERICAN^ BREEDERS MAGAZINE,

Take, for instance, Ephraim Bull, who gave to the world the
Concord grape, now a standard variety, cultivated in thousands of
vineyards, found in nearly every section where grapes will grow. He
created wealth, luxury, refreshment, and food for millions. His work
is today precisely as valuable as it was on the day he first gave it to
the world. That first mother-vine which thrives to this day at Concord,.
Mass., has multiplied its potency into the tens of millions of vines,
unchanged, not losing one iota from any one of the many qualities
which gave it its peculiar value. Ephraim Bull died in poverty. Late
in life, just before the end, kind neighbors befriended him, but their
assistance came too late. Bull not only deserved a pension while he
lived but a monument after his death — he never received either.

The story of how Peter Gideon, the originator of the Wealthy
apple, spent his last few dollars — against the advice and will of his
wife at that — for a quantity of apple seed is widely known. One
of these thousands of seedlings which grew from those seeds was
the mutation he had sought and hoped for. Just one. But that
one was worth all the privation and waiting and patience. Its "blood'*
has multiplied thousand upon thousand fold, still unchanged, still the
same heredity. In the course of the years it has earned millions of
dollars for the farmers of the Northwest. It is now fast becoming a
prominent apple in all cold countries. Peter Gideon deserves a monu-
ment. These are only two instances among many.

We have strayed far in our argument, but it was necessary to
lead up to the conclusion. It is the purpose of the American Breeders
Association to make a permanent collection of portraits, with short
biographical sketches, of all persons who have done either creative
work in the art of breeding, or notable work in the science of breeding
and heredity. These portraits of breeders and scientists, both living
and dead, will be continued as a permanent feature of the Magadne,
With the help of the membership, which is fairly cosmopolitan, the
editors should be enabled to build up a most interesting iconography
of breeders the world over.

There are workers in all countries who have plodded and many
perhaps without reward. Let us learn their names, what they have
done, and if possible how they have done their work. For example,
members in Japan, the country where plant breeders and gardeners
have wedded nature and art with rare skill, many have knowledge of
some of the geniuses who have originated some of the plant creations
peculiar to that country.

NBWS AND NOTES. 231

Let us if possible find the men, and record their work, who were
early identified with the breeding of the Percheron horse in France
and the Clydesdale and the Shire horse in England ; also the breeders
of Rambouillets in France and Spain and of the wonderful array of
excellent breeds of sheep in England; the meritorious breeders of all
breeds of cattle wherever found; also breeders of flowers and vege-
tables and horticultural crops. The world may not, for a long time
to come, accord these patient, unselfish workers the credit that is
due them. But an association composed of men and women who
understand, who deal with and who know the economic and com-
mercial side of heredity values, can very appropriately make its publi-
cations the archives for the preservation of records relating to men of
note in the field of breeding, and honor them by giving recognition to
their work and thus reward them even if only in a small degree for
their services to humanity. And the lives of men now living, es-
pecially the older, will also serve as themes for doing justice to useful
service. It is most pleasant to tell a man while yet living of the good
he has done, and often a man's own neighbors need to see the work
of their fellow citizen from the viewpoint of the State or Nation.
Few who have really performed services as creative breeders have
been overestimated. Many, like Mendel, have been sadly forgotten.

d D D

Private Game

Preserves

Beneficial.

An article concerning private game preserves, by the Hon. J. T.

Holland, Game Commissioner of Colorado, in the Amateur Sportsman,

New York, July, 1910, is of interest for the reason

that Mr. Holland believes that the office of State game
Preserves

warden should be removed from poHtics. He asserts

that "our game is fast disappearing and chiefly because,
no one having an interest in the game belonging to the public ex-
clusively, there is a tendency for every one to get all he can while
it lasts."

The Colorado system of licensed game preserves and licensed
lakes is warmly advocated, because "experience has shown that it is
far better to attempt any legitimate traffic in game than to attempt
to license all sale and traffic and thus compel persons who are not in

232 AMERICAN BRBBDERS MAGAZINE.

position to take their game but insist upon having it, to assist the
game hunter in his unlawful depredations upon all varieties of game
animals."

It is stated that "a single preserve alone will recommend a very
great many sportsmen to our State, w*ho, were it not for the game
preserves, would necessarily go out on the range and take their share
of the game belonging to the public at large. Probably the greatest
advantage of the system of game and fish preserves is that this system
more perhaps than anything else has tended to wipe out the market
hunter of Colorado; another advantage is the taking of game in
• preserves by owners thereof results in leaving very much of the
game on the public range for others and the regulation of the
selling and shipping of game which is permitted under the laws
of our State permits the people to have this desirable food,"
and it is Mr. Holland's opinion that "the more and the
larger the game preserves, the better. A national law is
advocated, as such is essential in order to do justice to each of the
States, as it cannot be expected that one State will pass laws pro-
hibiting the killing of (certain) birds within its borders while persons
in adjoining States can kill them; consequently in order to be fair
to all concerned a national law should be passed fixing the open
seasons so that the States would all be on the same basis and each
would have an equal show at the game."

The paper concludes with the statement that "fish raising and
selling in Colorado has come to be a much larger industry than game
raising and selling. We have in the State dozens and dozens of what
are known as licensed lakes, which are conducted along the same
lines as game preserves and when properly conducted are very profit-
able to the owners. Many of the owners of these lakes are shipping
fish constantly to the markets of our State and of other States, and
still through the high degree of perfection which has been attained
in fish culture the sum total of our fish in Colorado to-day in all
probability is far greater than it was ten years ago."

Whatever objection may be uttered against the private game
preserves, there is this in their favor, that they are more likely to
encourage scientific and systematic breeding of game animals than
public preserves.

NEWS AND NOTES. 233

In a recent letter to the Secretary of the Association, Dr. Charles
E. Woodruff, lieutenant-colonel in the Medical Corps of the U. S.

Army, Cebu, P. I., calls attention to the fact that the
Dark-Skinned breeds of domestic animals Ayhich have been produced
the Tropics ^^ tropicai climates have heavy black pigment in the

skin, whatever may be the color of their hair, while
breeds produced in the cloudy, cooler regions of northeastern Europe
often have light-colored skins. He also calls attention to the fact
that some of these light-skinned breeds do not do well when taken
into warm sunshiny countries. He says, **The lethal effect of ex-
cessive amounts of light is harmful to all kinds of protoplasm, whether
it is in a bacterium or in a hog.'' He quotes Prof. Robert Wallace
of Edinburgh University as stating that all domestic mammals orig-
inating in the tropics have black .skins.

Doctor Woodruff says, "I find that every native horse here has a
black skin, no matter what its hair color — there being few albinos."
These horses are of Chinese stock, and other stock does not do well
there. Doctor Woodruff has long been contending that one reason why
people with light complexion do not do well in warmer climates is that
the sun's rays too readily penetrate through the light-colored skin. He
has long argued also that tuberculosis patients accustomed to northern
cloudy and cool climatic conditions are not benefited by removal to
hot climates where there is much sunshine. He now suggests that
this may also be true in case of cattle and that many northern cattle
will not be able well to resist tuberculosis in many of the tropical and
subtropical regions because of the additional amount of sunlight.

The problem of introducing domestic animals from one climate
to a radically different climate is most important. Colonel Woodruff
has demonstrated that this subject of light-complexioned races of
men and of animals should be studied extensively. There can be no
question of the wisdom of studying the problems connected with
introducing breeds of animals which by centuries of natural breeding
have become resistant to a disease into regions to which that disease
has recently migrated, as in case of the Indian cattle in our Southern
States. And the making of hybrid breeds which retain the excellence
of two or more constituent breeds may prove worthy not only of
thorough research but of much experimental demonstration.

234 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

Until quite recently, wheat has been classed among those plants
whose genealogy has been lost in the long space of time during which

it has been cultivated by man ; and this belief was
^d Prototypes of quite generally accepted even amone scientists.
Wheat and Other 2^, ^ r a a u a- . x ^u t

Cereals in Palestine. ^^^ ^^P^':* ^* ^' Aaronsohn, director of the Jew-
ish Experiment Station of Haifa, Palestine, that
he had discovered the wild progenitor of wheat is therefore of de-
cided historical interest. (Bulletin 180, Bureau of Plant Industry,
U. S. Department of Agriculture.)

The type which Doctor Aaronsohn regards as a wild form of
wheat is the Triticum dicoccum dicoccoides — the wild emmer found
in Palestine and Syria. On the occasion of a visit to the Jewish
agricultural colony at Rosh Pinar this wild Triticum was discovered,
resulting in the find of only one plant. A later visit to Mt. Hermon
revealed large tracts of this wild Triticum at an altitude of more
than 9,400 feet. Its most interesting feature is its extreme variability.
The forms found were so numerous that no attempt at determination
could be made.

The author rejects the idea^that this Triticum had escaped from
cultivation and gives as a reason the facts that it is not cultivated
in Syria or Palestine at present and that it is found only upon slopes
of the most arid and rocky hills and in places most exposed to the sun.
Another significant observation is that a form of wild barley seemed
to be habitually associated with this wild emmer. This explains the
curious fact that in ancient literature, and even in excavations made
in Egypt, seeds of these two plants are almost always found together.
This would indicate that the cultivation of the two grains took place
simultaneously and that neither of these grains was cultivated first.
This wild emmer and barley growing so abundantly on large tracts
would naturally attract the attention of nomadic or local tribes, and its
domestication and cultivation was a natural consequence.

In Bulletin 279 from the Laboratory of Experimental Plant
Breeding, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. (48 pages), several inter-
esting illustrations accompany the text. In this tech-
Variation and j^j^^j^i bulletin is worked out a statistical study of the
Timothy variations and correlations of' the principal characters

of the timothy plant. The observations cover a popu-
lation of 3,505 plants and extend over a period of three years.

A circular letter has been sent out by the office of the Secretary
making the appointments to the various committees and requesting

. the respective committee chairmen to communicate with

Members ^^^ committee members as to the preparation of reports
for the coming meeting in February. It is to be hoped
that the committee members, practically all of whom continue from
last year, will carry on their work along lines mapped out in previous
years. Committee chairmen should, with the help of their • committee
members, block out new work for two or more years ahead, so that
work which requires research, correspondence, or collection of statis-
tics may be planned with definite ends in view. Committees on breed-
ing gladioli, sweet peas, and dahlias are in process of organization,
but are not sufficiently far along to allow announcement of full mem-
l)ership. It would be well to obtain from committee members, as
well as from non-members, titles of papers or addresses to be pre-
sented at the meeting at Columbus or for the Magazine,

A small folder issued by the Eugenics Record Office, describes the
work and organization of the Eugenics Section and is here quoted
in part:

This comprises the interests of the Association that relate to

human improvement by a better selection of marriage mates and the

control of the reproduction of the defective classes.
Eugenics Section: t. rn t\'jo-ltj i.* j

It O iranization officers are David Starr Jordan, chairman, and

C. B. Davenport, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island,

N. Y., secretary. With them have been associated well-known students

of heredity and humanists, among others Alexander Graham Bell,

Washington, D. C. ; Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal. ; W. E. Castle,

Harvard University ; C. R. Henderson, University of Chicago ; Adolf

Meyer, Johns Hopkins University; J. Arthur Thomson, University

of Aberdeen ; H. J. Webber, Cornell University ; Frederick A. Woods,

Harvard Medical School.

The work of the section is two- fold, that of the Eugenics Record

Office and that of the comniittees.

236 AMERICAN BRBUDBRS MAGAZINE.

The Eugenics Record Office, located at Cold Spring Harbor,.
Long Island, N. Y., is under the general direction of the secretary
of the section and has as its superintendent Prof. H. H. Laughlin.
The record office seeks to accumulate and study the records of physical
and mental characteristics of human families and to educate the public
as to classes of fit and unfit marriages. Its work is done by means
of (a) correspondence, (b) the acquisition of family records on
special blanks, and (c) the inquiries of field workers investigating
either in conjunction with institutions or independently.

The committees serve as centers for special inquiries or for edu-
cation. They are of two sorts, (a) technical committees and (b)
local committees. Technical committees are composed of professional
men trained for special inquiries. They further investigations in their
subjects and advise the record office. Their composition changes from
time to time. Those already organized, with their present personnel,
are as follows:

Committee on Heredity of the Feeble-Minded : A. C. Rogers,
chairman; H. H. Goddard, Vineland, N. J., secretary; J. C. Carson^
H. H. Donaldson, Walter E. Fernald, J. M. Murdock.

Committee on Heredity of Insanity: Adolf Meyer, chairman;
E. E. Southard, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., secretary;
August Hoch, F. A. Woods.

Committee on Heredity of Epilepsy: W. N. Bullard, chairman;
Everett Flood, Palmer, Mass., secretary ; J. F. Munson, E. E. Southard.

Committee on Heredity of Criminality : C. R. Henderson, chair-
men; M. G. Schlapp, Cornell Medical School, New York City, secre-
tary; W. M. Carmalt, William Healy.

Committee on Heredity of Deafmutism : Alexander Graham Bell,,
chairman.

Other committees are being organized.

The local committees are to serve as local centers for collection
and study of data and for education. It is contemplated that such
committees will be formed in connection with various universities and
at other intellectual centers.

The Eugenics Section seeks to cooperate with all existing agencies
for the same work. It invites correspondence of persons interested
in the subject of eugenics and willing to collaborate.

The American Breeders Magazine

Issued Quarterly for Practical and Scientific
Breeders of Animals and Plants

Edited by Willet M. Hays, N. E. Hansen, and H. W. Mumford

Because we have been bom into tiieir presence we accept tiie domesticated
plants and animals as a matter of ootsrse. Because we see dwellings builtp
bridges Uirown across rivers and chasms, airships iuYented, and flying machines
and railroads constructed, we stop and marvel at mechanical progress.

To justly decide whetiier man has made most progress in tiie field of me-
chanical inyention or in exploitation of tiie living things — th^ agricultural i^ants
and animals— Is realfy quite a difficulty. Nor are the latter the result of chance.
On the contraiy, they are the product of sustained, intelligent, selectiYe effort
on tiie part of tiie breeder and farmer.

The American Breeders Association proposes to organize the various forces
which have accomfdished all this. The Magazine is the instrument throu|^
which some phases of its work are published for popular reading. Forthenezt
number we have in view :

SINGLE CHARACTER ts. TOUT ENSEMBLE

BREEDING IN GRAPES Bf T. V. Monmott

BREEDING OF GRAIN SORGHUMS

Bf 9mrimton R. Bmii

TOBACCO BREEDING Qy n. D. Shmmmi

BREEDING FOR IMPROVEMENT OF PHYSICAL
QUALITIES IN TIMBER Bf Geo. JL. 9iothimr

The author of the paper on grape breeding is so well known as a successful
breeder of the grape in the United States that it is needless to say more than
that the contribution is interesting and valuable.

In sections of country where the grain sorghums are especially adapted,
fb»f are of greater agricultural value tiian is commonly realized. The improve-
ment of this plant by breeding presents a number of problems peculiarly its
own, and th^ are interestingly discussed and certain improvements already
accomplished are recounted in Mr. Ball's paper.

Few i^ants are so plastic in the hands of the breeder as the tobacco plant
The excellent paper by Mr. Shamel tells of some of tiie problems of breeding
this open-poUination plant and of tiie values obtained by breeding.

How that forest planting is receiving attention in tiiis country, the careful
selection of motiier trees for tiie production of seed for seedlings becomes a
matter of importance. The manner of this selection, by microscopic and physi-
cal tests of the quality, strength, durability, and grain of the timber of mother
trees is submitted by Mr. Clothier in a paper which is replete with original
thought There are other papers, all up to the usual standard.

The best way to secure the Magazine is to become a member in the
Association I

Dues $2 a year. Single copies may be had at 85 cents.

Address AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

WMs/ungton, 2>. C

The American Breeders Association

orrioERS

HON. JAMES WILSON* President
WM. GEORGE, Vice-President
W. HI. HATS, Secretary
N. H. GENTRY, Treasurer

THE AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION is a coopera-
tive association designed especially to develop the science
of breeding and heredity and to bring that scientific knowL
edge to students of heredity, to the practical breeders of pedi-
greed animals and plants and to others interested in these sub-
jects. It affords a means for conference among the members of
the Association.

The membership is composed of progressive breeders, scien-
tists, teachers, and others interested in all phases of heredity
of plants, animals and men, and the improvement of methods of
breeding. The best investigators in the science of heredity and
breeding and the best practical breeders of pedigreed livestock
and plants freely cooperate through the Association and donate
the time required to make investigations, to prepare papers, to
attend the annual meetings and to help build up the literature
of the science and practice of breeding, thus to produce the largest
results possible in the form of better animals and plants.

All persons interested in its work are cordially invited to
become members of the American Breeders Association.

Membership entitles, the holder to the American Breeders
Magazine, to the annual report of the Proceedings of the Asso-
ciation, and to full participation in the activities of the Asso-
ciation.

Membership : Annual, $2.00 ; Life, $20.00

No entrance fee

Address AMERICAN BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

Washington, D. C.

PflCSS OP KOHN Ik P«U.eCK. InOh baltimoiic

1

The American Breeders Association

OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

PtuUent

HON. JABES WILSON, Waafilfifftoii, D. C
HON. WnXIAH GEORGE, Aurora, HL
HON. WnXET B. HAYS, Waafilfifftoii, D. C
HON. N. H. GENTRY, Sedatta, Ha

ChsimiMn PUmi Section

jySL H. J. WEBBER, Itbaca, N. Y.

SecMtsuy PUnt SeeHon

FROF. N. E. HANSEN, Brooklnsi, & Dak.

V

Cfudmun Antnud Section

DEAN C F. CURTISS, Ames, Iowa.

Secretsuy Anhmd Section
PROF. H. W. XIUHFORD, Urbana, UL

CfuimiMn Eagenice Section

DAVID STARR JORDAN, Stanford Univentty, Caltf .

SecMtsuy Eugenics Section

C B. DAVENPORT, Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.

EDITORS

WHLET n. HAYS, Secretary of the Association
N. E. HANSEN, Secretary of the Plant Section
H. W. MUBFORD, Secretary of the Anbnal Section
C B. DAVENPORT, Secretary of the Eugenics Section

Address Communications to American Breeders
Association^ Washington, 2>. C

Membership: Annual, $2.00; Life, $20.00;
Patrons, $t,000.

wrmmmmm

The American Breeders Magazine

Published Quarterly by the American Breeders Association

FOR THE USE OF ITS MEMBERS

PRICE OF SINGLE COPIES, 35 CENTS

Address communications to American Breeders Association, Washington, D. C.

Vol. I. Fourth Quarter, 1910. No. 4.

CONTENTS,

Paqb

Ephraim Wales Bull (portrait) 238

Bull, Gideon, and Budd (biographical sketches) 239

Peter M. Gideon (portrait) 241

Joseph Lancaster Budd (portrait) 244

Preliminary Observations Concerning Natural Crossing in Cotton. H. A.

Allard 247

Breeding to Improve Physical Qualities of Timber. George L. Clothier. . 261

Report of Committee on Breeding Fish. John W. Titcomb 263

A Pheasant-Bantam Hybrid. H. J. WheeleR 266

Propagation of Seedlings of Sugar Cane in Louisiana. Hamilton P. Agee. . 269

Single Character vs. Tout Ensemble Breeding in Grapes. T. V. Munson. . . 274

Details for a Game Breeders' Law. Dwight W. Huntington 280

The Breeding of Giain Sorghums. CarlETon R. Ball 283

Repoit of Committee on Breeding Cotton 293

EDITORIALS:

Breeding, Research, and Education 296

Creation of Varieties and Breeds 298

Procediu-e with Self and Open-PoUinated Varieties 300

Creating and Improving Breeds of Animals 302

Mutation Theory Most Valuable in Breeding 303

NEWS AND NOTES:

Eugenics Section 304

Meeting of the Eugenics Section 304

The Fourth International Genetic Conference 307

Recent Publications and Anicles 309

ASSOCIATION MATTERS:

The Seventh Annual Meeting at Coliunbus, Ohio 310

Program Seventh Annual Meeting 311

A. B. A. Membership an Acceptable Gift 315

What Others Say 315

[Coppyright, 1910, by the American Breeders Aasociation.]

237

Sfhralm Walss Bull,

THE AMERICAN
BREEDERS MAGAZINE

"Our oldest cultivated plants, such as wheat, still yield new varieties ; our oldest
domesticated animals are still capable of rapid improvement or modification."

— Charles Robert Darwin.

Vol. I. Fourth Quarter, 1910. No. 4.

BULL, GIDEON, AND BUDD.

