Publications of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Maine Agricultural Station

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 Excerpt: ...of plant breeding, embryological conditions are of importance. In recent times the student of plant breeding thinks that he has a key to the laws of plant variation in the so-called " Mendel"s Law," and there are many facts which tend to strengthen that belief, but a discussion of that subject is not intended at this time. Beginning Of Systematic Breeding Of Fruits. One of the most significant facts in nature is that every species of plant which man has cultivated for any length of time has numerous forms, varieties, or strains. The practical horticulturist selects that form or strain which is best for certain purposes or for certain conditions. The plant breeder asks why or how these forms came about and how they can be improved. It is worthy of note, however, that until about a century ago the principal studies of plant life were made from wild forms rather than from domesticated species. THE WORK OE VAN MONS. The man who first propounded a theory of the philosophy of the origin of varieties of cultivated plants, was Jean Baptiste Van Mons, who was born in Brussels, in 1765, and died in 1842. Van Mons was by profession a chemist, and horticulture was his avocation. His theory applied particularly to fruit trees, but he held that the principles he set forth are of general application in the vegetable kingdom. Van Mons" theory may be briefly epitomized as follows: All fine fruits are artificial products. There is always a tendency in all varieties of fruit trees to return, by their seeds, towards a wild state. This tendency is most strongly shown in the seeds borne by old fruit trees. On the other hand, the seeds of a young fruit tree of a good sort, being itself in a state of amelioration, have the least tendency to retrograde, and are most likel... Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Publications of the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station (Maine Agricultural Station)