of work to find two compatible varieties that will result in a new high quality variety. When two varieties are crossed together with a desirable result, the resulting hybrid will display what is called hybrid vigor. This means that the offspring, known as an F1 or first filial, will display stronger growth and yield patterns than either of the parent varieties. Because this is the first generation and all the offspring share equal amounts of DNA from both parents, they will be uniform in growth and yield. This is an important selling point for commercially produced seed. The problem arises in the second generation, known as the F2 stage. Now the genes of the plants start to get mixed up and they will show little uniformity in growth patterns and yield. This means that gardeners and farmers cannot save their own seeds for next yearâ€&#x;s crop and have to keep returning to the seed company for next seasonâ€&#x;s seeds. However, should the gardener feel inclined, it is possible to take a hybrid F1 variety and stabilize it, thereby creating a new seedling variety. This is done by applying discriminating selection, that is, choose the best offspring that arise in each generation and continue to propagate each successive generation from the best plants only. Remove and use for mulch all inferior plants and make sure they do not reproduce. It is usual to start with only a few good plants in the first generation and work with up to 50 plants per generation after that in order to find one or more plants that will display desirable qualities. The new hybrid strain should be quite stable after four generations and could be considered a new variety by the seventh generation. Of course this is all an enormous amount of work and this is what the seed companies profit from as it means that gardeners and farmers are very unlikely to go through this process and will be more inclined to go back to the seed company to purchase their next seasons seeds. However, there is little need for hybrids because there are already hundreds, even thousands of different varieties to choose from. For example the wheat plant alone had some
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