Ephraim Bull gained a place of honor among those successful
pioneers who achieved large things before the days when breeding
was taught in the schools. He originated the Concord grape, thus
making possible the growing of hardy grapes of high quality at low
cost in the Northern States and in the colder temperate regions of
the earth. He also wrought out much of the science and practice of
breeding grapes and other plants which are multiplied clonally, by
cuttings or buds.

Peter Gideon stands first among the pioneers in the work of
extending hardy tree fruits beyond the former northern limits of the
fruit zone. This rugged mind in creating the Wealthy apple and
other hardy fruits inspired the people with faith that they can sur-
round their homes with fruit trees, and thereby placed all cold coun-
tries under obligations to him.

Professor J. L. Budd was first among the pioneer teachers of
plant breeding in our State colleges of agriculture. Twenty-five
years ago, when the botanists of the United States Department of
Agriculture were debating the propriety of using the term "plant
breeding'' in their publications, Professor Budd was training and
inspiring the first group of college-made plant-breeding experts.^ He
also performed great service as the first of American agricultural
explorers to bring new plants from foreign lands, and as one of the
pioneers in American horticulture and forestry.

These men believed that to obtain new varieties of fruit or trees
peculiarly suited to the needs of the climatic and cultural conditions
of their respective sections of country new forms could be called
into existence through breeding. Thus they effected recombinations
of unit characters in countless thousands of individuals, until one

240 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

containing the desired qualities and characteristics was evoked out of
the number of infinite possibilities. The century now before us is
witnessing a more scientific approach to breeding operations in the
creation of new fruits, trees, and flowers, and no doubt other men of
genius will earn fame for themselves, but the permanent benefits to
horticulture wrought in the past century by these three strong char-
acters will endure as a monument to their memories.

EPHBAIM WALBS BULL.
1806-1895.

Ephraim Bull, in breeding new varieties of grapes, created the
Concord. It was not a foundling or chance seedling, but the result
of very patient work and waiting, not taking into account the many
preceding years spent in experimentation and futile trial. Hundreds
of failures in g^ape growing finally led him to recognize that only
in a native grape could be found the mother of the hardy American
grape which he desired to produce. Such mother was a Vitis labrusca
plant on his farm, and from the seeds of this plant sprang the
Concord. Eleven years were spent in growing and perfecting
seedlings and in testing the selection. In 1853 the Concord was for
the first time placed upon exhibition and the stock placed upon the
market. Although the first vines were sold at a good price, the con-
trol of the stock quickly passed out of Mr. Bull's hands and he
reaped very little benefit from it. Ten years later the Concord grape
was spread over the entire northern part of the United States and
is now widely used in temperate regions of most parts of the earth.

He originated other varieties of grapes, such as the Cottage,
Esther, Rockwood, lona, August Rose, and also many other but un-
named sorts. That there were no really hardy American varieties
in existence and that horticulturists were experimenting with European
varieties all the more emphasizes the genius of Mr. Bull in originating
the Concord after many years of patient work. The Catawba and
Isabella, two southern varieties, were among the improved Ameri-
can varieties then in existence. From Mr. Bull's statement that:
"From over twenty-two thousand seedlings, there are twenty-one which
I consider valuable," one may gain an idea of the numbers handled
by him.

(fi^^cMi^'^Ak.tin/^.

242 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

Born in 1806, Mr. Bull's vocation was that of a gold beater,
which he followed in Boston. A small garden afforded him the
opportunity to carry on his plant-breeding operations in spare mo-
ments. Failing health in 1836 having forced him to give up his
business, he moved to Concord, Mass., where he purchased a farm
of 17 acres not far from the site of the historic bridge. Here he
began his earnest search for the mutant grape which was to be a
valuable and permanent addition to American horticulture.

Ephraim Bull counted many of the brightest minds of his day
among his friends. He cultivated an intimate friendship with Haw-
thorne, who was his neighbor; also with Agassiz, who induced him
to lecture on the grape at Harvard University. He was an indomi-
table worker, a close observer, a clear thinker, and a philosopher. He
was a useful citizen in his community, having served it as selectman,
legislator, member of the school committee, and member of the State
Board of Agriculture. As a lover of outdoors, he took much delight
in planting trees. He greatly adorned his home place, the beauty of
which has remained undisturbed to this day.

Mr. Bull died at the age of 89 and the passers-by are informed
by the epitaph on the plain slab marking Ephraim Bull's grave that
"He sowed, others reaped." Whether the idea which dominated him
absorbed him to the degree of neglecting all else, or whether he
simply lacked the cunning requisite to accumulate property is a ques-
tion which here may well be left undecided. He died neglected, in
poverty, broken in spirit, all but forgotten. He left the world a fruit
which has contributed to the wealth and welfare of entire States, and
the aggregate, if computable, would be a sum numbering many
millions, but even more valuable than this, he gave inspiration which
has helped to make plant breeding one of the great forces in cheaply
feeding the worW.

PETER M. GIDEON.

1818-1899.

Peter M. Gideon, in his work in the third quarter of the nine-
teenth century, had little else to guide him than his breeder's instinct.

Intuition told him that a mingling of the blood of such fruits as
the crab-apple with that of the common apple or Pyrus malus type
might lead to the production of a very hardy apple useful in the far
north. He did not relax his efforts until he had produced the Wealthy

BULL, GIDBON AND BUDD. 243

apple, which he named for his wife, whose maiden name was Wealthy
Hall. The Wealthy was Gideon's masterpiece. It earned for him a
national reputation and the name Wealthy is to be found in catalogues
of many foreign lands, and that name will go down to posterity with
the name of Peter Gideon.

While the Wealthy apple is adding many millions to the wealth
of this and other nations, Gideon's larger work lies in the fact that
he gave inspiration to many breeders of plants. He demonstrated
that through persistent effort we can so improve many of our varie-
ties of fruits in hardiness that they may be grown farther north.
This inspiration is beginning to make possible the family orchard and
family fruit gardens farther north along the coldest zones of agricul-
tural production and farm homes. Mr. Gideon also added something
to the science of plant breeding.

Peter M. Gideon was born in Champaign County, Ohio. From
his earliest boyhood his interest was in horticulture. In 1841 he
moved to Illinois and in 1853 to Minnesota. He settled on a partially
wooded farm protected by the arms of beautiful Lake Minnetonka.
In these very earliest days of Minnesota he began to plant trees and
to grow trees from seeds. After ten years of labor, expense, and
waiting a cruel Minnesota winter destroyed every one of his trees.
Undismayed and indefatigable, he began again, and this time suc-
ceeded. There is rugged pathos in the story of his early struggles
and in the privation of his family. The story is authenticated that
he borrowed money with which to send to Maine to buy apple seeds
when he was in dire need for a coat to wear so that he could go out
and chop wood to exchange for groceries. The Wealthy apple came
from one of the many seeds thus secured. Other varieties of great
merit which he produced are Gideon, Martha, Peter, September,
and October.

For a time the State of Minnesota employed him on his experi-
ment farm that he might continue his work of originating hardy
fruits. During his decHning years the State Horticultural Society
honored Mr. Gideon by making him its special experimenter under
a small annual salary, and upon his death it provided a monument
to his memory.

Peter Gideon was a man of peculiar beliefs; somewhat uncom-
promising in his opiniofis, but a natural lover of trees and flowers
and of a very kindly disposition toward man. Although he exhibited

Joseph Lancaster Budd.

BULL, GIDEON AND BUDD. 245

fruit from his orchards at fairs and expositions and always had collec-
tions of surpassing value, quality, and interest, he held too high a
conception of the dignity of his creative work to compete for and
accept money premiums. His gardens were always at the disposal of
his neighbors and he would put himself to much trouble to get
flowers for his children friends, and while securing immense wealth
for others he was successful in accumulating only a modest wealth
for himself.

JOSEPH LANCASTER BUDD.
1825-1902.

Professor J. L. Budd was a commanding figure in horticultural
work during the first third of a century of the existence of the
American land grant colleges. He organized the horticultural de-
partment of Iowa State College and was the first professor of forestry
in any American agricultural college. He was successful as a teacher
and possessed remarkable initiative as an experimenter. His explora-
tions in the early eighties in Russia and other foreign countries marked
the beginning of the systematic introduction of plants into this coun-
try under pubHc auspices. He thus introduced in the northwest part
of Iowa many new fruits, forest trees and ornamental plants. Some
of these have proven directly of much value and others are valuable
as sources of hardy blood to serve in making hybrids from which
valuable hardy varieties may be chosen for the colder regions of this
country.

So far as the writer knows. Professor Budd was the first Ameri-
can teacher to give instruction in plant breeding as a science and as
a technical college subject. Under his inspiration were trained the
first group of college men who took up the subject of organizing
American plant breeding and of creating new varieties by scientific
methods. A number of these men have met with large success and
have in turn educated large numbers of plant breeders.

During the summer of 1882 Professor Budd, accompanied by
Thero Gibbs, of Canada, went to Europe and Asiatic Russia for the
purpose of studying horticultural problems. Their expense was paid
by the Iowa State Legislature and the Canadian Ck)vernment. This
exploration resulted in the introduction of many hardy varieties of
fruit trees, shrubs, and forest trees. His work with the introduction
of Russian cherries was expecially important and resulted in many

246 AMERICAN BRBEDBRS MAGAZINE.

valuable varieties. He carried on numerous experiments with apples
and with roses.

Professor Budd was born at Peekskill, Westchester County, New
York. When a young man of twenty he moved to Illinois and later
purchased a farm in Benton County, Iowa, where he established a
commercial nursery. He took a very active interest in the horticul-
tural affairs of the State and was secretary of the Iowa State Hor-
ticultural Society from 1870 to 1902. Besides his work for the
Horticultural Society, he contributed largely on horticultural subjects
to the agricultural papers of his State.

His status as a horticulturist was peculiarly recognized by
Charles Downing, who willed to Professor Budd his large library
and notes. In 1902 Professor Budd published, with his former pupil.
Professor N. E. Hansen, two volumes of the "American Horticultural
Manual."

Contemporaneous with Roberts of Cornell, Stockbridge of Massa-
chusetts, Newman of South Carolina, Knapp of Iowa, Sanborn of
Missouri, and other practical pioneers without technical collegiate
training in agriculture. Professor Budd did his part in giving scien-
tific direction and inspiration to the first crop of trained agricultural
technicians turned out by our State colleges.

Professor Budd's business experience was very satisfactory. He
accumulated a small fortune in his early manhood as a commercial
nurseryman. This enabled him during more than a quarter of a cen-
tury to devote his undivided energies to his teaching and experiment-
ing. He loved flowers and trees, and originated by cross-breeding a
number of varieties of roses.

PBEUMINARY OBSERVATIONS CONCEBNING NATURAL

OBOSSiNG IN COTTON.

H. A. Aij,ARD, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

INTRODUCTION.

Where it is intended to secure pure seed of any crop by careful
methods of breeding and selection, one of the most essential con-
siderations is first to determine to what extent the blossoms are
self-fertilized or cross-fertilized. Corn is naturally adapted to ex-
tensive wind pollination, and most corn breeders, after careful in-
vestigation, concede that persistent inbreeding results in deterioration.
Other crops, such as wheat, oats, and many legumes, have quite fixed
the habit of self-fertilization.

In breeding crop plants, the usual method consists in making
centgener comparisons by the isolation of the progeny of promising
individuals. It is at once evident that the degree of isolation of these
progeny rows must depend essentially upon the readiness with which
they may be cross-pollinated by the agency of wind^ birds, or
insects. Corn is so readily intercrossed by means of air currents
that a progeny can be kept pure only by wide isolation. On the other
hand, close-fertilized plants like wheat, oats, or soy beans may be
planted within very narrow limits without serious chances of crossing.

NATURAL, CROSSING, AN OVERLOOKEJD FACTOR IN COTTON.

Within recent years many skilled plant breeders throughout the
world have turned their attention to the improvement of the c<>tton
plant. At the very outset it appears that no serious attempt has been
made to determine to just what extent cotton blossoms may be cross-
pollinated by natural agencies under field conditions. While it is gener-
ally understood that all American cottons may readily be intercrossed
by artificial methods, as in the hand-pollination to produce hybrids, it
is not so generally believed that extensive natural crossing may take
place. In fact, most cotton breeders and growers have surmised that
that the factor of crossing must be very small, not affecting more than
5 to 10 per cent of the seeds. This view has been so generally ac-
cepted that natural crossing in cotton has been ignored as too small
a matter for consideration. Cook," however, in reporting on his work
in Arizona, has contended that natural crossing in cotton is very

«Cook, O. F., "A study of Diversity in Egyptian Cotton," Bulletin 156, Bureau
of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, pp. 34-35.

248 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

frequent. Balls,' also working in Egypt, concludes from his later
work that the amount of natural crossing there amounts to from 5 to
25 per cent by actual proof. From preliminary evidence now at hand,
the writer is also convinced that natural crossing must be considered
a most important factor, not only in all technical cotton-breeding
problems, but also in the extensive field operations of the practical
grower who wishes to secure increased yields and higher quality. In

connection with a new hne of plant nutrition investigations, efforts
were recently begun in South Carolina and Georgia to determine the
specific effects of climatic, soil, and fertilizer factors upon the oil
and nitrogen content of cotton seed. It was realized at the very start
that more definite evidence must be secured as to changes arising from

eedlngB of

NATURAL CROSSING IN COTTON. 249

intercrossing. The problem resolves itself into two phases: (1) To
determine the number of blossoms crossed; (2) and, most important,
to determine the actual number of crossed ovules. Owing to a serious
interruption of the experiment in the spring, the writer could secure
definite figures only for the number of bolls crossed.

In a test to determine the percentage of crossing in cotton, such
varieties must be used as will readily show hybrid features in the first
generation. In a cross of the pure cut-leaved Okra type of cotton
or the pure Willet Red variety upon green-leaved upland cottons,
the leaf characteristics of the hybrids make their identification un-
mistakably apparent. In those hybrids where the okra-leaved type is
the male parent, the identification of the hybrid depends upon a modi-
fication in the shape of the leaf. If the red-leaved variety is crossed
upon the green, the hybrid plant is readily identified by the red color-
ation which aflfects all its parts. The accompanying figure shows
the Okra (a) and the Keenan {b) type of leaf, and the intermediate
{c) leaf shape of the hybrid.

As the photograph clearly shows, the hybrid leaf is in shape as
nearly intermediate between the two parents as a theoretical conception
could have made it. A cross of the red-leaved variety on the green
is even more apparent; but, because the differences are in color only,
the contrast is not sufficiently shown in a photograph.

ARRANGEMENT OF PARENT TYPES TO DETERMINE NATURAL CROSSING.

In an arrangement of the parent types in the field, two methods
may be followed. If the varieties are planted in alternate rows, hy-
brids can appear only where cross-pollination has taken place from
row to row.

If the plants alternate in the rows, cross-pollination takes place
not only from row to row, but among the unlike plants within each
row. In either case, theoretically, the number of plants of each variety
remains the same. It is probable, however, that intercrossing between
the two varieties is more readily facilitated when plants are arranged
alternately in the rows.

In the actual practice of cotton breeding, where the usual method
has been to plant the progenies side by side, it is perhaps more im-
portant to guard against free crossing among the progenies than
among plants of the same progeny. Yet in the past the work of con-
tinued selection of the best plants within the progenies has been

250 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

based upon the belief that these plants must breed true to their type
because of the assumed natural process of close-fertilization of the
blossoms.

PI.AN OF EXPKRIMKNT IN NORTHERN GEORGIA.

During the progress of cooperative breeding work begun in
northern Georgia in 1908, the writer made plans to determine as
accurately as possible the approximate amount of natural crossing
occurring in the cotton fields of this region. Three varieties were
used, — the narrow-leaved Okra type, the Willet Red, and a purebred
strain of the Keenan variety. A plat of about half an acre was used,
and the plants of each variety were arranged in the rows, thus:
Red, Keenan, Okra, Keenan, Red, Keenan, Okra, Keenan, so that
a Keenan plant always stood between an okra-leaved and a Willet
Red plant. Only the narrowest-leaved plants of the Okra variety
and the darkest red-purple plants of the Willet Red variety were used.

In the fall 1,290 bolls of the Keenan plants were separately
picked and ginned. During the spring of 1909 the seed of each boll
was planted in a hill by itself. As soon as the young plant had appeared
above the ground, most hybrids of the Keenan X Red were at once
apparent in the markedly red color of the stems together with the
darker cotyledons of the young plants.* However, in the case of
Keenan X Okra, it was learned that these plants could not be identi-
fied until they had grown large enough to show several leaves. It
will be seen later that this fact somewhat interfered with determining
the actual number of crossed bolls, since in many cases the crossed
seedlings were destroyed by the chopping-out process before they
had grown large enough to be identified. In case of the hills showing
Keenan X Red crosses, however, a red plant was always left in the
final chopping-out process, in order to examine these more carefully
later in the season. After the final germination of all the seeds in
each hill, it was interesting to note the actual number of crossed
plants in each cross-pollinated boll. These ranged anywhere from a
single Keenan X Red plant to every one from a boll producing 30 to 50

" Further observations have led the author to conclude that a red coloration in
very young cotton seedlings does not always serve to distinguish at once the red-
leaved variety or the Red-Green hybrids from the pure green-leaved varieties. In the
red variety and its hybrids the intensity of the red coloration in the tiny seedlings
shows considerable variation, and often times appears to develop as the plant increases
In size and age. Even in the stems of very young seedlings of the green-leaved varieties
a more or less distinct red color may become apparent, probably more noticeable when
the planting season has been very cold and wet.

NATURAL CROSSING IN COTTON.

251

plants. In most instances, several Keenan 9 X Red cf crosses were
evident, but in a few cases every plant was red, showing that every
ovule of these bolls had in some way been fertilized by pollen from
Red plants.

APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF CROSSED BOI.LS OBTAINED.

A tabulation of the crossed bolls is given below:

Results of an experiment to determine amount of natural crossing in a

cotton Held.

Row.

Keenan 9 X

1
Keenan 9 X

Total of

Total bolls ;

Per cent

Red<^ crosses.

Okra<^ crosses. '

1

crosses.

' per row.

1

of

crosses.

Plants.

r

PlanU. \

PlanU,

1

27

3

30

170

17.6

2

21

4

25

179

13.9

3

I 28

5

33

176

18.8

4

22

5

27

177

15.2

5

28

10

38

147

25.8

6

20

8 ■

28

146

19.1

7

28

6

34

134

25.3

8

31

6

37

119

31.0

9

6

2

8

43

i

18.6

211

49

i

260

1290

20.+

It is at once evident that 20 per cent of the total number of bolls
planted have been more or less completely crossed by natural pollin-
ating agencies. It is evident, further, that a considerable number of
the Keenan 9 X Okra cf crosses must have been removed in the
chopping-out process, since the seedlings were indistinguishable from
the other plants at that period. It is not improbable that approximately
40 per cent or more of bolls would have shown crosses had Red plants
been substituted for the Okra plants at the beginning of the experi-
ment.

DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS OF THE HYBRIDS.

In connection with the experiment to determine the amount of
natural crossing, it was thought advisable to obtain a number of arti-
ficial crosses of the Keenan 9 X Red cf and Keenan 9 X Okra cf to
serve as checks in comparison with a study of the natural crosses.
Of 95 plants from carefully hand-pollinated bolls of the Keenan 9 X
Red <f cross, every plant without exception showed the dominant red
coloration of the Willet Red parent. From bolls of the Keenan 9 X

252 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

Okra cf cross, 84 plants were obtained, every one also showing the
leaf-shape intermediate between the two parents. See the figure, page
248.

A careful study of the Keenan 9 X Red cf hybrids revealed a
number of diagnostic characters never found in the Keenan or any
other pure strain of green-leaved upland variety. In the hybrids the
general leaf coloration is several shades darker than the green-leaved
Keenan — about intermediate between the two parents. Should this red
coloration not be sufficiently marked, as may be the case in some in-
stances, several other diagnostic characters serve to leave no doubt as
to hybrid parentage. One of these is the nectary on the midrib of the
under side of the leaves. This is always red, usually a deep red, as
in the Willet Red parent. An examination of thousands of these
nectaries of all green-leaved varieties has failed to reveal a single in-
stance of this red color. Again, in the Red parent, and without ex-
ception in the hybrids, the deep red-purple color of the upper surfaces
of the petioles, branches, etc., extends- as a distinct collar or ring
about one-half to three-quarters of an inch wide completely encircling
the petiole at the juncture with the base of the lamina. In none of
the green varieties has the writer been able to find this band of color
completely encircling the leaf stem beneath.

The involucre in the Red plants and the Keenan 9 X Red cf hy-
brids is always red, but much darker in the parent. In the green varie-
ties the involucre is green, or only faintly tinged with red, rarely any
noticeable coloration. The main stems, petioles, peduncles, and lateral
branches are dark purple-red, almost black in the pure Willet Red
plants, except the brighter under portions of the petioles and branches.
In the hybrids the main stem and the upper surface of the branches
and petioles are nearly if not quite as dark as in the parent Red. The
under sides of the branches and petioles of the hybrids, however,
almost entirely lack any red coloration, with the exception of the
encircling red collar at the point of the union of the leaf wMth the
petiole. This is about as dark as in the Willet Red parent.

In several respects the Keenan 9 X Red c? hybrids are almost
intermediate between the red and green parents, as in the general
coloration of the leaf and involucre.

The nectaries of the midrib on the underside of the leaves and
the red petiole collar are quite as dark red in the hybrids as in the
Red parent.

■■-■■■ ■ ■ ■■■ ■ '-■■■■-','■ - ■-■■-■■ ^

«

, \ if- §;

4 *' ^. ^■

^'«-: * > k 1

BotiB &■■ Visitors or Cotton
Top row. from left to right : Etta plumipet, Drur; ; Uelisaodee lilmociilata, Le P. ;

Bombui impatieru, Harris ; Apia meUifloa, L.
Snd row, from left to rlgbt : Zvlocopa vireinioa, Dmr; : tieliaiiodes eaUelnoaua, Cresa ;

Jfelfwoile« perplexa. Cress ; UeUiaodea atHpea, Cress.
8rd row, from left to right ; Bombut aeutellarts, Drury ; Pristooera armifera. Say ;

Polteteg amertcanus, Fabr. : Affapoileman iplendena, lit P.
Bottom row, from left to right : MegacMle brevia. Say ; Entechnia taurea, Say ; Ago-

poatemoH rndlotui, Say; Auffoclilora pura. Say; Mytine Aanota, Bay.

254 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

AGENCI^ NATURALLY CROSSING COTTON BLOSSOMS IN THE FIELD.

Insects are the important natural pollinators of cotton blossoms.
Among these, bees and certain species of wasps accomplish most of
the work. The largest of the Hymenpptera is a handsome species
of wasp {Elis plumipes Drury), which appears in the cotton fields
of northern Georgia about August 1. The numbers of this insect and
the earliness of its appearance vary greatly in different seasons.
During the season of 1908 this insect appeared several weeks earlier
in the season, and in far greater numbers, than during the season of
1909. In fact, during the season of 1909 I had given up seeing it at
all. This wasp always visits the floral nectary at the base of the
petals, and, owing to its large size and vigorous movements, succeeds
in covering itself with great quantities of pollen. When present it
is undoubtedly the most active pollinator of cotton blossoms in the
fields. A few of the most common members of the Hymenoptera
regularly concerned with cross-pollination are Melissodes bimaculata
Le P., Apis melliiica L., and Bombus impatiens Harris.

The bee Melissodes hiniaculata and the honeybee are probably the
mose abundant and constant visitors of cotton, more especially the for-
mer. This bee is extremely common in northern Georgia every season
and at all times. It is the earliest bee to squeeze into the opening but at
break of day; and it probably visits every blossom in a cotton field
at some time during the day. So far as the writer's observations go,
this bee visits only the true floral nectaries, so that at all times it is
a most efficient disseminator of extraneous pollen into other blossoms.

Other Hymenoptera may frequently be found visiting cotton
blossoms, but, owing to their smaller size, rarity or irregular visits,
these are not especially important as pollinators. However, every
additional insect visitor of cotton blossoms increases the chances of
more or less crossing. The following is a list of all the Hymenoptera"
and beetles which have been taken by the writer in cotton blossoms
during the last two years:

HYMENOPTERA.

Bombus scutellaris. Drury. Agapostemon splendens. Le P.

Entechnia taurea. Say. Agapostemon radiatus. Say.

Xylocopa virginica. Drury. Dianthidium interruptum. Say.

Melissodes atripes. Cress. Mysine hamata. Say.

d The writer is Indebted to Mr. H. L. Viereck, of the U. S. National Museum, for
the identification of all the Hymenoptera listed in this paper.

NATURAL CROSSING IN COTTON,

255

HYMENOPTERA — CONTINUED.

Melissodes c'aliginosus. Cress.
Melissodes perplexa. Cress.
Melissodes bimaculata. Le P.
Xenoglossa pruinosa. Say.
Polistes americanus. Fabr.
Anopolius subviolaceus. Cress.
Megachile brevis. Say.
Augochlora pur a. Say.
Halictus ligatus. Say.

Hippodamia convergens. Guer.
Tetraonyx quadri-maculata. Fab.
Bpicauta trichrus. Pall.
Megilla maculata. DeG.

Pristocera armifera. Say.
Bits plumipes. Drury.
Bombus impatiens, Harris
Bombus scutellaris. Drury.
Apis mellifica. L.
Ceratina dupla. Say.
Sceliphron cementarius. Drury.
Halictus (chloralictus) pilosus. Smith.
Halictus (augochlora) similis. Rob.

BEETLES.

Diabrotica vittata. Fab.
Systena taeniata. Say.
Phalacrus simplex. Le C.

In northern Georgia region cotton blossoms are rarely visited
by any of the Lepidoptera. The writer has observed but one individual
butterfly (Basilarchia astyanax F.) visiting them. So far as cross-
pollination is concerned, these need almost no consideration.

Balls/ in Egypt, states that "the extra involucral glands are visited
by Lepidoptera." These visitors, however, could in no way effect
cross-pollination. A number of other insects may be found casually
visiting cotton blossoms, namely, some of the bugs, a number of tiny
flies, leaf hoppers, beetles, and ants. In Egypt Balls finds that ants
are the chief visitors of the true floral nectaries. Although any of
these insects may occasionally transfer some pollen from one blossom
to another, since pollen grains can be detected on their bodies, yet,
except where it is desirable to exclude every chance of crossing, these
smaller insects may be neglected.

Humming birds are regular and persistent visitors of cotton
blossoms. The writer has frequently watched three or four at work
at the same time and heard their sharp click-click-click as they darted
from flower to flower. These birds rarely, so far as the writer has
observed, enter the blossoms from above, but thrust their long, slender
bills down between the involucral divisions and the petal claws in order
to reach the inner involucral and floral nectaries. In this approach
to the blossom there is little chance for them to transfer any pollen
to the pistils of other blossoms. These diminutive birds are frequent

• "Notes on Heredity in Cotton," Year Book of the Khedivial Agricultural Society,
1906, page 68.

256 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINB. ^

visitors of cotton fields and may often be seen fighting fiercely with
each other, their tiny rapier-like bills striking the adversary very
audibly, with a noise as if striking sharply on silk.

The writer believes that wind can transfer considerable pollen
about cotton fields, and, where strict scientific accuracy is expected,
this agency must be guarded against. In the heat of the day, when
the anther sacs have fully opened and the pollen has become dried
and dust-like, it is a simple matter to invert a cotton blossom, and
produce a visible cloud of pollen. In fact, late in the afternoon an
examination of the hairy leaf surfaces, etc., reveals an enormous
amount of pollen scattered about. A vast amount of this pollen has
been brought out of the blossoms by bees and fanned and scattered
about in their flights from plant to plant. Nevertheless, it is in posi-
tion to be further disseminated by every breeze that blows. The
writer further tested this point by placing between the cotton rows
several exposed and developed photographic plates, coated with
the thinnest film of vaseline to retain any pollen which might fall
upon them. The dark color of these plates readily revealed any of
the yellow pollen. This wa§ done for several days, and in every in-
stance more or kss pollen in considerable masses was caught. Bees
in their flights and winds alone can account for the presence of this
pollen. These tests were made at a time when very little wind was
stirring. On bright, windy days the quantity of pollen flying about
must be considerable. This would be especially true of the biest fields
producing tall long-limbed plants easily whisked about by winds. In
such fields the interlocking branches, by bringing the different blos-
soms more closely together, very much favor chances of occasional
wind-pollination. Wind-pollination, however, would necessarily play
a very minor part, as the period most favoring it follows some hours
later than the period of most active and thorough pollination by bees.

COURSE OF BEES AMONG THE COTTON PI.ANTS.

Whether or not insects are active poilmators of cotton depends

much upon the way the blossoms are visited. The cotton blossom is
amply furnished with several sets of nectaries, from the inside to the

outside. In many instances the outer and inner involucral nectaries

only are visited. Such visits can effect no pollination of the pistils.

Honeybees are among the most frequent visitors of cotton blossoms,

but, at the same time, they are very generally visitors of the outer

NATURAL CROSSING IN COTTON, 257

involucral nectaries alone/ Bumblebees and many others rarely visit
these, but enter the flowers to visit the floral nectaries, and become
loaded with pollen, oftentimes so they cannot fly. It is not uncommon
to see one of these bees almost helpless on a leaf or flower, from the
great quantity of pollen adhering to its wings, head, and legs. Nearly
all bee visitors show a marked tendency to pass from plant to plant
up and down the rows rather than across. Under date of August 4,
1908, observations of the following bees in fields at Thompson's Mills,
Georgia, more clearly bring out this fact:

Bee 1. A species of bumblebee, visits the blossoms of the Asiatic Hawasaki
variety. It visits the inner involucral nectaries almost entirely, as in this
cotton the outer nectaries are wanting. It visits alike open blossoms, buds
ready to open in a day or two, and squares with young bolls already set.
It visits 6 plants successively in one row, then flies elsewhere.

Bee 2. A honeybee, visits 9 plants in one row in succession, then re-
traces 21 consecutive plants to the end of the row. The outer involucral
nectaries almost the only parts visited.

Bee 3. Honeybee, visits 2 plants in one row, then 4 plants in the next
row, then flies elsewhere.

Bee 4. Honeybee, visits 4 plants in one row, then flies away.

Bee 5. Honeybee, visits 6 plants successively in one row, then 1 plant
in the next row, and again 1 plant in the next.

Bee 6. Honeybee, visits 10 plants in succession, then 8 in the next row,
then 6 in the first row again, then 6 in the second row, finally flying away.

Bee 7. Honeybee, visits 15 consecutive plants in one row, then flies off.

Bee 8. Honeybee, visits 11 consecutive plants in one row, then flies away.

Bee ft. Honeybee, visits 6 consecutive plants in dne row,^ then retraces 4
and flies off.

Bee 10. Bumblebee, visits 6 consecutive plants and flies away.

Bee 11. Honeybee, visits 6 consecutive plants, then 3 in the next row,
then 3 back in the first row, then 2 in another row, and flies away.

Bee 12. Honeybee, visits 6 in one row, then 6 in the next row (outer
involucral nectaries only).

Bee 13. Honeybee, visits 6 plants in one row, then 6 in next row (outer
involucral nectaries only).

Bee 14. Honeybee, visits 4 plants in one row, then 2 in the next row,
and flies off.

' Of many hundreds of bee visitors observed in their visits to cotton blossoms at
the beginning of the blossoming season of 1910, rarely did a bee visit any other
portion of the flower than the inside. Considerably later, however, when blossoms were
exceedingly abundant many bees regularly visited the outer involucral nectaries,
especially the common honeybee. This change in the manner of visiting cotton
blossoms may follow some change in the relative quantity or quality of nectar in the
outer involucral and inner floral nectaries, or it may as likely be due to an awakened
memory-impulse which directs the bees to the outer nectaries once these have been
discovered.

258 AMERICAN BRBEDBRS MAGAZINE,

These casual records are sufficient to show the enormous number
of blossoms a single bee is capable of visiting in a few hours, and the
probabilities of intercrossing a great number of these all over the field.

The process of cross-pollination of the blossoms by bees is ac-
complished most readily during the early morning hours. Following
clear, hot nights, the petals begin to unfold very early, and by day-
break an aperture has opened sufficiently to allow the bees to squeeze
through. At this time of day the anther-sacs have hardly opened,
and the pollen is so moist and adhesive that the chances are much in
favor of a visiting bee introducing foreign pollen before self-pollina-
tion has taken place to any extent. Again, owing to the narrow
passageway between the slightly unfolded petals, a bee is compelled
to move almost directly in contact with the protruding stigmatic sur-
face of the pistil, in order to get at the pollen or nectar beyond, thus
insuring the chances of introducing more or less external pollen di-
rectly upon the receptive stigma. Almost before day, bees are forcing
their way into the expanding buds, and an examination of these re-
veals many whose stigmas have been pollinated long before the flowers
are fully opened.

EXTENT OP CROSSING IN DIFFERENT WCAUTIES.

It is very probable that the percentage of cross-pollinated cotton
blossoms, accurately determined for different seasons and for different
localities, would show wide variation. This is necessarily true, since
the amount of crossing depends very largely upon the number of bees
and the kinds in any particular locality. Not all bees are active pol-
linators, and at different seasons the relative numbers of the different
species are greatly variable. The writer has mentioned the variable
occurrence in northern Georgia cotton fields of that active pollinator
of cotton, the wasp XBHs plumipes Drury). Cook, in Arizona, finds
a marked difference in the kinds and relative numbers of the bees in
different localities of Arizona. The writer has observed that in the
near vicinity of domestic hives in northern Georgia the number of
honeybee visitors is enormously increased.

WHEN NATURAL. CROSSING MUST BE EXCLUDED.

Many lines of cotton-breeding work require that all chances of
cross fertilization must be eliminated. This is especially true where
problems of Mendelian interest are studied. Where strictly scientific

NATURAL CROSSING IN COTTON. 259

results are expected along certain lines of heredity, or w^here it is
intended to determine the specific effects of soil, climate, and fertilizers
upon the oil and nitrogen content of cotton seed, as in investigations
now in progress, one of the first requisites must be to prevent any free
crossing. A number of methods are followed toward this end. One
has been to enclose the mature individual blossoms just before opening
in small paper bags until self-fertilization has taken place. Another
method quite as difficult and far more expensive has been to enclose
the entire individual plant in a meter-square mosquito net. Although
mosquito netting does effectually exclude all the larger insects, it is
not a certain safeguard against the introduction of pollen by the very
small insects, such as ants, or by air currents. Balls, in Egypt, in a
recent letter to the writer, brings this out very forcibly in the following
words : "I don't mind confessing that I can't stop vicinism, so that
there must be some mighty prepotent pollen knocking about a breed-
ing plat when it can't be excluded by a meter-square mosquito net,
and flowers under the same which do not show any sign of the pres-
ence of a style in side view of the column." It will be seen, then,
that carefully bagging the individual blossoms, although a tedious
operation, is the only sure way of preventing intercrossing.

. With regard to the prepotency of pollen of different varieties, the
writer's own experiments do not as yet indicate any definite results
in that direction. It appears that any and all pollen stands an equal
show in the fertilization of the ovules. A study of the Red plants
occurring in the naturally crossed bolls of the experiment previously
mentioned seemed to indicate that the number of hybrid Reds, in any
boll, was dependent only upon the number of pollen grains transferred
from the Red variety. In those hills showing only a single Red plant,
and there were a number of these, it can only be concluded that a
single pollen grain reached the stigma in time to fertilize a single ovule.

In 1908 the writer carefully hand-pollinated a number of Keenan
flowers, after emasculation, with pollen both from a Red plant and
from a Keenan plant. During the chopping-out process the Red plants
were given preference to remain. The following results were secured :

Boll 1 — Keenan 9 X Red cf and Keenan cf . Eleven plants re-
mained, of which 7 were red and 4 white.

Boll 2 — Keenan 9 X Red cf and Keenan cf • Eleven plants re-
mained, of which 9 were red and 2 white.

260 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE,

EFFECT OF UNCHECKED NATURAI< CROSSING IN THE FlEU>.

In all fields of unselected cotton, there is an intermingling of
many types, both desirable and undesirable.- Among the worthless
types are the low-linted and lintless plants, plants of low inherent
productiveness, extremely small-boiled plants, and plants of weak re-
sistance in the presence of disease. Where extensive crossing is
allowed to take place under these conditions, it is evident that the
presence of all these worthless types must soon result in contaminating
the blood, so to speak, of all superior plants by intercrossing with
them. Following this, any attempt at selection for specific lines of
improvement would be rendered slow and uncertain until purity of
type had again been established. The writer, within the past few
years, has found just such conditions to prevail in some of the best
cultivated fields of northern Georgia. In one unselected field in par-
ticular the lintless type of plant was not uncommon. This type of
plant, if inbred, retains its lintless characteristics very uniformly.
However, in studying the progenies of selections from this field of
the most promising plants the writer has ever seen, the appearance
of decidedly lintless individuals from those supposedly superior pa-
rents indicated a line of heredity resulting from a union of the best
and poorest plants by natural crossing in the past.

In fields of carefully bred and selected cotton, on the other hand,
mtercrossing is probably a beneficial process. As a result of a more
' or less complete blending of parental characters in the complicated
processes of inheritance, a start made with a number of pure, superior,
and uniform types followed by intercrossing must tend to bind very
closely within the hereditary mechanism of the future plants the orig-
inal parental characteristics. Promiscuous natural crossing is un-
doubtedly one of the most potent factors producing variability in a
cotton field. A vast amount of the so-called inexplicable fortuitous

variation is without doubt traceable to this cause.'

A plant that appears to be a mutant may have resulted from some

new complexity of parentage induced by intercrossing. Why should
not endless readjustments of the hereditary forces tend to produce
exceptional plants far more surely than by any process of pure muta-
tion? The writer feels that this very phase of natural crossing is a

' A number of very promising distinct long staple types which have been grown
seyeral years in the experimental fields in Georgia surrounded by varieties and hybrids
of all sorts have finally become, through natural crossing, almost hopelessly swamped
with hybrid types of every conceivable sort.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF TIMBER, 261

most important basis for further improvement in cotton. What led
to the origination of the striking Columbia variety? Was it the result
of what we term mutation forces, or was it due to some interchange
of the hereditary units? One of the most promising upland long-
staple strains the writer has ever seen gives strong evidence of a
cross in the past.

One of the most important conclusions, however, derived from
the results of more or less extensive intercrossing in cotton, is that it
is vitally necessary to practice careful and persistent seed-selection to
prevent deterioration. In those cotton-growing regions where it is
proven that the frequency oJF natural crossing is as great as 10 per
cent or more, as is highly probable in northern Georgia, there is no
more potent or convincing evidence needed in support of the advis-
ability of careful seed-selection.

SUMMARY.

Natural crossing in cotton has been a factor much neglected by
most cotton growers and breeders in the past.

In cotton fields of northern Georgia the demonstrated proportion
of crossed blossoms is at least 20 per cent, with strong probabilities
that approximately 40 per cent of the blossoms are crossed.

Although crossing may be very detrimental in unselected cotton,
in selected cotton it is probably beneficial.

The factor of cross-pollination should be one of the most direct
and potent facts in support of careful seed-selection.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Cotton.]

BREEDING TO IMPROVE PHYSICAL QUALITIES OF TIMBER.

George L. Clothier, Agricultural College, Mississippi.

Plant breeders have not yet devoted much attention to the breeding
of forest trees or to systematic attempts to improve the physical quali-
ties of timber. That there is a great field for such work is the opinion
of the writer, and the purpose of this paper is to stimulate the foresters
of our country to efforts along this line. Every woodsman is familiar
with the fact that individual trees of the same species and size vary
greatly in the amount of heartwood, straightness of grain, strength.

262 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE.

durability, weight, elasticity and other qualities of wood. It is quite
probable that many if not all the physical qualities of timber are trans-
missible from generation to generation by heredity. Experiments have
been made by Prof. J. W. .Tourney, of Yale Forest School, that seem
to indicate that seedlings from mother trees of Pinus ponderosa with
twisted grain show a decided twist of the fibers from the time of
germination. If defective seed trees leave their defects impressed upon
their offspring, it behooves the foresters to reverse the time-honored
policy of leaving only unmerchantable trees to bear seed.

Woodsmen recognize two kinds of timber from a number of our
common species according to the intensity of the color of the heart-
wood. Such, for example, is the case when they speak of white and
yellow poplar, white and red gum, white and yellow cedar, etc. In
fact the intensity of the color of wood has been taken by some writers
to indicate the durability of the wood, and hence to give an index to
Its value. For wxK)ds from the same species, the rule holds good that
the more deeply colored heartwood, where not attacked by disease
germs, is more resistant to decay; but it is not safe to extend this
generalization to a comparison of different species. For example, the
timber from many of the white cedars lasts three or four times as
long as the darker-colored red cedar; and California redwood, a
pinkish-colored wood, will last several times as long as our very dark-
cclored black walnut. Intensity of color simply indicates a great
quantity of the preservative material naturally produced by the species
in question for the preservation of its own heartwood. These preserva-
tives differ in their antiseptic qualities, according to the species produc-
ing them, and also differ in color, but darkness of color is no indication
of their antiseptic power.

Breeders of forest trees can ascertain the quantity of preservative
materials in the heartwood of any definite mother tree and the depth
of the sapwood by the use of an instrument like "Pressler's increment
borer," which extracts a small core from the bark toward the center
of the tree without injury to the tree ; and they can know by this means
definitely whether the tree examined possesses the qualities of heart-
wood desired in its offspring. According to the use to which the wx)od
is to be put, it may be desirable to have as little heartwood as possible
or vice versa. Almost all imaginable differences in quantity and quality
of heartwood of the same species will no doubt be found to exist when
foresters attack this problem in a practical way.

BRHHDING PISH. 263

Strength is a physical quality of wood that varies in the same
species several hundred per cent. The microscope will often reveal
what the timber-testing machine conclusively proves to be the condition
of the woody tissues in a piece of timber. Unfortunately, the testing
machine cannot be applied to the wood of living trees, but small
fragments may be removed from a standing tree for microscopic
study without endangering the life of the tree. The microscopic
structure of wood gives a clue to its strength and other valuable
quahties, and hence the timber breeder of the future will no doubt
have a laboratory equipped with microscopes and accessories for. the
study of the cellular structure of his trees. It is a w^ll-known fact
that the stiffness of a piece of wood is dependent upon the thickness
of its cell walls and that resistance across the grain to destructive
rupture depends to a great degree upon uniformity in size of the cells.
Wood having g^eat tensile strength is made of long cell fibers, while
wood with great elasticity usually has very uniformly fine grain.

The user of wood determines what physical qualities are tech-
nically most important, the timber tester determines the measure of
these qualities, and it remains for the breeder to intensify or improve
these qualities. While it takes many years of experiment to determine
how far a definite quality in a forest tree is transmissible by heredity,
the evidence that the physical qualities of timber are hereditary is
sufficiently strong-to warrant foresters in making some efforts to select
their seed trees along this line. Since the majority of the desirable
qualities can be identified by the unaided eye of the close observer, it
would seem that there is no valid reason why foresters should con-
tinue to ignore such a promising field.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON BREEDING FISH.

John W. TiTcomb, Lyndonville, Vermont.

Experiments in reference to the hybridization or crossing of
allied species have been continued at several stations of the United
States Bureau of Fisheries. While the results have almost invariably
been disappointing, it may be of future interest to record some of them.

264 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

Some hybridization experiments of the United States Bureau of Fisheries during

the years 1907-1909.

1 Parents^

■

Name of station.

Results.

Nashua, N. U

Male.

Female.
Sunapee saibling. . .

. Brook trout

' Procreative

'

hybrids.

White Sulphur, W. Va..

. Rainbow trout. ... 1

1

Brook trout

1 Imperfect embryos;
no hatch.

Do

. Brook trout

Rainbow trout

Perfectly formed
young fish, but
' weak.

Leadvillo, Cdo

. ' Loch Leven trout. . '

Brook trout

Small percentage of

young fish.

Do

. Brook trout

1

Loch Leven trout. .

Small percentage of
young fish.

Do

. Brook trout

1

Rainbow trout ....

Normal hatch, but
accidental ly
mixed with other
fish.

Do

. Rainbow trout. .. .

1

Loch Leven trout. .

"Glassy" eggs; no
hatch.

Do

1

. Black Spotted trout

Rainbow trout ....

Normal young fish
still under obser-
vation.

Craig Brook, Me>

. Humpback salmon

1

Silver salmon

Good hatch fol-
lowed by abnor-
mal death rate
and deformity of
tail in survivors.

Do

1

. Humpback salmon.

1

Sockeye salmon . . .

Good hatch; after

year 76% loss;

•rapid growth

among survivors.

Do

1

. Sockeye salmon. . .

1

1 \

1

Blue Back salmon

Fair hatch; small
number survived ;
rapid growth
among survivors.

Do

. Dog salmon

Humpback salmon.

Died soon after

1

hatching.

Do

. i Chinook salmon. . .

Silver salmon

3% hatched.

Some of the above experiments have not been carried far enough
to determine whether the hybrids are procreative. None of them have
produced a hybrid superior to either of their progenitors. Of the
Pacific salmon hybrids, the two showing rapid growth encourage a
continuation of the observations until it has been determined whether
they will mature and reproduce. The salmons all show a remarkable
susceptibility to the throat tumor disease.

•Brook trout, 8, fontinaHs; Sunapee saibling, '£f. aureolus; Rainbow trout, probably
8, irideus; Loch Leven trout, 8. trutta levenensU; Black Spotted trout, one of the
native trouts of the Rocky Mountains.

^ The Pacific salmon hybrids hatched at Craig Brook, Me., were from eggs obtained
on tributaries of the Skagit River, State of Washington.

BRBBDING PISH. 265

A great many similar experiments in hybridization have been
conducted in the United States of which the observations have not
been carried far enough or the results did not warrant it.

Experiments in the crossing and hybridizing of various species
of salmonidae have been made in Scotland and several European
countries. Both the Rainbow and the eastern Brook trouts of America
have been crossed with the European trouts at various fish-culture
establishments. Impregnation is readily accomplished, but in all the
efforts to hybridize the trouts and salmon of Europe, as well as in
the crossing of American with European species of trouts, it appears
to be regarded as established that, while there is a development, it
soon reaches its end or leads to malformations. Some of the hybrids
are procreative, but in general the results have been disappointing,
and foreign fish culturists appear to have discontinued breeding ex-
periments of this character.

It seems useless to continue the experiments until an experiment
station has been established where hybridization and other experi-
ments can be systematically conducted under scientific observation
and carried to a definite conclusion.

The experiment inaugurated at the Northville station in selecting
and breeding for specific bacterial immunity in Brook trout has re-
sulted in failure, the 20,000 fish held for the purpose having suc-
ctmibed to the disease.

The committee is not entirely discouraged by the failures here
reported, but is unanimous in the opinion that few if any satisfactory
results can be obtained until one or more experiment stations have
been established at which the work can be conducted unhampered by
the regular fish-cultural work that is the necessary and legitimate
work of the existing St^te and Federal hatcheries.

The necessity for experiment stations to advance strictly fish-
cultural work is quite as important as for experiments in breeding.
However, fish culture and fish breeding are so interdependent that
one experiment station could be utilized in the advancement of both.

A PHEASANT-BANTAM HYBRID.

H. J. Wheeler, Kingston, R. I.

Although there have been reported, from time to time, several
instances of a successful cross between the pheasant and the domestic
fowl, none of these has thus far withstood the results of close in-
vestigation. The following is a brief description of the results of
an actual cross secured by Dr. Leon J. Cole at the Rhode Island
Agricultural Experiment Station in the spring of 1908.

Of 77 eggs of the bantam fowl laid between March 23, 1908,
and August 27, 1909, only one was fertile. This egg was laid March
30, 1908. It was set under a hen on April 4, and hatched April 28,
thus giving an incubation period of 24 days.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FATHER.

This bird, a Ring-Neck pheasant, was of average size, plumage,
and vigor. The feathers of the head and neck were irridescent and
purplish, with a greenish cast upon the top of the head. The short
feathers of the face patch were turkey-red. The measurements of
the different parts of the body were as follows:

Millimeters.

Length of upper mandible 27

Width of mandible at base 20

Ear tufts 15

Length of wing 250

Length of tail 540

Length of tarsus 70

Length of middle toe 58

Weight, 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

The color of the eye was bright bay.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MOTHER.

The mother of the hybrid was a mongrel bantam. The general
color was buff with faint black stripes on the neck. A large amount
of black appeared in the primary wing feathers and in the inner veins
of the secondaries. The tail feathers were largely black, but contained
some yellow. The comb was low, but had the rose-comb character-
istics, and possessed a prominent spike. The wattles and ear-lobes
were very well developed. The measurements of different parts of
the body were as follows :

PHEASANT-BANTAM HYBRID. . 267

Millimeters.

Length of upper mandible 18

Width of mandible at base 13

Length of tarsus 58

Length of middle toe 54

Weight, 1 pound, 14 ounces.

The color of the eye was a faded yellow.

DICSCRIPTION OF THE HYBRID.

The color of the head and neck was dark because of the presence
of much black in the feathers. The yellow, however, showed through
to a considerable extent, especially on the top of the head, on the
forehead, and on the upper throat region. The space immediately
suri'ounding the eye was red. A slightly purplish irridescence ap-
peared on the feathers of the lower neck. The general color of the
body and back was a mixture of light yellow, darker yellow, chestnut,
and also black, in very irregular patterns. In many instances the
black formed a double stripe on the feathers, while the chestnut was
usually present on the edge of the feather and formed a band. The
feathers of the rump and the tail coverts had many small black specks.
The flights were a mixture of black and light yellow. The primaries
were darker at the distal end. The tail feathers had an appearance
more like the primaries. The comb was very low, having somewhat
the appearance of a rose comb, but without the spike. The wattles
and ear-lobes were absent. The eye had a yellowish tinge between
faded yellow and a bay color. The measurements of various parts
of the body were as follows :

Millimeters.

Length of upper mandible 26

Width of mandible at base 18

Length of the wing 224

Longest tail feather 213

Length of tarsus 70

Length of middle toe 65

Weight, 3 pounds, 3 ounces.

For the first few weeks of its life, this hybrid more nearly ap-
proached pheasant chicks (Ring-Necks) in both color and call. When
the feathers began to come, however, the bird lost some of its resem-
blance to pheasant youngsters and also ceased its call except when
frightened. The bird was kept carefully cooped to avoid its destruction
by vermin. In spite of being fed and watered three or four times daily.

268 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE.

it grew and remained very wild; two ducklings were put into the
coop, but they seemed to exert no taming effect. After several
months, it was transferred to a turkey yard in which were its parents,
pigeons, and turkeys. Very soon, the hybrid became much more do-
mesticated. As an adult, nothing has been observed in its behavior
to indicate sex; its call (only when frightened) is of a higher note
than the cock pheasant's and is somewhat like that of a cornered rat.

COMPARISON OF THE PHEASANT, BANTAM, AND HYBRID.

The general shape of the head of the hybrid was much more like
that of the pheasant. It lacked, however, the velvety feathers on the
face, and ^did not have the extension into the ear-lobes, which was
prominent on the pheasant. The bill of the hybrid was shaped some-
what like that of the pheasant, but was rather lighter in color. It was
also more grayish in appearance than that of the bantam. The gen-
eral color of the body plumage resembled more closely that of the
pheasant, except that the markings of the hybrid were not so regular,
and more of the light yellow of the mother was apparent. The shape
of the wing resembled more closely that of the bantam, but it was
considerably longer. It did not, moreover, show the peculiar color
and definite bars characteristic of the tail of tlie pheasant. The long-
est feathers of the tail were broad and rounded at the tip. They
were much less long and tapering than those of the pheasant. They
were carried, moreover, in a more erect position, showing no tendency
to trail as did those of the father. The reason for this obviously lies
in the anatomical structure of the tail-bearing portion, which resem-
bles more closely that of the bantam. ' While in the pheasant the legs
and feet were quite dark, and in the bantam a faded yellow color, in
the hybrid the color was between these two. Furthermore, while the
pheasant had well developed spurs, about 10 mm. in length, and the
bantam very short spurs on both feet, the hybrid had on the right
foot a short blunt spur and on the left only a low wart-like structure.
When the hybrid was compared with the pheasant hen, it was ob-
vious that the color-resemblance to the female pheasant was more
striking than to the male bird, but that the form-resemblance to the
female was less marked.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Wild Birds.]

PBOGBESS m THE PBaPAGATiaN OF SEEDLINGS OF SUOAB

OANE m LOUISIANA.

Hamilton P. Agee.

There was presented at the 1907 meeting of the American Breed-
ers Association, by Dr. C. O. Townsend, a paper on "The Improve-
ment of Sugar Cane by Selecting and Breeding," which summarized
in a complete manner the work of various investigators who have
endeavored, since the discovery of the fertility of the seed of the cane,
to propagate better varieties of this important sugar-producing plant.

A report from the Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station in 1908
told how it was long thought that this work must be confined to the
Tropics, where cane seed could be secured in a fresh state for germina-
tion and be handled under the most favorable conditions of tempera-
ture. It seemed that Louisiana must depend on securing her varieties
of cane from those countries where summer heat continued throughout
the year; for, although the serrii-tropical conditions of the southern
part of that Stat are such as to permit of a profitable cane-sugar
industry, nevertheless the curtailment of the growing season by the
cool weather of the winter months prevents that stage of maturity
which is necessary for the production of the seed-bearing arrows
£^T tassels.. This confronted Louisiana with an additional handicap in
her competition against other cane-growing countries. Not only was
an industry to be maintained by the growth of a tropical plant without
its natural habitat, but the possibility of the propagation within her
bounds of new varieties of this plant, which would thereby more likely
become accfimated to her conditions, appeared to be withheld. The
continuance of the sugar industry in Louisiana through its various
periods of adversity may be attributed to a stroke of extreme good
fortune in the introduction, as early as 1820, while the industry was
yet in its infancy, of a cane which by sheer chance was one of the
few varieties that can be grown with profit at a latitude of 30 de-
grees north. '

That cane culture in the State had grown to be a thriving industry
by one chance in hundreds was not fully realized until after the
Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station (established in 1'885) had col-
lected from the various sugar countries throughout the world those
varieties which produced the maximum returns in foreign lands noted
for their large yields, and found them without exception under semi-

270 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

tropical environments to be inferior to the cane which had been grown
in Louisiana since 1820.

After the inauguration of seedling •\vork in the Tropics, the
Louisiana interests received great benefit from the introduction of
the two Demerara seedlings which proved to be superior to canes then
grown in the State. It was well known for a long period of years
that the possibilities of securing better varieties would be considerably
enhanced by germinating seed in large quantities under the prevailing
conditions of the section where they were to be utilized and selecting
from the great numbers the few that might prove to be superior to
the varieties grown on the plantations. It was not, however, until
a few years ago that the proper means of handling this delicate branch
of nursery work was found. Since it was Mr. A. E. Weller who was
in active charge of this undertaking, he should be recorded as being
the first, and, up to the present time, the only one who has succeeded
in securing the germination of sugar-cane seed at a latitude without
the bounds of the Tropics. His success in this work is all the more
deserving of credit since it followed a series of failures by others
since 1890.

. The methods and the scheme of handling these seeds and the
tender seedlings produced therefrom were described in the report,
with an account of the work to that date. It only remaiqs therefore
to give information on the continuance of this endeavor to secure
better varieties of cane for the Louisiana planters, and to point out
the encouraging features which have presented themselves.

In preparing for the seedling work of the current year, letters
were addressed to various government agricultural departments, ex-
periment stations, botanical gardens, sugar companies, and individuals,
throughout the girth of the globe, requesting cane seed for the work
in hand. The writer is extremely grateful to those who contributed,
for without this assistance the work would be impossible. A list of
those who thus cooperated is given as follows, showing the wide
range of sugar-producing countries from which the seed were secured
and the different varieties of cane from which they came, and also the
number of germinations secured from each variety:

PROPAGATION OP SUGAR CANS.

271

Contributions of sugar-cane seed.

Contributor.

Country.

Varieties from which
seed were furnished.

Number of seed-
lings secured.

Francis Watts, Govern-
ment Chemist and Su-
perintendent of Agri-
culture

J. C. Waldron.

Noell Deerr, Acting Di-
rector Sugar Experi-
ment Station

D.W. May, Special Agent
in Charge Experiment
Station

J. T. Crawley, Director
Estacion Central Ag-
ronomica

Antigua, British West

Indies D. 1640

D. 116

D. 95

I D. 109

Sealy Seedling

Red Ribbon

White Transparent
Queensland Creole.

Antigua, British West

Indies D. 95

D. 109

■ B. 147

B. 306

B. 208

B. 1355

No number

Honolulu, Hawaii Lahaina

White Tanna

Hawaii No. 8

Hawaii 355

Hawaii 400

Hawaii 403

, Hawaii 404

Hawaii 5584a

Hawaii 5586a

Hawaii 5592a

I Hawaii 5596a

Hawaii 5615a

Hawaii 5621a

Mayaguez, Porto Rico. T. 77

D. 74

Santiago de las Vegas,

Cuba 1 Crystallina.

, Pappoa

I D. 108

; P. 77

D. 74

T. 211

John R. Bovell, Superm-
tendent Department of
Agriculture

Bridgetown, Barbados,
British West Indies. .

F. Evans, Acting Super-
intendent Botanical
Department

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

B. 6450.

B. 208.
B. 3390
B. 3405
B. 3412
B. 3696
B. 3922
B. 6171

T. 209.

None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None

5

194

77

1

None

2

1

None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
None
2
None

1
1

None
None
None
None
None
None
None

3
None
None
2
None
None
None

None

Hybrids.

272

AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

Contributions of sugar-cane seed — Continued.

Contributor.

Robert M. Grey. Har-
vard Botanical Sta-
tlon«>

Department of Agricul-
taro'>

Department of Agricul-
ture**

Director Treub^

Ck>lonial Sugar Refining
Company, Liroited^ . .

Country.

Varieties from which
seed were furnished.

Number of seed-
lings secured.

I

Ctenfuegos, Cuba.

' Cinto (Red Ribbon)..

Harvard No. 73

Hanrard No. 219

Harvard No. 88

White Sport

Crystalhna

Jamaica, British West

Indies D 05..

i D. 115.

I Trinidad. British West !

Indies | T. 209.

Buitenzoig, Java | G. Z. No. 247 .

Sydney, New South

Wales Badila

t Mohona

H. Q. 10

; H. Q. 50

Couve87

Striped Singapore. .
' Rone Bamboo

None
24
None
None
None
None

None
1

None
None

1
None
None
None

7
None
None

It is interesting to note the large number of germinations from
the seed sent by Mr. J. C. Waldron of Antigua. This is the more
remarkable because the opinion has been expressed by scientific in-
vestigators in Antigua that the cane arrows of that island do not bear
fertile seed. The greater success of the Louisiana work on these seed
than on those from elsewhere may be due to the fact that they were
shipped in large bundles, which kept them in a better condition than
those which were sent in small packages by mail. It is thought
likely, however, that Mr. Waldron exercised good judgment in select-
ing tassels which were in prime condition for gathering.

Gratification is felt in securing eight germinations from the seed
from Australia, as it is shown that the shipment of the delicate seed
from such a great distance does not of necessity destroy its vitality,
as has been heretofore supposed.

As was explained in the report of last year, canes obtained from
each germination are classed as diiTerent varieties and receive a num-
ber which is prefixed by a letter indicating the country in which they
originated. The entire amount is then planted out and the succeeding

* Received through Mr. David Fairchild* Agiioultural Explorer in Charge, Bureau of Plaot
Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

PROPAGATION OP, SUGAR CANB. 273

•

year a sufficient quantity is obtained to make a laboratory test of the
juice and to plant an area large enough to furnish data the following
year that will be indicative of the sugar-producing value of the juice
and the tonnage yield per acre.

Unfortunately, the date of the meeting (Nov. 15, 1909) does not
permit of a detailed report of the laboratory and field tests of this
year, as this is at present in an incompleted stage.

The conclusions drawn from the work, so far as it has gone, give
nothing of a phenomenal nature to report. However, the results are
of such a satisfactory nature that promise is had that this Louisiana
seedling work will ultimately prove of the greatest commercial value
to the sugar interests of the State. If in the course of the next decade
it is possible to originate a variety which has inherent properties that
will cause it to yield a 10 per cent greater sugar return per acre than
is had from the varieties now cultivated, it can be readily understood
how great a money value will accrue from these investigations.

A disappointment is had in this year's results from the L92,
which last year gave richer juices than the celebrated D74. There are
four of the new varieties — L201, L248, L450, L511 — propagated in
1908 (on which laboratory tests were made for the first time this year)
that were superior in sugar content to the D74 on October 15. Data
as to tonnage may offset this advantage, and, furthermore, the canes
may retrograde another year, as was the case with the L92. But, be
this as it may, the results have pointed out that what once seemed pos-
sibilities of ultimate success are now closely verging upon the probable.

The value of this work will be considerably augmented by an
arrangement which has been effected with the Bureau of Entomology
whereby this Bureau establishes and maintains at the Sugar Experi-
ment Station the laboratory for the investigation of insects injurious
to sugar cane. These investigations are in charge of Mr. D. L. Van
Dine, formerly of the Federal Experiment Station in Hawaii.
Simultaneously with the study of the sugar yield and tonnage value
of the varieties newly propagated by the Sugar Experiment Station,
Mr. Van Dine proposes to study their insect-resisting properties so
as to aid in the selection of those canes which may be fit to be dis-
seminated throughout the State to be grown commercially.

A similar cooperation will probably be obtained from the Bureau
of Plant Industry in the way of pathological investigations along
the same line.

(Presented by Ck>minittee on Breeding Sugar Crops, Dec. 9, 1910.]

SINGLE-OHARAGTES VS. TaUT-ENSEMBLE BREEDING IN

GBAPES.

T. V. MuNSON, Denison, Texas.
INTRODUCTION.

In my work in breeding grapes and other fruits, the prime
object was not to discover fundamental laws of inheritance iirst
and then to practice those laws to get results, but, acting on the
great universally accepted truth which is impressed upon us every-
where in organic nature — that each individual, each variety, each
species, reproduces closely after its own kind, and yet is ever varying
one way or another from the parent form — to proceed at once by
selecting and combining parents embodying to the largest extent
the characters desired, to attempt the production of offspring coming
nearer to my ideals than either parent. As I proceeded, I kept close
observation on results of uniting different mates with the mother, so
that I soon found myself unconsciously searching for "laws** or
methods of action under different circumstances. After all, that is
all we mean by the term law in nature — method of action under
certain circumstances. As the circumstances are infinitely variable
so the "laws'' are infinitely numerous, past fully finding out.

It would be just as reasonable to instruct a chess player to
make every move according to laws of chess as for a breeder to
require every new individual plant or animal to be bred according
to the laws of heredity. The best move in a game of chess is the
one that at that particular stage of the game goes farthest toward
mating the opposing king and at the same time preventing the
mating of the player's king. This, it is true, is in itself a "law" —
a very vague and general law — that every chess player, good or poor,
observes to his best ability, but that which makes him win most
games is skill to penetrate more deeply into the possible combinations
within the next few moves ahead, and to pick out that move each
time most favorable to his side of the game. The skill is mostly
the product of two chief factors — ^first and most important, natural
acuteness in observation and thinking; second, much experience in the
play. So it is with the breeder.

Breeding, like chess-playing, is an art. Yet there is a science
of chess, and a science of breeding — classified facts with reference
thereto — the knowledge of which greatly aids anyone who engages

BRBBDING GRAPES. 275

in it to become expert. This science comes from those who have
gone before. Hence each expert owes it to the race to give his
accumulated clearly demonstrated facts in classified order. The study
of these facts diarpens the wits and aids much in developing the
txptri. The best and tte proper time to study them is when we are
pottkig tbetn into practice.

The science of breeding with all its complexities is new and only
partially developed, and there yet remain to be worked out many more
or less general truths and a vast multitude of details before any com-
plete work can be compiled on breeding.

In breeding, only specialists can accomplish the greatest good.
The universal breeder is even less likely to accomplish permanent
beneficial results than is the "J^^^ of all trades" to make great
success in business.

The following statements are based on the writer's experience
in the breeding of grapes.

To get form, or size, or flavor; to get persistence to pedicel,
non-cracking skin, even ripening, or certain season of ripening; to
get resistance to parasitic enemies, especially fungus and bacterial
parasites; to get drought resistance, heat resistance, cold resistance,
or resistance to excessive wet ; to get productiveness and long life ; in
fact to get any desirable character in the seedling, it was quickly
seen that such character must be found in the parentage somewhere.
This is simply the first universal law of inheritance in different
applications, and can be practiced by any 'lunkhead" if dealing with
only one characteristic, but in general-character breeding, the keenest
wit is required to get desirable results.

SINGI^^-CHARACTCR BREEDING.

«

If a person should seek only to produce grapes with the largest
possible berries, he would neglect all other characters and choose at
first such parents as Black Hamburg, Union Village, Eaton, Red
Giant, etc., and cross any two of them. Then from this progeny he
would select the two largest and cross again, and so continue. But
the breed would soon be so weakened by in-and-in breeding that H
would require "new blood" to revive it, so he would be compelled
to start with four or eight parents, uniting into four pairs, and then
uniting the largest product of any one pair with the largest of any other
pair, and the largest product of the other two pairs united with

276 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

these, and then select seeds, and plant from the self-poUenized largest
variety produced for several generations from this conglomerate
parentage, until the vines would no longer endure in-and-in breeding
without becoming too weak in vitality. Then the product would in
all probability be valueless. So it would be had any other one char-
acter been used. Although in this kind of breeding only one character
was kept in view, yet the final product is worthless in every character
but size. Fortunately there are few who tend to single-character
breeding, and those few should learn better ways.

OeNERAI^-CHAJlACTER BREEDING.

Every breeder worthy of the name seeks a product containing
as many of the desirable points as possible. It is in attempting this
that the real fine art of breeding begins. It requires the combining,
certainly, of parents containing as many good and as few of the
undesirable points as can possibly be found. This calls for wide
and accurate knowledge, not only of existing varieties but also of all
their characteristics and adaptabilities.

The breeder soon learns that some pairs selected, for some
reason which he cannot perceive, are uncongenial, as is the case
between human beings sometimes, so that no desirable progeny results,
while other pairs are extra good breeders. No "law" can help him
here. He has to learn by actual test. This is expensive, but it cannot
be avoided.

It is quite probable that no two parents can be found to contain
all the points sought. This requires the second, third, fourth, or
later generations to be produced, and then only a very few of the
plants of each generation approach the ideal. Bad qualities perhaps,
at first concealed as "reCessives" (according to the Mendelian writ-
ings), crop out and must be eliminated. So the successful breeder
must not only be a careful selector but a rigid rejector, and a
perpetual keen-eyed, quick-witted student.

I do not mean to say that the breeder of grapes need not know
and observe the general laws of breeding already discovered; on
the contrary he must observe these consciously or unconsciously to
obtain success above the ordinary method of planting indiscriminately
gathered seed. Happily the general laws are so few and simple that
almost every person of fair observing powers and ordinary informa-
tion understands them.

BREEDING GRAPES. 277

The great general laws may be stated thus: Like purebred
parcffe produce like, with slight modifications produced by environ-
ments; unlike combined produce, in the first generation, all degrees
of variation between the two parents; the progeny of the unlike
combination, if self-pollinated, produce three classes of progeny —
one-fourth like one parent, one-fourth like the other, and one-half
variable betw^een the two unlike parents of the first generation. This
is known as the Mendelian Law of Heredity. In grape breeding,
little is gained by combining like purebreds, but combinations
of the best unlikes may be continued until a decidedly more
desirable form than before existed for the purpose is secured.

It is the conceiving of ideal varieties for different seasons, cli-
mates, soils, and purposes, and the finding of those already in existence
which come nearest to the ideal, and of these the ones most congenial
in crossing and hybridizing and that go farthest in combination
toward reaching the ideal, that makes a progressive and successful
breeder. Such a breeder, taking up a single class of fruits such as
grapes, if he seeks^ to cover all the seasons of ripening, all soils and
climates capable of yielding profitable results, and all uses of the
fruit, undertakes a lifetime service in experimentation which largely
curtails his ability to make money.

Fortunately such work is fascinating, and, if good business
methods are used in marketing the products originated, it should
yield a comfortable living. Stich a life yields one satisfaction that
a life devoted to money getting generally lacks — ^the knowledge that it
leaves a great beneficial legacy to coming generations.

The planters of vineyards, especially, reap profit from such work ;
the consumers are regaled with finer colors and richer flavors than
could be enjoyed without the originator's varieties, and the breeders
that follow are greatly aided by his recorded experience, if this has
been duly classified and published, hence he should be paid good
prices for the best products of his breeding.

As we cannot hope to excel the best examples in nature as re-
gards ability to survive the destructive influences of climate, disease,
etc., we take these best examples as a basis on which to ingraft, by
crossing and hybridizing, the desirable individual characters of color,
size, quality, etc., found in other individuals. But it is a general
rule that the varieties of fine quality — especially the property of
sweetness — are more affected by climatic extremes and more subject

278 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE.

to fungus and insect attacks than the hardy stock selected for re-
sistance, and thus we find ourselves ingrafting weakness, reducing
the hardiness of constitution, to gain quality. The usual result is a
product reduced in quality from the high-quality parent and lower
in hardiness than the extra hardy foundatk»i. But we find that
some of the hybrid individuals have retained much more hardiness
than others, and some much better quality than others, and a very
few possess largely both hardiness and improved quality. We seize
these as the prizes vouchsafed us for our labor, and cross and recross
these better combinations among themselves, and with still other fresh
blood, until we have arrived at a greater perfection than is possessed
by the varieties in general cultivation; when we can truly say the
originator has a product worthy to be placed on the market. To
ascertain adaptability to season, soil, and climate is as much the
work of the prospective planter as of the originator; for, if the
originator attempts to test in all regions before selling, it costs more
than ever returns to him. Experiment station tests, under restric-
tions, should do this work; but experience proves this usually a
losing game to the originator. Probably the best the originator
can do is to give several years* test in different soils and situations,
entirely subject to his control in propagation, before naming or
introducing. Then he must charge what seems a high price per
plant and advertise extensively to get a meager return for what
has cost him years of most skillful work. • It is in the first three
or four years after introducing only that the originator derives men-
tionable returns. None of the bad products must be put on sale, or the
reputation of the breeder suffers at once, and it is doubly difficult
to regain what is lost.

The greater the number of desirable characters sought to be
embodied in a variety (and a single individual is equivalent to a
variety in fruits to be propagated by cuttings, budding, layering, or
grafting), the longer and more difficult becomes the work. The
process may be continued interminably with gradual improvement, as
we are entitled to infer by comparing the poorest with the best in
nature and art, and finding there is room to add to the best ; and
this encourages us to forever aspire with confidence to a still better
future in special breeding.

BRBBDING GRAPHS. 279

SOME SPECIAL OBSERVATIONS.

Some breeders of grapes have assumed that it is a "law" that
the female parent transmits vine characteristics, while the male trans-
mits fruit characteristics, in the vines produced by crossing or
hybridizing. This, I find, is not a law of reproduction among grapes.
For example, in a lot of hand-made hybrids between Rommel as
mother, having a peculiarly flavored white grape and distinct vine
and foliage, and Brilliant as pollen parent, having a red grape of
distinct flavor and a vine diflferent from that of Rommel, the resulting
hybrids all had vines very closely resembling Brilliant, while all had
berries much resembling Rommel in flavor, and in color they were
very nearly the same — all white. The size and shape of clusters,
however, were in all like Brilliant. In hybrids of America (black)
with Delaware (as male), the vine is an even combination of the
two parents, but the berries and clusters are much more like Delaware,
being translucent red. The flavor is a fair combination of those of
both parents. Many other examples I could mention prove that there
is no such law among grapes.

It seems in many cases there is no telling beforehand which
characters in the parents will be dominant and which recessive or
evenly blended in the progeny. In some combinations, all the char-
acters of one parent are dominant and, of course, all others recessive.
This is true of Vitis rotundifolia (as female) when united with
varieties of true bunch grapes, the Rotundifolia characters being
dominant. A similar result generally follows when a species of a
very uniform fixed set of characters is united with a species that
is quite variable, and I think may be set down as a law among
grapes, and may be stated thus: Species of grapes very uniform in
character when hybridized zvith species of zery variable character
give progeny with the characteristics of the uniform species dominant.
This I have determined with several pairs of species to the second
generation.

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Tree and Vine Fruits.]

DETAILS FOB A GAME BREEDERS' LAW.

DwiGHT W. Huntington, New York, N, Y.

It cannot be denied that a law permitting breeders to profitably
increase our game should be enacted in every State. As I said last
year, it seems idle to suggest to breeders that they should not be per-
mitted to breed.

The resolution adopted by your Association has now been before
the people for a year, and it was given a wide publicity by the American
Field, the Amateur Sportsman, and other papers and magazines, yet
so far as I am aware no one has openly said a single word in opposi-
tion to the resolution.

So far as I know all of our prominent naturalists are in favor of
the protection and increase of North American game by breeders.
A number of them have referred to this important matter in no un-
certain terms. Dr. Hornaday has said: "The situation is absurd and
therefore can not long endure.' Dr. Merriam, chief of the Biological
Survey, has written that he is strongly in favor of a regulated sale not
only of deer but of game birds when properly identified. Dr. Shufeldt
says: *'I am thoroughly in. sympathy with you in what you have to say
and what many of your correspondents say on the question of game
protection. There is such a thing as protecting birds off the face of
the earth, and I stand distinctly opposed to much that pertains to such
methods now in vogue."

So far as I am aware no sportsman of any prominence is opposed
to the profitable increase of game by breeders. It is a self-evident
proposition that the farmers, game dealers, and innkeepers, who will
be benefited by a breeders' law, are in favor of it. Many of them
have said that such a law would quickly increase the game.

Some of those who have been active in building up our restrictive
system in the hope that it would increase the wild food birds, or at
least save them from extermination, have made inquiries as to the form
of a breeders' law which would enable breeders to sell their birds
without endangering the rare and vanishing species which are supposed
to be protected by the present game laws.

There are three well-known laws permitting the sale of game
and game fish which may be taken as forms or precedents by those
who may undertake to prepare a breeders' law for any State. (1)
Colorado has had for several years a law permitting the sale of game

A GAME BREEDERS' LAW. 281

from preserves, and under this law the game birds are sold and
served in the hotels. The State game commissioner has said the law
should remain permanently. (2) Minnesota has a law permitting the
sale of trout by breeders, and the executive agent of the board of
fish and game commissioners informs me that this law is satisfactory
and that it does not result in a loss of trout from the public waters.
(3) Massachusetts has a new law permitting the sale of pheasants
by breeders, and I know of no objection to this law save one which
I have raised: its tendency must be to increase the fgreign fowls
instead of our own, which easily can be made abundant.

There are other similar laws, some relating to deer only. One
law permitting the sale of birds by breeders in North Dakota has been
recently enacted, but it has not been on the books long enough for us
to know how it may affect the game which no one looks after properly.

My suggestions for the details of a breeders' law briefly are as
follows :

Breeders should be defined so that those who own no interest in
the game reared may, for the present at least, be prohibited from
selling game. Permits or licenses should be issued to breeders upon
the payment of a small sum, and the law might provide for the for-
feiture of the license provided the person holding it ceased to be a
breeder.

Provision should be made for licensing game dealers, and they
should be required to give a bond to keep a game register wherein they
should enter and list all game received and the names of the breeders
sending it. Dealers might be required to file an affidavit at the end of
the season stating that no game had been sold illegally. I have been
informed that in England, where game is sold during a good part of
the year, the reputable dealers are opposed to the few who are sus-
pected of violating the laws, and willingly aid in their apprehension.

It should be far easier for game officers to watch a regulated in-
dustry than it is to oversee such sales of game as are now permitted —
game birds coming from points distant 25 miles from New York, for
example.

One thing we should always bear in mind — ^the laws should aid the
vigilant and not the sleeping. Those who are willing to properly pro-
tect and increase our splendid grouse, quail, and wild fowl should
be encouraged. Nothing can be accomplished without the expenditure
of money, and no one can be expected to invest in an enterprise which

282 AMERICAN BRBEDBRS MAGAZINE.

is practically prohibited by law. If any loss should occur by reason
of the proposed change in the game laws it must fall on those who do
nothing, and it will be more than offset by the game reared by breeders.

Under the present game laws we have State game departments
which represent only a small part of the people — a part of the sports-
men, but not all of these by any means. Necessarily these depart-
ments are hostile to the farmers, the game dealers, the innkeepers,
and all of the people who would be benefited by cheap game. The
State gamj departments under a breeders' law will represent all
classes of people, as any governmental department should.

The effect of the resolution which the American Breeders Associa-
tion passed last year has been good. The proposed breeders' law has
been much discussed by sportsmen, and as I have observed there is
none who is openly opposed to the common-sense idea that the
breeders of game should be permitted and encouraged to rear game
birds for the market. Ruffed grouse today are worth $20 a pair for
propagation, and there is a demand for a large number of them.
I know a man who successfully reared these birds last season in a
wild state on a small country place quite near New York. On the
same ground he reared malfards and several species of quail and some
Hungarian partridges. Since most of the birds v/ere nesting wild
they procured a good part of their food from the few acres of field
and scrub oak. The cost of rearing these valuable birds under such
conditions should be less than the cost of rearing poultry. No one
is permitted to fire a gun on the place. Why should the owner of these
birds be prohibited from selTmg some of them for propagation or as
food? Mr. Evan?, who has prepared a paper to be read before your
Association, informed me (a few days ago when he wa sin New York)
that he had about a hundred cock pheasants left over last season;
since most purchasers bought more hens than cocks. Why should he
be prevented from selling these extra birds as food?

In order that something may be done toward securing a breeders'
law which will be satisfactory to all classes, I would suggest that
you appoint a special committee to consider the form of such a law
and to recommend its enactment by the various State legislatures,
provided the members of the committee agree upon the form of law
which will benefit all classes. I would advise that you appoint a com-
mittee of nine, to be made up as follows: Two farmers; two sports-
men ; two game dealers (one to be a dealer in live game) ; two hotel

BREEDING OF GRAIN SORGHUMS. 283

keepers, and one prominent naturalist. I would suggest that at least
one of the first named be the president or other prominent officer of
a grange ; that one of the sportsmen, at least, be a prominent member
of a State game protective association, and one be appointed from
those who favor a breeders' law; that one of the innkeepers be the
president of a State hotel men's association; and that Dr. Hornaday,
Dr. Merriam, Mr. Brewster or some other naturalist be appointed to
advise the committee about the natural history facts which should be
considered.

I believe a law can be drawn which will prove satisfactory to all
of these classes and which will be beneficial to the people who wish to
see cheap game in the markets. I am sure that a law which is satis-
factory to all classes will remain permanent and that it will be in
pleasing contrast to the ever-changing and ridiculous game laws which
are annually placed on the books and which consume from one-tenth
to about one-third of the time of the legislative assemblies.

THE BREEDING OF GRAIN SORGHUMS.

Carleton R. Baix, Washington, D, C,
STATUS OF THE SPECIES.

Present View, — It is now generally acknowledged that all the
numerous cultivated varieties of sorghum belong to a single sub-
species, sativus Hackel. It is further held that they have been derived
in the lapse of centuries from somewhat parallel variations in the
spontaneous subspecies, halepensis (L.) Hackel, represented in this
country by the well-known Johnson grass of the South. These two
subspecies together comprise the species Andropogon sorghum. This
opinion forms, as it were, the apex of a nomenclatorial pyramid of
widely differing views.

Progressive Development of this Idea, — ^About a century and a
half has elapsed since the adoption of the binomial system of botanical
nomenclature. In that period four distinct conceptions of the botanical
status of the numerous wild and cultivated forms of sorghum have
been held. These four ideas were developed in somewhat definite
succession, though their periods of dominance overlapped. In them
sorghum forms have been regarded as : (a) Distinct botanical species ;

282 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAC .^:

is practically prohibited by law. ^ jr/id species, one the wild

of the proposed change in t^ .'^ysorghum; (c) subspecies and

nothing, and it will !>» ..%^',^^'bo^ A, halepensis and A. sor-

Under the p^ - , -/^^ ^^ ^ single botanic species,

which represent •^•. ^V^bundantly in all tropical and sub-

men, but not ''^^"^^/d. Its varieties are numerous, and their

ments are 1* ' ',/<^'^^ P^^^^^^' ^^^^ those represented in the

and all o^ ^ "' >!^ "'Lri^^ted ^orms. This is especially noticeable in
State f . ".^^ *V ^"^455*^^^^ ^y the wild and the cultivated plants

classe^ ''^^ti^^e^^^er extent in India also. It is thought to indicate

C/^^^^^^/jf ^"^^^^^^^^ groups from somewhat parallel varia-
tir >r^^^^^^'5%^species. It is also evidence of an independent

^ (^ ^^rt th^ ^ tpA sorghums in the two continents.

^^ FHySIOIX)GlCAL FACTS TO BE NOTHD.

pertilxzation, — All sorghums are adapted to open or wind

oti> and most of them are probably equally adapted to self

P^^^^^Atio^' Just to what extent cross fertilization takes place under

/^^^ I field conditions it is, of course, impossible to say. However, in

^^ csisc of adjacent rows of different varieties flowering on approxi-

^ tely ^^^ same dates, as high as 50 per cent of the seed produced

f|je leeward row'has been found to be cross-fertilized. It is probable

that iTi a fairly uniform field of any given variety a similar percentage

Qi natural crossing takes place. Many writers have stated that such

cross pollination occurs also at very long distances, but this seems to

be less conclusively proved. Probably a distance from 8 to 10 rods

to leeward is the maximum at which appreciable hybridization occurs.

In the Plains region, where sorghums are largely grown and where

constant diurnal southerly winds are the rule, the greatest proportion

of cross fertilization is experienced. The injury from this source would

doubtless be still greater than it is but for the fact that most of the

pollen is shed during the early morning hours, when the winds are

usually of lower velocity than during the day.

Extreme Variability. — The range of variation in different groups
and varieties — seen particularly in the size of the vegetative parts, in
the coloring of the glumes and seed coats, and in the size and shape
of the grain — is fully as great as and probably greater than in the case
of any other cereal group. This variation is doubtless due to the ease
and frequency of cross fertilization, as well as to the great antiquity

BRBBDING OF GRAIN SORGHUMS, 285

of cultivated sorghums, dating, as they certainly do, from the most
remote historic times.

Vegetative Vigor. — Ais we have seen, sorghums are of tropical
origin, and, like many annual tropical grasses, they have a natural
tendency toward great vegetative vigor. This is shown, first, by the
gfreat size which many of them are known to attain in their native
homes; second, by the extreme vigor of growth shown by nearly all
forms when first introduced into the United States, even in semiarid
regions; and, third, by the enormous size always developed by some
of the resulting forms in cases of cross pollination, even though both
parents be of small stature.

Susceptibility to Improvement. — As a corollary to the preceding
observations stands the great susceptibility of these crops to selective
improvement. That this has always been true may be inferred from
the wide range of uses to which we find the sorghums adapted in their
native lands and among more or less primitive peoples* Four entirely
distinct products are commonly secured from specialized groups of
sorghums, viz., grain, forage, saccharine juice, and brush. In the
forage groups the plants are variously used for pasture, soiling, silage,
fodder, or hay. In certain countries the culms and leaves are used
for thatches, fences, baskets, etc., while both stems and roots serve
as fuel. It must be remembered that in Africa, India, and China
practically all varieties are grown for human food.

STRONG ECONOMIC FACTORS.

Drought Resistance. — ^To this factor more than to any other the
sorghums owe their widespread cultivation in the United States,
especially in the western portions, and in similar regions of other lands.
In just what this drought resistanfce consists is not surely known, but
there can be no doubt of its existence. It is probably due to a combina-
tion of at least three causes and perhaps more.

First of all stand its adaptations for reducing transpiration. These
are the close involution of the leaves under conditions of extreme
drought, and probably, also, the waxy, powder-like secretion found on
the stems and sheaths where no involution of epidermal surfaces is
possible. These adaptations enable sorghum crops to remain dormant
during comparatively long periods of drought and to resume to a
greater or less degree their normal growth when the unfavorable con-
ditions have been removed.

286 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

The sec(uid cause is the lower water requirements of the crop in
comparison with other crops having a similar habit of growth, such,
for instance, as corn. By this is meant the ability to produce a maxi-
mum weight of grain upon a minimum weight of plant. Whether there
is present also the ability to produce a ton of dry matter with an
actually smaller tonnage of water than other crops require is another
question and one not yet answerable. Of the first fact, however, there
seems little doubt.

In the third place, there is a possibility that sorghums possess
superior drought resistance by reason of superior ability in the
mechanical extraction of capillary moisture from the soil particles.
There are, however, no proven facts to substantiate this theory.

Disease Resistance, — ^There are two great gfroups of fung^ which
are the especial scourge of cereal crops, viz., rusts and smuts. The
g^ain sorghimis apparently possess a high degfree of immimity to
injury by rusts. Only one species of rust, Puccinia sorghi Schw., is
known to occur on sorghtuns in this country, and the injury it inflicts
is so slight as to be entirely negligible from the economic standpoint
Two species of smuts, the kernel smut (Sphacelotheca sorghi (Link)
Clinton), and the head smut (Sphacelotheca reUiana (Kuhn) Clinton),
are prevalent throughout the sorghum-growing regions of the whole
earth. In this country a very large amotmt of damage is done by the
first species, which, fortunately, is easily controlled by the hot-water
treatment.** It is known to affect all the groups of domestic sorghums
except milo. The resulting loss in the seed crop sometimes runs as
high as 50 per cent, while a loss of 10 per cent is oftentimes quite
general throughout a community. The head smut also affects all crops
except milo. It is not yet of widespread occurrence in the sorghum
region, which is the more fortunate in view of the fact that no success-
ful treatment for it is known.

The cause for the peculiar immunity of milo, dwarf milo, etc., to
both species of smuts is wholly unexplained. That they are immune,
however, is a well-known fact and an important one also, because of
their high value as grain-producing varieties, and because of the hope
which it gives that smut resistance may be developed in other groups
than milo.

« Freeman and Umberger, The Smuts of Sorghum. U. S. D. A., Bu. PI. Ind., Circ,
8, 1908.

BRBBDING OP GRAIN SORGHUMS. 287

Adaptability. — Grain sorghums possess qualities which adapt them
to use in a variety of ways and under widely differing conditions of
soil and climate. Their extreme range of variability in stature and
in time of maturing, the causes for which have been previously men-
tioned, are of the greatest value and promise to the breeder. Early
strains have been produced for use in high altitudes and latitudes with
a consequent short growing season, or for the farmer who would
follow them with fall-sown crops. Dwarf varieties are now in hand
for the wheat raisers who would harvest them with the grain header.
Heavier "tod later varieties exist for the man who has a long season
and the need for a c<Miibined grain and forage crop. They are adapted
to growing in windy regions without loss by lodging. They are culti-
vated crops for use in rotations where clean tillage is desired. This
especially adapts them for use in semiarid regions where methods of
moisture conservation are the chief care of the farmer.

Productiveness, — One of the strong points in favor of grain
sorghums is their comparative productiveness in the regions in which
they are so largely grown. Their grain-)delding ability is indeed re-
markable in view of the short time since their introduction and the low
yielding power of many of them in their native homes. It is only
about thirty-five years since the first grain-producing varieties reached
the United States. Two durras were imported in 1874, two kafirs in
1876, and milo about 1885, less than a quarter century ago. The
kafirs, however, did not come into general cultivation until a little more
than twenty years ago, and milo at even a later date. The kowliangs
are of very recent introduction. It is thus seen that these grain sor-
ghum groups have been under scientific selection and improvement
for periods of from three to no more than thirty years, and yet in that
time they have been redeemed from some of their most glaring faults
and made capable of average yields varying from 25 to 50 bushels of
grain per acre.

CHARACTERS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT.

Pendent Heads, — ^The pendent or goosenecked heads, common in
the durra and milo groups, are an especial nuisance. They not only
prevent the satisfactory use of any type of header in harvesting the
grain, but they are in an awkward and dangerous position to cut by
hand. It is a common sight in the milo belt to see men at work with
one or more bandages covering wounds on the left hand, made by the

288 AMERICAN BREBDBRS MAGAZINE,

knife while cutting heads from recurved peduncles. This recurved
stem is also an objection where the whole stalk is cut with the corn
binder or grain binder. It prevents the stalks from lying parallel when
cut. It frequently interlocks with adjacent stems so that they can
scarcely be separated in field or shock. It also makes the tops of the
bundles wider than the bottoms, thus forming shocks that will neither
withstand wind nor turn water. The heads are normally erect in all
kafirs, kowliangs and shallu, as well as in some durras.

Shattering of the Seed. — This fault was so characteristic of the
two durras first introduced as to practically drive them from cultiva-
tion in spite of their splendid drought resistance and extreme earliness,
both most valuable qualities. The shattering habit does not yield
readily to selection. Fortunately it is not present in milos, kafirs, or
kowliangs.

Incomplete Bxsertion of the Heads, — Serious loss is occasioned
by the failure of the head to become completely exserted from the
upper sheath. The included base usually becomes infested with plant
lice, corn worms or false army worms, and finally becomes moldy
and rotten. A twofold damage results, first, the loss of the seed on
the basal portion of the head, and, second, the loss of often larger
quantities of seed through contact in shock or bin with this decayed
matter. In none of the grain-producing groups is the head normally
exserted more than two or three inches on the average. The kowliangs
have the greatest average exsertion, the kafirs the next greatest, and
the durras and milo the least. White kafir, the variety earliest grown
in this country, has been entirely discarded because it ordinarily failed
of complete exsertion. In the milos and many of the durras exsertion
is accomplished, not by actual projection of the head above the apex
of the sheath, but by a lateral bending or inclination of the peduncle
which forces the head out of the open side of the sheath. In this
case the strongly inrolling margins of the firm sheath often retain a
hold on the side of the panicle, with the same results already noted in
normal inclusion of the head.

Production of Suckers and Branches, — ^There is in all sorghums
an inherent tendency to stool or throw out suckers from the base of
the stem. In cereal crops this is usually considered a desirable char-
acter because it enables the grower to secure the maximum number
of stalks from a minimum quantity of seed. It also enables nature to
compensate in some measure for a poor stand. The same effects are

BREEDING OF GRAIN SORGHUMS. 289

secured in the case of sorghums. The question is, then, whether or
not these effects are desirable. In the judgment of the writer they
are not, for several reasons. First, the quantity of grain-sorg^hum
seed required to sow an acre is so small that there is Kttle need to
economize in its use. Second, however it may be regarded in small
grains, the later ripening of the heads on sucker-stalks can be con-
sidered only as a distinct disadvantage in grain sorghums. Early and
uniform ripening is very desirable in these late-sown spring crops in
order to insure escape from frost, as also for other reasons. Third,
suckers do not usually grow as tall as the main stalks, which is a serious
matter in tall crops designed to be harvested with any type of header.

Branching from the upper nodes is quite unknown in small grains
and quite rare in corn, but fairly normal for sorghums, at least under
certain conditions. It is most pronounced in humid climates or in
humid seasons in dry climates. It commences at the time when the
main head is nearly but not quite mature, and is a very objectionable
habit. The first branch appears at the first node below the one bearing
the main peduncle, the second branch a little later from the next lower
node, and so on in regular sequence. This production of branches
retards- the ripening of the main crop of heads, makes the plant top-
heavy and liable to lodging, causes difficulty in harvesting by any
method, and endangers the keeping quality of heads or seed in bulk,
through the introduction of unripe material.

Tannin Content of the Seed Coats. — Small quantities of tannin
are normally present in the seed coats of all brown or red seeds.
The quantity varies with the stage of maturity and with the variety.
Immature seeds contain more than ripe seeds. The seeds of the
sorgos or saccharine group and of brown durra contain the largest
quantities, the brown kowliangs the next largest, and red kafir and the
milos the least. White seeds contain practically none at all. It is
probable that its presence causes damage through rendering the seed
less palatable rather than through any ill effect produced by the
astringency.

Irritating Hairs, — ^The glumes of many varieties are more or less
densely clothed with short hairs which are exceedingly irritating to
the skin, especially when it is wet with prespiration. The kafirs and
kowliangs have small glumes only thinly hairy and cause little trouble.
The milos have longer glumes but these are only thinly clad. The
durras, on the other hand, have large glumes and a dense pubescence

290 AMERICAN BRBEDERS MAGAZINE.

which makes their threshing an exceedingly uncomfortable task. This
objection is perhaps only a minor one, but seems worthy of attention
by breeders. All the kowliangs and milos. as most of the durras. have
small, bent, and twisted awns attached to the lemmas (flowering
glumes). None of the kafirs is thus provided. These awns also add
to the mechanical irritation suffered by workmen at threshing time
and seem to serve no useful purpose.

S9CURIKG FOUNDATION STOCKS.

Importation of New Forms. — As already indicated, sorghums are
extensively cultivated by native peoples throughout Africa and in
considerable parts of India and China. Our few domestic varieties
have all come from those sources within the last 35 years. Importa-
tions within the last 10 years have numbered more than 600 separate
lots of seed, consisting almost wholly of forms used for grain pro-
duction by the native gfrowers. Many of these importations seem
to be wholly unsuited to use for any purpose, under our climatic
conditions and methods of farming. Many of the remainder show
little indication of value as grain producers. However, a small num-
ber of promising new varieties are now being developed from them.
Among these are several kowliangs from Manchuria and North China,
one or two new kafirs from southeast Africa, one or two durras from
India, and at least one durra from the Sudan. It is quite probaUe that
in this and other little-known parts of Africa there exist varieties
awaiting our discovery which will prove even more valuable than any
we now possess.

Selections from Domestic Fields. — Here is the most likely source
of material for the breeder. These crops are such recent additions to
American agriculture and so little known to the body of plant im-
provers that some of their most valuable characters or tendencies may
easily have been overlooked. They are naturally so variable that a
field presents numerous opportunities of foimding new strains by
selection from its component forms. In this way the writer has
founded his dwarf or "babv" strains of milo and blackhuU kafir, and
is now fixing similar forms in other varieties. So, too, have been
produced the varieties of durra and milo with erect heads.

Hybridisation. — As we have seen, sorghums cross naturally with
the greatest readiness and have doubtless been originated in their
present forms largely through this agency. Crossing to obtain certain

BREEDING OP GRAIN SORGHUMS. 291

desirable combinations of characters will probably prove one of the
most fruitful fields of endeavor in the line of sorghum breeding,
although a period of several years is likely to be required for fixing
hybrids in forms suitable for profitable use. The writer has a number
of third and fourth-generation hybrids between members of two dif-
ferent groups which are producing fairly uniform plats of desirable
character.

PI.ANS FOR BREEDING.

The widespread need and demand for varieties of immediate
value on the farm is so insistent as to leave little time for any survey
of the broader scientific aspects of grain-sorghum breeding. The
work has therefore been almost wholly confined to the strengthening
of desirable qualities and the elimination of undesirable ones. Along
these lines the work will need to proceed for many years to come.

The essentials of such breeding are to determine the lines of
improvement needed ; to recognize lines of variation in the plant which
parallel this need; and to fix these variations in the improved crop.
The chief desirable qualities or characters to be secured in grain sor-
ghums are productiveness, earliness, dwarf stature, erect peduncles,
exserted heads, seed-holding power, drought resistance, disease re-
sistance, freedom from suckers and branches, absence of hairs and
awns on the glumes, and absence of tannin in the seed coats.

In these breeding experiments the he^id is commonly regarded as
the unit, although, of course, this is not true unless cross pollination
from adjacent stalks of the same variety has been prevented by artificial
means. As many seeds from the selected unit-head as may be desired
are used for planting the breeding plat, which may be any desirable or
convenient unit of area. From this plat are selected the heads from
plants most closely complying with the requirements of the purpose
for which selections are being made. Each head so selected is made
the basis of a new breeding plat in the succeeding season. If strict
inbreeding is to be practiced, the heads to be used must be bagged as
they beg^n to emerge from the sheath, in order to prevent cross pollina-
tion. If cross pollination within the limits of the breeding plat is
desired, it is necessary only to insure that pollination from adjacent
plats does not occur. Selections for earliness should be made at the
time of heading and verified at the time of ripening. Other selections
are made principally at the time of maturity.

292 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

TESTING PROGENY.

The method of measuring breeding results must vary, of course,
with the purpose for which the plant is bred. Other things being
equal, determining the results of selections for earliness is a matter
of dates of planting and ripening. Improvement in productiveness is
shown by yields and in dwarf stature by inches of height. The test
of elimination of branches, suckers, recurved peduncles, and included
heads is a mere matter of counting totals on units of area. Always,
however, this depends on "other things being equal." But other things
never are equal in experimental work. Seasonal variations and soil
variations together utterly prevent such a happy result, by their in-
fluence both on the stand and on the growing crop. Obviously, the
rate of annual improvement cannot be measured except by taking the
average of results secured in a series of years. Properly, a portion
of the selections made in all previous year? should be grown adjacent
to the selections of any g^ven year. In this way a series of plants of
different degrees of improvement would be growing side by side each
year, subject to approximately the same conditions of environment and
affording a fair indication of the annual progress being made. How-
ever, when a large series of breeding experiments is under way and
is being continued through a number of years, it is manifestly im-
possible to duplicate them in this manner each season, even on a very
small scale. Considerations of time, money, and available land or-
dinarily prevent.

SOME PROBLEMS TO BE SOI^VED.

In conclusion, I submit a few questions for the consideration of
investigators and plant breeders.

1. At what distances does cross pollination take place under dif-
ferent conditions, in different sections of the sorghum belt?

2. In what does drought resistance consist?

3. How may inherent drought resistance be determined and
increased where no strongly resistant sports are found?

4. Are sorghums able to produce a ton of dry matter with the
use of fewer tons of water than other grain crops?

5. In what does disease resistance reside, and how is complete
smut resistance of milo to be explained?

6. Is the production of suckers a desirable or an undesirable
character in grain sorghums?

BREEDING COTTON. 293

7. What causes the recurving of the peduncle in some varieties?

8. Is there reasonable hope of successfully growing g^ain sor-
ghums drilled like small grains or millets, and harvested in the same
manner ?

. 9. Do awns and glumal hairs serve any useful purpose which will
be defeated by their elimination?

10. Should selections for earliness be made at the time of head-
ing or at the time of ripening, or both ?

[Presented by Committee on Breeding Cereal Crops.]

BEPOBT OF OaMMITTEE ON BBEEDINO COTTON.

D. N. Shoemaker, Chairman, Wtishington, D, C,

The most disturbing factor in the whole cotton-glowing industry
continues to be the steady advance of the Mexican boll weevil. The
necessity for breeding of earlier types of long-staple upland cottons
.has reached an acute stage, because the region where most of this
cotton is grown has been invaded, and is now infested sufficiently to
make a scarcity of this type of cotton. So far the damage resulting
from the weevil has been greater in this humid region than in the drier
parts of Texas.

This crisis is being met in two ways: First, by the use of Co-
lumbia cotton, a variety originated by Dr. H. J. Webber, by selection
from Russell's Big Boll. Columbia has attained gjeat prominence
in the long-staple region in Mississippi, since it is earlier than the
varieties now grown. Second, by the introduction of a variety with
long-staple which is still earlier. This variety, which has been named
the Foster cotton, is yet in its infancy but it is in great demand.
It is a cross between Sunflower cotton, an old-time long-staple variety,
and Triumph, an early big-boUed, short-staple variety.

The Department of Agriculture is this year making a distribu-
tion of a new variety of cotton for Texas conditions, which has been
called Trook. It is early, large-boiled, very productive, and with a
very high percentage of lint. It is a cross of Triumph on Cook's
Improved, the later variety being an eastern big-boll cotton with a
high lint percentage.

294 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

Mr. O. F. Cook has a strain of Mexican cotton from the state
of Dttrango which showed very favorable results in a number of
plantings in South Texas in 1909. This cotton has lint about 1%
inches long, and is early and productive.

The wilt-resistant varieties distributed by Mr. W. A. Orton for
the eastern cotton r^on are giving excellent satisfaction to those
regions where this disease is a serious factor in cotton production.

Since cotton is an open-fertilized plant the question of the amount
of crossing becomes very important for the breeder. It is a subject
which has been too much neglected in the past. The amount prob-
ably varies with localities, and with seasons, and may be different
with different months of the same year, depending on the variations
in the insect fauna. For this reason experiments should be planned
in many places, and for more than one year.

Two papers are presented this year bearing on this subject, one
on conditions in northern Georgia in 1908, and one for central Texas
of the same year.

These results are not entirely comparable, but both indicate a
considerable amount of crossing. It is planned to have other experi-
ments ready for report at our next meeting.

Editorials

When in 1906 the American Breeders Association created its
Committee on Eugenics the orderly study of eugenics was com-
paratively new, so that no clearly defined plans existed for
?^^^' studying it on a comprehensive scale. That committee has
Kew gradually developed plans and enlisted efficient workers to

fix in the public mind the fact that this is both a proper and
' profitable line of inquiry. To this end attention has been directed to
those larger phases of the subject which are wholesome and normal,
and the eflforts of those interested in eugenics will be to guide the
discussion along the wholesome lines of thought in reljition to the
questions of heredity in the family.

The men who have become leaders in this movement within the
Association are an earnest of the conservatism and care with which

this matter will be treated. Those persons who are con-
Wotk%iB. stantly coming forward with new theories regarding

such mooted questions as the control of sex will find
opportunity to present any facts they may have to those officers and
committeemen who are from time to time in charge of the Association's
activities in relation to eugenics. But that which the Association will
choose to make public along this line will be considered with the
greatest care. Many of the papers with more definitely presented
relations will be published only in the Annual Report. The Magazine
will deal with the more general and popular phases of the subject.
The leaders of this movement request a period of investigation and
that the period of teaching may not be begun too soon. Those per-
sons who are interested and are willing to wait for substantial results
will be happy in their association with the scientists who under the
auspices of the Association courageously enter upon a broad study
of heredity for betterment in man.

296 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE, .

BSEEDINa, BESEABOH, AND EDUCATION.

The improvement of economic plants and animals by breeding is
most closely associated with our institutions of research and education.

Not only is much of the science of heredity and breed-
TPL^i *^ ^"^ wrought out by those institutions, and not only

are the men who do the work of creative breeding
trained in our educational institutions, but our departments of agricul-
ture and agricultural experiment stations foster and direct much of
the actual work of creating new varieties and breeds.

The United States Department of Agriculture is especially active
and helpful in introducing from other countries, and from one State
to another, species, varieties, and breeds which may prove useful in
new locations. Both the United States Department and State experi-
ment stations are developing men trained in the science and experi-
enced in the art of selective breeding and of making hybrid varieties
and breeds. And these workers are gradually assembling and testing
the varieties and breeds which have the most valuable characters
needed to be recombined in varieties and breeds designed best to serve
the needs of each local condition. Our public research and educational
institutions have assumed the responsibility, (1) of developing a science
of breeding, (2) of cooperating with private individuals and institu-
tions in assembling the best obtainable species and varieties needed
for creative breeding, (3) of assisting in the actual work of creative
breeding, (4) of aiding in testing and distributing valuable new breeds,
and (5) in educating men for public and private efforts in creating
improved plants and animals.

The vast bulk of the actual work of variety and breed improve-
ment, whether by simple and expeditious methods of selection, or by
complicated hybridization followed by long-continued selec-
Private ^j^^^^ must be done by private enterprise. While the public
work should and will be rapidly increased it will be some-
what closely confined to research and education, and to cooperating
with private breeders and with semipublic cooperative breeding enter-
prises. There will.be a very' strong temptation to nations. States, and
institutions to assume the more commercial parts of this work. But,
as in case of railway government, where the tendency is for public
supervision of privately owned railways, so the. general trend of
thought in America is for private parties to own the plants and the

EDITORIALS. 297

animals; the public to provide only supervisory and cooperative help.
This plan can not be adhered to rigidly; for to do so would often
place restrictions and limitations which would retard progress. On
the other hand, vocational education promises to prepare farmers to
cooperate much more effectively than now. With the rise of success-
ful cooperation, farmers are more than ever ready to insist on
individualism in the ownership of the family farm, and they would
be loath to turn over to public management and competition such a
branch of farm business as the remunerative and enjoyable business
of breeding and growing pure-bred animals, seeds, and plants.

The estimate stands unchallenged that by breeding the plant and
animal products of the United States can be increased $500,000,000

annually, and the farm products of the world
Bztenslve Beseardi several billions. This would warrant that our

research and educational institutions devote much
effort to develop the science of heredity and to devise improved plans
of breeding, and to train a large class of men to work under public
auspices and privately as breeders of plants and animals. The research
work in the United States Department of Agriculture,, in State experi-
ment stations, and in such institutions as the Carnegie Institute for
Research could appropriately be multipled several fold.

This is also a most fascinating field of research for men with
an income who wish to do a vital service as amateur researchers and
breeders. In many cases these amateur investigators associate them-
selves with some department of agriculture or experiment station, or
with the research laboratory of a university, with mutual advantage.
The association of this practical and fascinating work with the univer-
sity or agricultural college is of vast benefit as a source of information,
inspiration, and help to students who are ready to choose a vocation,
in self directing their life work. It is not likely that the demand for
men trained in research in heredity or in the work of creative breeding,
or in practical breed, seed or plant production will soon be overdone.
There is room and remuneration for trained men, as well as ample
room for men who are able and prefer to establish a private business,
or to do research work at their own expense.

298 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

It would seem that the Federal and State governments are doing
well in carefully building up plans for the employment of limited

sums of public mcmey to develop cooperations — not cor-
2^^^^***'*^® porations — for the general and creative breeding both of

plants and animals. The cow-testing associations, the
ccmimunity ownership of breeding males, circuit associations to develop
centers of the most efficient blood of certain breeds and to create
therefrom more valuable new strains, are all forms of this general
movement Wide-open c^portunities for increasing the values of our
products by all these means are known to exist on every hand. And
the need of public officers charged with the administration of public
funds to build up the science of heredity, to devise improved methods
of breeding, to assemble needed foundation stocks of plants or animals,
to do selective breeding, or to make hybrids and to select from them,
to assimie the leadership in large enterprises which several years ago
seemed over-ambitious, and also to multiply and distribute any result*
ing improved varieties and breeds, is becoming more imperative year
by year. And men of genius and of organizing atulity are learning
that there are large and enticing fields of endeavor in the science and
practice of breeding plants and animals, beyond the dreams of a
decade ago.

c c c

The work of creating improved varieties or breeds is annually
being made plainer and easier. On the other hand, plant and animal

introduction has become a most fruitful branch of
Creation of plant and animal improvement. The introduction into

Breods. ^^^^ region of all forms likely there to be of especial

value, and placing them in such rigorous long-time
tests that their true economic place may be determined, is becoming a
large project. Whenever for this purpose public funds are intelligently
used in cooperation with private growers a great service is rendered.

The farmer of each region should know which varieties of plants
will yield the most per acre on each kind of soil, under each successful
cropping and fertilizer scheme ; and which breed of live stock will help
the crops add the largest profit per acre; and he should also know
which scheme of cropping, and which plans of uniting crops and live
stock in systems of farm management, will give the largest net returns
per acre and per worker. And an abundance of products is necessary,

EDITORIALS. 299

not only to make profits for the farmers, but also to supply cheap raw
products for the food and clothing of non-farmers.

When each region has secured many of the plant varieties and
animal breeds for production in that region, highly trained and skilled
men should be privately and publicly employed in creating from them
new varieties and breeds of still higher power to aid in producing
large net values per acre and per farm worker. These men will need
not only the best and most practical standard varieties and breeds as
bases for their work, but they need also any others which may have use-
ful unit characters, which may be recombined by hybridizing with the
best qualities of the standard varieties and breeds. Thus standard
varieties which may lack in some essential point by hybrid or cross
breeding, followed by most rigorous selection, may be made into still
better kinds of plants or animals.

Creative breeders should have the organized, cooperative assist-
ance of growers of pedigreed plants and animals. Plans are needed
for wide cooperation between the Nation, States, associations, co-
operative breeding organizations, firms, and private individuals. In
no other field of agricultural expenditure will a dollar make so much
profit as in general cooperation in scientific breeding, to create new
varieties and breeds. Once a new value is created by breeding,
further expenditure is avoided ; while in the case of fertilizers, deeper
plowing, more frequent cultivation, though these are profitable, the
expense recurs annually.

c c c

Clonal varieties of species of plants are propagated vegetatively.
The new variety is based on a single seed producing a single plant —

as the apple, by grafts and buds ; the potato, by tubers ; and
Vari«UA8. ^^^ Strawberry, by runners. The variety is, so far as heredity

is concerned, made up of vegetative parts of the one clonal
parent plant. The variety is the asexual progeny of a single seedling
plant. "Clonal" breeding is therefore simply the search for the re-
markable seedling mother plant, not remarkable for her power to pro-
ject efficiency through sexual' breeding, but of remarkable varietal value
when cut up into many plants, valuable for her asexual progeny. Public
breeding stations, nursery firms, seed firms, and private individuals,
working separately or collectively, are thus creating many varieties.
More public funds with which to bring about better organization of

300 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

cooperation would enable the public to induce more private efforts.
Two controlling factors are the employment of immense numbers, and
intelligent tests to assure finding the one desired mutation in many
plants, often in many thousands of plants. And since the new variety
very soon becomes public property, the use of public money is more
than justified in choosing the necessary tens and hundreds of thousands
of seeds; in growing a plant from each seed; in choosing the most
promising plants; in growing and testing a clonal centgener plot of the
progeny of each of these best individuals, thus to determine which pro-
duces the best variety ; and, finally, in disseminating those very few
clonal stocks which represent the largest varietal values.

c c c

In creating self-pollinated varieties the new variety is based on a
single seed, in this case producing a single many-seeded mother plant,

each seed the result of pollination by the same
Si'C-ptSiSS ^°'-^*- There is nearly as little breaking up from
Varieties. seminal variation as in clonial varieties ; there is no

adulteration by the admixture of pollen from other
plants ; and therefore the progeny of the one mother plant are all very
much alike. Here again the work consists in finding the remarkable
mother. But in this case the value must be transmitted through its
seeds. The mother plant must possess the power of projecting high
yields and values per acre through the generations of her progeny. She
does not need to be prepotent, because no new blood is introduced. And
the experience of many breeders has proven that only one of these
highly efficient self-pollinated mothers is found in thousands or tens
of thousands of plants.

The breeder of wheat, for example, passes through the field of
wheat, and by picking one choice head out of a thousand he makes
his first selection. These are weighed and the 10 per cent of the lot
which have seeds of good quality and weigh heaviest are retained.
These choicest heads are so planted that a short drill or hill row is
grown from each head. When the crop is ripe the breeder throws
out half or more of the rows, retaining only those which appear to
be heavy yielders. Seed is separately saved from each stock, that the
blood of each mother may be separately tested. The third year a longer
drill row, a hill row, or a hill plat of a specific size is grown of the
grandchildren of each mother plant, and the quantity and quality of

EDITORIALS, IJOl

eath of these newly born varieties is determined. Some which are
poor in yield or quality are discarded. Chemical and flour-making
tests are also made. In the fourth year the great grandchildren are
grown in similar plats, and in the fifth year great-great grandchildren
are grown in plats. Any varieties which come through all these tests
with a high score are taken the sixth, seventh, and eighth years into
field-test plats. The one or more very best varieties are now subjected
to more rigorous tests in the mill and are subjected to field trials on
experiment grounds in many sections of the country. In outcome
the first trial of this kind was significant. The expenditure of $10,000
resulted in a new variety which has already covered 5 million acres of
wheat land with a crop of 2 bushels per acre larger than the mother
variety which it is displacing, and is extending to other areas and
other coimtries.

If the expenditure had been $100,000 the result might have been
a variety which would add 6 bushels per acre to our ridiculously low
wheat yields. Expenditures which, as straight business propositions,
return more than a million for a thousand can not be urged too
enthusiastically. It costs relatively little to discover and conserve
billions of dollars worth of heredity in our plant and animal forces.

In creating new varieties of open-pollinated plants we have yet
another condition. Here the new variety can not be made from a
single mother plant. The mutating plant can not simply project its
efficiency in yield, quality, hardiness, etc., without interference. The
pollen of another plant must be used in those plants which are accus-
tomed to open pollination, and the mutating mother plant must project
her unusual qualities forward through the progeny in spite of the other
blood. She must be dominant in the vital characters, and the breeder
must select the individual progeny in which desired dominants exist.
Individually the word prepotency expresses the idea. But collectively
we can not express the matter so simply. There must be dominance
and the dominants must be segregated by selection, thus to secure as
nearly as may be the recombination of peculiar and mutating values
from the one or more remarkable mother plants in which arose the
newly created values.

In the classic statement made to the American Breeders Associa-
tion in 1907 by Prof. C. L. Williams, of Ohio, on breeding corn,
methods are clearly portrayed for discovering what are and what are
not mutating mother plants, and for discarding the blood of all mother

302 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE.

plants except that which makes good in the cross-pollinating netwdrk
of descent which we call the new variety. These statements are not
exactly easy reading, but once understood are as clear as mathematical
processes, and they are eminently practical. And that Professor
Williams and his associates are working out the faith that is in them
is shown by the fact that they have organized a corn breeders' associa-
tion in nearly every county of Ohio, with thousands of breeders pro-
ducing pedigreed corn according to the Williams plan. They are
striving to add 10 bushels of corn to the yield per acre in the State.
That additional yield on Ohio's 4,000,000 acres would be worth
$20,000,000 annually. No matter if it is difficult, and not a simple
one-man matter, as in the breeding of the clonal varieties of apples,
or in breeding self-pollinated varieties of wheat. As a matter of fact,
the bond of union among several thousand corn breeders, the general
experience and pleasure these men get out of the work, and the train-
ing in doing something well are worth the cost. Practically speaking,
the $20,000,000 of added annual value of corn crop when it comes will
be all real gain. The day has passed when plant breeders were scoffed
at for assuming to talk in big figures when recounting the achieve-
ments and possibilities of this most creative of all work. Scientific
breeding is a rapidly growing force in the production of food and
clothing.

c c c

Comprehensive and effective creative work in animal breeding
can not be done very rapidly nor with small expenditure. Here, as

in corn and other open-pollinated plants, the blood
Creating and ^f ^j^^ mutating animal can successfully be used as

ot^A^^ai ^^ ^^^ h2Lsis of a new breed only by a more or less

complex route. Often inbreeding is resorted to with
advantage, greatly lessening the amount of selection necessary to get
the desired dominant characters segregated out into a network of
descent which will project forward the desired result. Williams's corn
breeding formulary contains basic philosophy which is applicable to
creating new breeds and strains in live stock as well as in open-
pollinated plants. And this is the very philosophy followed by such
men as Cruikshank in creating Cruikshank Shorthorn cattle. Gentry
in creating Gentry Berkshire swine, and many other breeders in

EDITORIALS, 303

creating new families and breeds. It was left to the genius of Williams
to write this philosophy in the language of science.

C C <L

The mutation theory of De Vrics grows in practical importance
with each passing year. Our problem in simple selection in producing

clonal and self-pollinated varieties of plants consists

Mntatlon Tlieory -^^ reducing to a fine art the seeking out of mutations

Most Valuable , . . , - . .,. , «

in Breeding ^ ^^ carrymg them forward till they have proven

their peculiar economic worth over the very many
others which must also be segregated and tried, that the best may have
shown its superiority. When the selection is preceded by hybridizing
we make added progress over simple selection in two ways. By re-
combining we can secure in one variety some choice of the most
desirable of the qualities previously existing separately in two or
more varieties. This selection can be more or less formal. By seeking
for mutations incited under the conditions of the newly hybridized
blood, there is range for the discovery of even more pronounced
mutations than may be found under either parent variety or breed.
Mutations are of all degrees of excellence. Only the occasional mu-
tated character is along desired lines. The natural combination of
a sufficient number of mutations in a given plant or animal to give
all-round development is rare. Often many trials are necessary to
recombine a mutated quality so as to combine it into an otherwise
excellent network of descent. But we have only begun to develop
the science, the technique, and the art of working up and segregating
those networks of descent which yield the largest returns in quantity,
quality, form, color, action, and even in mentality.

News and Notes

At Cold Spring Harbor the Eugenics Record Oflice was opened
October 1, 1910. This office is under the general direction of Dr. C.

B. Davenport, secretary of the section, and under the imme-
?^J^^ diate superintendence of Professor H. H. Laughlin. An

oflSce for correspondence has been fitted up and a fireproof
vault, 14 by 18 feet, is being constructed. At present the Record
Office maintains six workers in the field studying the pedigrees of
families either in connection with or independent of institutions for
defectives. These are Miss Danielson, Miss Saidee C. Devitt, Mrs.
Dranga-Graebe, Miss A. B. Eaton, Dr. A. H. Estabrook, and Miss
Helen Reeves. The data obtained by these field workers and, through
the courtesy of the directors of the institutions at Vineland (Professor
E. R. Johnstone) and at Skillman (Dr. David F. Weeks), New Jersey,
by other field workers not supported by the Record Office are sent
to that office to form part of a universal heredity record that will be
of value for the study of defects and their transmission through
successive generations.

The aid of the Record Office is also sought by institutions which
wish to secure field workers. It has already supplied one institution,
and part of its function is to train field workers to meet the demand.
It is anticipated that, in the near future, all of the larger institutions
for defectives will regard it as part of their work to maintain a field
worker who shall study family histories at the homes of the patients.

Members of the committees of the Eugenics Section, together
with invited friends, met at the New Jersey State Village of Epileptics

at Skillman, N. J., on Friday, October 14, 1910, at

Meeting of the ^j^g invitation of the superintendent, Dr. David F.
Eiiflrenics Section, itt ; , n <• « <• i

Weeks, and upon call of the secretary of the section.

The purpose of the meeting was to give the field workers of the

Eugenics Record Office and those employed by the other institutions

an opportunity to get together with those who are directing the field

NBWS AND NOTES. 305

studies and to compare notes over common difficulties and methods.
Actually the meeting had a far wider scope, both because well-known
alienists, physicians, psychologists and heads of institutions from
difFerfent parts of the United States were present and because several
scientific papers of importance were read. Since Dr. David Starr
Jordan, chairman of the section, who had just arrived in New Ypric
from Europe, could not be present, there was chosen as chairman of
the meeting Mr. Bleecker van Wagenen, a layman well known for his
devotion to the work of public institutions in New Jersey. Professor

E. R. Johnstone, superintendent of the Training School at Vineland,
was chosen secretary. Among the others present were Dr. George B.
Wright, New Jersey Commissioner of Charities and Correction,
Trenton; Dr. Henry A. Cotton, superintendent of the New Jersey
State Hospital at Trenton ; Dr. Everett Flood, superintendent, Monson
State Hospital for Epileptics, Pahner, Mass.; Dr. William T. Shana-
han, superintendent, Craig Colony for Epileptics, Sonyea, N. Y.;
Surgeon George Stoner, U. S. N., in charge of the immigrant inspec-
tion service at Ellis Island; Dr. H. H. Goddard of Vineland, N. J.,
secretary of the A. B. A. Committee on Feeble-Minded ; Dr. A. J.
RosanofF, Kings Park, N. Y., Hospital for the Insane; Dr. Madeleine
A. Hollowell, superintendent. Institution for Feeble-Minded Women,
at Vineland; Dr. P. F. Lange, Institution for Feeble-Minded, Glen-
wood, Iowa ; Ada E. Sheffield, Massachusetts State Board of Charities ;
Dr. H. G. Schlapp, New York City ; F. S. Hammond, State Hospital,
Trenton ; Mrs. Elizabeth V. H. Mansell, N. F. Dullard, C. Cromwell
of the State Home for Girls, Trenton; Benjamin H. Crosby, New
Jersey Reformatory, Rahway; Professor H. H. Laughlin, superin-
tendent of the Eugenics Record Office, Cold Spring Harbor, and
Helen T. Reeves and Saidee C. Devitt of the same office; Mrs.
Caroline B. Alexander, Bernardsville, N. J. ; Catherine F. Bell, Helen

F. Hill, Elizabeth Kite, Maude W. Moore, Jane Griffiths of Vineland,
N. J., and William H. Schultz, Dr. H. E. Diers,-Dr. W. C. Smith, Dr.
C. A. Mallon, Prof. J. E. W. Wallin, and Mrs. Woodward of the
New Jersey State Village.

After invocation and address of welcome by Dr. George B. Wight,
introduced by Dr. Weeks, the following program was carried out :

(1) Demonstration of the Binet-Simon test for mental grading,
by Dr. H. H. Goddard and assistant. This demonstrated the value

306 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

of this test for determining whether, to what extent, and in what
way a person is below (or above) the normal for his age.

(2) Inheritance of Insanity; abstract of a paper by Gertrude L.
Cannon and Dr. A. J. RosanofF, given by Dr. RosanofF. This showed
that (excluding certain types) two insane parents will have only
insane offspring and that normal parents, both of whom belong to
insane strains, will, in the long run, have one-quarter of their off-
spring defective.

(3) Inheritance of Epilepsy, by Drs. David F. Weeks and C. B.
Davenport, based on studies made on the ancestry of epileptic patients
at Skillman, and showing that epilepsy rarely, if ever, arises in families
without trace of the defect even if the parents are normal. In most
cases, if not all, a mental weakness may be discovered on both sides.

(4) Inheritance of Feeble-Mindedness, by Professor E. R. John-
stone and Dr. H. H. Goddard, of the Vineland School. This was a
report on studies made at their institution into the ancestry of the
feeble-minded. These studies have been carried on for nearly two
years, and in one case a pedigree comprising more than 600 individuals
has been obtained, the parents of a large proportion of whom — nearly
one-half — are defective. There is good reason to suppose that this
collection is not an exceptional case, and needs no comment, even as
an economic proposition, as to why defectives should have at least
custod,ial care for life and be restrained from passing on their condi-
tion, whether mental, moral, or physical.

Through the courtesy of Dr. Weeks an opportunity was offered
to study the workings of the New Jersey Village for Epileptics, which
is considered a model institution of its kind. Special tours of investi-
gation were arranged and conducted personally by Doctor Weeks,
entirely covering the 800-acre plant. One of the most enjoyable
features was the concert furnished by the school band, which is the
only one in the world entirely composed of epileptics, and which,
although it has only been in existence for seven months, rendered a
program requiring accurate knowledge and careful training.

On Friday evening a session was held for the purpose of arriving
at standards for field workers. A system of nomenclature was adopted,
which will be reported on separately. This was followed by a state-
ment of experiences from field workers. The meeting lasted until
late and was followed by an informal gathering at the "Bungalow," so

NBWS AND NOTES. 307

that it was early morning before the company broke up at the
dormitory.

C. B. DavKnport, Secretary.

D

The Fourth International Genetic Conference will be held in
Paris, September 18 to 23, 1911, and it is to be hoped that America

will show its interest in this world's question by
Tli« Fonrtb being represented in large numbers outside

Gkmetic conference. ^* *^ ^^"^'^^ representation of the American

Breeders Association. Mr. Philip L. de Vilmorin
in a letter of recent date writes regarding this :

The date of the next conference was first to be in May or June of next
year. But when many "genetists" met in Cambridge last year for the Darwin
celebration, the question was again discussed and we agreed upon the end of
September to suit our American friends, because, of course, those interested
in genetics, and especially in plant breeding, cannot easily leave America before
August and must be back in October.

I know how much interest the American scientists and breeders have taken
in genetics and in the practical points of MendeFs law. The breeding of plants,
cattle, poultry, dogs, and all kinds of animals has profited by the recent discus-
sion, made for a good part by Americans, and I hope that you will point out
the facts to all the members of the American Breeders Association and induce
them to come to our meeting, where they will meet prominent men from all
over the world and where the scientists will gather to discuss the profound
riddles of heredity, and where the practical breeders may find a h'ght to help
them in their work.

if D

Mr. Wm. P. Rich, secretary of the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, and Mr. A. W. Latham, secretary of the Minnesota Horticul-
tural Society, have very kindly loaned the half-tones
of the portraits respectively of Mr. E. W. Bull and
Mr. P^ter M. Gideon, appearing in this issue of the American Breeders
Magazine. The portrait of Prof. J. L. Budd was prepared from a
photograph kindly loaned by the family. The editors are greatly in-
debted to the above named for their cooperation.

308 • AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE,

C. E. Meyers, of the Pennsylvania Experiment Station, secured
a package of Jersey Wakefield cabbage seed from each of twenty-five
seed firms and grew these strains in plot comparisons for
Ifeed of t^Q years. He found "great difference in earliness, yields,
TMta form, and solidity of heads," and "the percentage of germi-
nation in some strains was much too low." A study of the
tabulated results indicates that this form of variety testing should be
widely adopted at public expense as a means of greatly increasing
production.

The constant introduction of new varieties and the development
of many sub-varieties or strains makes the testing of varieties at
public expense practically a necessity. The cost of testing through
the cooperation of State and branch experiment stations with growers
is relatively small, and the cost represents only a very small fraction
of the loss which may come from planting varieties and strains which
will habitually yield smaller values than would the best varieties
available.

Cooperation between the State and the growers at once makes
the growers' business more profitable and reduces the cost of food
to those who must purchase the products of the farm.

e

The American Gladiolus Society was recently organized, with
a membership of 137, and held its ipeeting as a section of the American

Florists, which convened at Rochester, N. Y. The
A New Body Qfgcers of the society are : President, Isaac S. Hen-

drickson, Floral Park, N. Y. ; vice president, E. H. Cush-
man, Sylvania, Ohio ; corresponding secretary, L. Merton Gage, Orange,
Mass.; financial secretary, H. Youell, Syracuse, N. Y. ; treasurer,
Maurice Fuld, Boston, Mass.; executive committee, Arthur Kirby,
35 Cortland St., New York City; Arthur T. Boddington, 342 West
14th St., New York City ; J. K. Alexander, East Bridgewater, Mass. ;
nomenclature committee, Arthur Cowee, Berlin, N. Y. ; Prof. L. B.
Hudson, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Leonard Joerg, St. James,
Long Island, N. Y.

NEWS AND NOTES, 309

The botanical department of the New Jersey Agricultural College
Experiment Station at Brunswick, N. J., is doing considerable work

in the study of vegetable breeding. A recent report
Vegetable Breeding ^f gg p^g^g published by Dr. Byron D. Halsted,

chief of the botanical department, is devoted to a
record of breeding work and variations in wild plants. The text is
abundantly illustrated. The report contains the details of work and
results of crosses in corn, squashes, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, beans,
and ornamental plants. In the introduction, the report states that
"the desire of originating new sorts of vegetables and fruits is being
replaced by a study of breeding, out of which the novelties will come
as a by-product of the investigations."

O d D
• • • •

Becent Publications and Articles.

The Value of First-Generation Hybrids in Corn, by G. N. Collins, Bureau
of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 191, 45 pages.

Production of a New Form in Wheat, by E. G. Montgomery, Twenty-third
Annual Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Nebraska.

Plant Breeding Studies in Peas, by F. A. Wangh and J. K Shaw, Twenty-
second Annual Report of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station,
Part I.

Variation in Apples, by J. K Shaw, Twenty-third Annual Report of the
Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, Part I.

The Selective Elimination of Organs, by J. Arthur Harris, Cold Spring
Harbor, N. Y., Science, October 14, 1910.

Information Concerning the Colorado Carriage Horse Breeding Station,
by John O. Williams, Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Self Sterility of the Scuppernong and other Muscadine Grapes, by F. C.
Reimer and h. R. Detjen, Bulletin 209, North Carolina Agricultural Experiment
Station.

Publications Beceiyed.

Germinal Analysis through Hybridization. George Harrison Shull. Re-
printed from Proceedings of American Philosophical Society, Vol. XLIX, No.
196, 1910.

Landwirtschaftliche Studien in Nord Amerika mit besonderer Beruecksich-
tigung der Pflanzenzuechtung. Prof. Dr. K. v. Ruemker and Prof. Dr. E. v.
Tschermak.

Ueber Bedeutung und Methoden der Saatgutzucht. Prof. Dr. K. v.
Ruemker, Breslau.

Stand der Deutschen Pflanzenzucht Reprint from Arbeit der Deutschen
Landwirtschafts Gesellschaft. Prof. Dr. K v. Ruemker.

Native Tropical Fruits. H. A. van Hermann. Santiago De Las Vegas,
Cuba.

The Council of the American Breeders Association has decided
to hold the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Association at Columbus,

Ohio, February 1, 2, and 3. The meetings will be
The SeventH Annual jj^ ^ ^oom provided by the National Corn Exposition

Oolu^^ Ohio ^^ ^^^ ^'^^^ State F^ir Grounds. In addition to the

three days' meeting, the Association will take a
prominent part in the educational work of the National Corn Exposi-
tion. Under the auspices of the Association talks on breeding illus-
trated by lantern slides and moving pictures will be given in one of
the lecture halls. The effort will be made at this meeting to materially
enlarge the membership of the Association among plant breeders and
breeders of live stock. The National Corn Exposition promises to be
a most pronounced success ; it has been giv^i the use of seven magnifi-
cent show buildings on the State Fair Grounds by the State Board
of Agriculture.

A strong program for the three days' meeting of the American
Breeders Association is being prepared, and it is expected that this
will be a large meeting with a splendid lot of committee reports,
addresses, and discussions, and papers will be sent in by those who
cannot attend. The Secretary earnestly requests members to write
to him or to conmiittee chairmen at their earliest convenience suggest-
ing titles of papers they wish to present. Suggestions also of papers
which might be secured from non-members, as well as members not
on committees, will be welcomed.

The Association has now reached a time when an enlarged mem-
bership is an absolute necessity. The American Breeders Magazine
makes both possible and necessary a membership of several thousand.
The Association has won a very strong place in the minds of the
technicians, but they are too few in number to support it ; the support
must come from the active and practical breeders. The National Com
Exposition has kindly set apart Wednesday, February 1, as American
Breeders Association Day, and is doing much to give the Association
great prominence. Secretary Wilson has been requested to give an

ASSOCIATION MATTERS. 311

address in the afternoon in the great exposition auditorium. Other
brief addresses will be made. Reduced rates on all railroads are
expected. The National Corn Exposition is annually expanding and
gives promise of developing into a great national country-life society
as well as an institution to conduct an annual exhibition. Its two
weeksV educational conference will discuss the organization of agricul-
ture in a broad way.

Following, is given, in somewhat condensed form, the program
of the three days' meeting. There still remain some days before the

printing of the program in its final form, and it is

Anmial Meetinff ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ members who have prepared

papers or addresses to be presented at that meeting
to send in titles and request a place on the program. Mail communica-
tions to the secretaries of the respective sections or to the office of
the Secretary at Washington, D. C.

Wednesday, Forenoon, February 1, 10 to 12.30.

Opening Session. American Breeders Association Day. Meeting held in
Exposition Auditorium. Hon. William George presiding.
Report of the Secretary. Hon. W. M. Hays.
Report of the Treasurer. Hon. N. H. Gentry.

Report of the Committee on Finance. Hon. William George, Chairman.
Appointment of Committees.

Report of Committee on Breeding Cotton. Mr. T. H. Kearney, Washington,
D. C, Chairman.
Breeding for Disease Resistance in Cotton. Prof. Samuel M. Bain,
Knoxville, Term.
Report of Committee on Nomenclature and Registration.
Report of Committee on Prize Competitions.
ILLUSTRATED Tai«ks. In Special Lecture Room. Separate program.

Wednesday Afternoon, February 1, 2 to 5.

GENERAt -Session. In Government Building. Dr. C. B. Davenport presiding.
•Report of Committee on B ree d ing Corn. J. Dwight Funk, Chairman.
Plot Testing Stations as Judges of Varieties of Corn. Mr. G. N. Collins,
Washington, D, C.
Report of Committee on Pedagogics of Breeding. Dean Eugene Davenport,
Urbana, 111., Chairman.
Sectionai* Business Meetings, 4.20 to 5.
Illustrated Talks. In Special Lecture Room. Separate program.

312 AMERICAN BREEDERS MAGAZINE,

Wednesday Evening, February 1, 8 to 10.

General Session. President David Starr Jordan presiding.
Address of the Chairman of the Section, 8 to 8.20.
Address: Heredity of Defective Children. Dr. H. H. Goddard, Vineland,

N. J., 8.20 to 9.
Report of Committee on Theoretical Research in Heredity. Dr. H. J.

Webber, Ithaca, N. Y., Chairman.
Address: Principles of Heredity. (Illustrated.) Dr. Charles B. Davenport,

Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y., 9 to 9.50.

Thursday Forenoon, February 2, 10 to 12.30.

General Session. Government Building. Hon. William George presiding.

New Business.
Plant Section. Separate Meeting. Dr. H. J. Webber presiding.

Report of Committee on Breeding Nut and Forest Trees. Prof. George
B. Sudworth, Washington, D. C, Chairman.
Possibilities of Breeding the Smaller Nuts. Prof. Geo. L. Clothier.
The Possibilities of Breeding Certain /Texas Species of Trees for Planting

in Warmer Semi-arid Regions. Prof. Wm. L. Bray.
The Influence of Age and Conditions of Trees upon Seed Production

in Western Yellow Pine. Mr. G. A. Pearson.
Production and Development of Varieties. Mr. C. R. Keeny, Leroy, N. Y.
Report of Committee on Breeding Cereals. C. A. Zavitz, Guelph, Ontario,
chairman.
Morphological Variation in Pure Lines of Vulgare Wheats. Herbert F.
Roberts, Manhattan, Kansas.
Report of Committee on Breeding Forage Crops. Dean Thomas F. Hunt,

State College, Pa.
Report of Committee on Breeding Tree and Vine Fruits. Prof. S. A.

Beach, Ames, la., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Tea, Coffee, and Tropical Fruits. Dr.
O. F. Cook, Washington, D. C.

Thursday Afternoon, February 2, 2 to 5.

Plant Section. Government Building. Dr. H. J. Webber presiding.

Report of Committee on Breeding Tobacco. Prof. A. D. Selby, Wooster,
Ohio, Chairman.
Results of Breeding Hybrid Filler Tobaccos in Ohio, 1903-*10. Prof. A.

D. Selby and True Houser, Wooster, Ohio.
Comparison of Yields of First Generation Tobacco Hybrids with those

of Parent Plants. True Houser, Wooster, Ohio.
A Machine for Cigar Testing. Mr. L. J. Briggs, Washington, D. C.
What Seed Selection and Breeding have done for Tobacco in Connecticut
Mr. Herbert K. Hayes, Storrs, Conn.
Report of Committee on Breeding Vegetables. Mr. W. W. Tracy, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.

ASSOCIATION MATTERS. 313

Report of Committee on Breeding Sugar Crops. Mr. W. A. Orton, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.

Report of Committee on Breeding Cereal Crops. Prof. C. A. Zavitz, Guelph,
Canada, Chairman.
Morphological Variation in Pure Lines of V^lgare Wheats. Prof. H. F.
Roberts, Columbia, Missouri.

Report of Committee on Breeding Roses. Dr. W. VanFleet, Washington,
D. C, Chairman.

Report of Committee on Pedigreed Seed and Plant Business. Eugene
Funk, Shirley, 111., Chairman.
Plant Breeding for Women. Mr. E. E. Risien, Rescue, Texas.

Report of Committee on Fiber Crops. Dean J. H. Shepperd, Fargo, N. D.,
Chairman.
Fibers and Fiber Plants of the Philippine Islands. Prof. M. M. Saleeby,
Manila, P. I.
Eugenics Section. Place of Meeting : Institution for Feeble-Minded, Columbus.

Report of Committee on Heredity of Insanity. Prof. Adolph Meyer, Balti-
more, Md., Chairman.
Heredity in Recurrent Forms of Insanity. Dr. E. E. Southard, Boston,
Mass.

Report of Committee on Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness. Dr. A. C. Rogers,
Faribault, Minn., Chairman.

Report of Committee on Heredity of Epilepsy. Dr. N. W. Bullard,
Chairtnan.
A First Study of Inheritance of Epilepsy. Drs. David F. Weaks * and
C. B. Davenport.

Report of Committee on Heredity of Deafmutism. Dr. Alexander Graham
Bell, Washington, D. C, Chairman.

Report of Committee on Heredity of Criminality. Prof. Chas. R. Hender-
son, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111., Chairman.

Report on Operations of the Eugenics Record Office. H. H. Laughlin.

Conference on Methods of Field Work.

Thursday Evening, February 2, 8 to 10.

Animai, Section. Meeting in Government Building. Dean C. F. Curtiss
presiding.
Report of Committee on Breeding for Meat Production.
Report of Committee on Breeding Wild Animals. Mr. D. E. Lantz, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.
Domestication and Acclimatization of Wild Animals in the United States.
Mr. D. E. Lantz.
Report of Committee on Breeding Draft Horses. Prof. W. B. Richards,

Agricultural College, N. D., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Horse Hybrids. Dean F. B. Mumford,

Columbia, Mo., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Carriage Horses. Prof. Geo. M. Rom-
mel, Washington, D. C, Chairman.
Ii,i,usTRATED Talks. In Special Lecture Room. Separate program.

814 AMERICAN BRBBDBRS MAGAZINE.

Friday Forenoon, February 3, 10 to 12.30.

General Session. Government Building. Hon. William George presiding.
Reports of special committees.
Election of officers.
Animal Section. Dean Charles F. Curtiss presiding.

Report of Committee on Theory of Heredity. Prof. W. J. Spillman, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.
Mendelian Inheritance of Unit Complexes. H. H. Laughlin, Cold Spring

Harbor, New York.
Mendelian Inheritance in Sheep. Mr. T. R. Arkell, Durham, N. H.
Influence of Age im Jersey Sires. Prof. E. N. Wentworth, Ames, Iowa.
Report of Committee on Breeding Fur Animals. Dr. Vernon Bailey, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.
Control of the Beaver under favorable conditions for the production of

Fur. Vernon Bailey, Washington, D. C.
An Experiment in Fur Seal Conservation. B. W. Evermann, Washing-
ton, D. C.
The Blue Fox Industry on St. Paul and Otter Islands, Alaska. James
Judge, Washington, D. C.
Report of Committee on Breeding Fish. Prof. B. W. Everman, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Bees and Other Insects. Dr. L. O.

Howard, Washington, D. C, Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Wild Birds. Dr. T. S. Palmer, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.
Report of Committee on Cooperative Work in Animal Breeding. Hon.

W. M. Hays, Washington, D. C, Chairman.
Report of Committee on Animal Hybrids. Prof. W. J. Spillman, Wash-
ington, D. C, Chairman.
Illustrated Talks. In Special Lecture Room. Separate program.

Friday Afternoon, February 3.

Animal Section. Government Building. Dean Charles F. Curtiss presiding.
Report of Committee on Importation of Pedigreed Animals. Mr. E. B

White, Leesburg, Va., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Exportation of Pedigreed Animals. Prof. H. W.

Mumford, Urbana, 111., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Establishing Types and Standardizing Judging at

Livestock Shows. Col. R. B. Ogilvie, Union Stockyards, Chicago, 111.,

Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Swine. Prof. D. A. Gaumnitz, St. Paul,

Minn., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding Sheep and Goats. Prof. W. C. Coffey,

Urbana, 111., Chairman.
Report of Committee on Breeding for Dairy Production. Mr. B. H. Rawl,

Washington, D. C, Chairman.

ASSOCIATION MATTERS, 315

Report of Committee on Breeding Poultry. Prof. James E. Rice, Ithaca,
N. Y., Chairman.
Inheritance of Gold and Silver Lacing in Hens. Dr. C. B. Davenport,

Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y.
Some Character Correlations indicating Prolificacy in the Domestic Fowl.
Prof. James E. Rice, Ithaca, N. Y.
Report of Committee on Plant and Animal Introduction. Mr. David G.
Fairchild, Washington, D. C, Chairman.
Illustrated Talks. In Special Lecture Room. Separate program.

There is a peculiar value in a birthday, Christmas or New Year
gift consisting of a membership in the American Breeders Association.

If you have a friend whom you wish to thus

B. A. Mem © P honor and please, send in his nomination accom-
an Acceptable Oif t, . , , ^ , , .

panied by membership dues.

By no gift can you pay a more delicate compliment to the intelli-
gence and mental worth of the recipient than by presenting a
membership in this large association with its cosmopolitan member-
ship composed of persons of note as scientists, breeders, and originators
of plant and animal forms, and students of genetic problems pro-
foundly affecting economics and society.

Then, there is the Magazine and the Annual Report which go
with the membership.

The giving of magazines as gifts is a common, commendable and
friendly practice, always timely and always acceptable. The American
Breeders Magazine lends itself splendidly to this purpose. It possesses
dignity and substance. It exists not merely to amuse or entertain, but
it has an aim and purpose and places each of its readers in touch
with workers and thinkers who are taking a part in the world's work.

The Annual Report possesses more than book value. Between
its covers it holds a summation of what is probably the latest and
best information relating to heredity.

What Others Say.

You may count on me to do all that I can to promote the growth of the
Association.

E. P. Bennett,
Horticulturist Colo. Agricultural Bxpt. Station.

316 AMERICAN BRHHDBRS MAGAZINE.

Have enjoyed the Magazine very much and think there is a great deal in
it that would be of interest to anyone.

J. C. Robinson,
The /. C Robinson Seed Co,, Wholesale Growers,

Waterloo, Neb.

I have examined with a great deal of interest the two numbers of the
Magazine and I want to say that I consider the contents as being mosrt valu-
able. While some of the contributions are altogether too technical for the
average layman, still I can see a great future for your magazine as a great
educational medium for those who are trying to popularize what you might
call "Farm Science." We will never get very far unless those who are engaged
in this work have their own scientific knowledge grounded upon a rock foun-
dation. I think your magazine will have a very pronounced effect in making
what you might call "orthodox scientists."

You have undertaken a most difficult task in the standard you have made
for the American Breeders Magazine, and I again congratulate you on the
splendid start you have made.

James Atkinson,
Editor, The Iowa Homestead.

I wish to express my appreciation of the new move of the American
Breeders Association in the publishing of the American Breeders Magazine
which impresses me as a most excellent thing.

C. S. Plumb,
Professor of Animal Husbandry,
College of Agriculture, Ohio State University.

]

I wish to make a study of the great material which the Association is
putting out

H. W. COLUNGWOOD,

Editor, The Rural New-Yorker.

U.C. BERKELfY UBRAniES

CQEsaEsias

I

■■■••-1 ,,:,-sf.