Russian breeder, gardener-geneticist
I. V. Michurin made a great contribution to the development of genetics and berry crops, conducted experiments on artificial polyploidy, studying heredity in connection with the laws of ontogenesis and external conditions, created the doctrine of dominance, substantiated the possibility of changing the genotype under the influence of external conditions, created a theory of selection of initial forms for crossing.
Ivan Michurin was born on October 27, 1855 in the Vershina estate, near the village of Dolgoe, Pronsky district of the Ryazan province in the family of a small nobleman. Michurin spent his days in the garden from early childhood: “As I remember myself, I was always and completely absorbed in just one desire to cultivate certain plants, and such a passion was so strong that I almost did not even notice many other details of life.” .
After graduating from the Pronsky district school, Michurin entered the Ryazan gymnasium, but did not stay there long due to the ruin of his family. In 1873 he became a clerk at the railway station. He studied telegraph and signaling devices and began to repair them, and later opened a watch workshop. He settled at the Kozlov station, but on duty he traveled to service clocks, telegraph and signal apparatus all the way to Ryazan and Tambov.
In 1875, Michurin, at the age of only 20, rented a plot of land in Kozlov (about 500 sq. m), where he began work on collecting plant collections and developing new varieties of fruit and berry crops. In 1899, he purchased a new plot of land (about 13 hectares) on the outskirts of the city, where he moved his plants and where he lived and worked until the end of his life.
Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin developed more than 300 varieties of apples, pears, plums, grapes, apricots, blackberries, currants and tobacco.
In 1913, he refused an offer from the US Department of Agriculture to move to America or sell his plant collection. In 1917, he welcomed the establishment of Soviet power, received support from the Soviet government and continued his fruitful work.
Only under Soviet power were Michurin’s works appreciated and widely developed. “...It’s barely finished Civil War, Michurin wrote, “how my work was noticed by none other than Vladimir Ilyich Lenin of blessed memory” (Works, vol. 1, 1948, p. 610). Already in 1920, V.I. Lenin gave instructions to the People's Commissar of Agriculture S.P. Sereda about organizing the study of Michurin's scientific works and practical achievements. On the instructions of V.I. Lenin, Michurin was visited on September 11, 1922 by the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee M.I. Kalinin. On November 20, 1923, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR recognized Michurin's experimental nursery as an institution of national importance. On the basis of the Michurinsky nursery in 1928, the Selection and Genetic Station of Fruit and Berry Crops was organized, which in 1934 was reorganized into the Central Genetic Laboratory named after. I. V. Michurina.
Michurin made a great contribution to the development of genetics, especially fruit and berry crops. In the cytogenetics laboratory he organized, cell structure was studied and experiments on artificial polyploidy were performed. Michurin studied heredity in connection with the laws of ontogenesis and external conditions and created the doctrine of dominance. Michurin proved that dominance is a historical category that depends on heredity, ontogenesis and phylogeny of the original forms, on the individual characteristics of hybrids, as well as on the conditions of upbringing. In his works, he substantiated the possibility of changing the genotype under the influence of external conditions.
Michurin is one of the founders of scientific agricultural selection. crops The most important issues developed by Michurin: intervarietal and distant hybridization, methods of raising hybrids in connection with the laws of ontogenesis, control of dominance, mentor method, assessment and selection of seedlings, acceleration of the selection process using physical and chemical factors. Michurin created the theory of selecting initial forms for crossing. He found that “the further apart the pairs of crossed producer plants are in the place of their homeland and the conditions of their environment, the easier it is for the hybrid seedlings to adapt to the environmental conditions in a new area” (ibid., p. 502).
Crossing of geographically distant forms was widely used after Michurin by many other breeders. Michurin developed the theoretical foundations and some practical techniques for distant hybridization. He proposed methods for overcoming the genetic barrier of incompatibility during distant hybridization: pollination of young hybrids during their first flowering, preliminary vegetative rapprochement, use of an intermediary, pollination with a pollen mixture, etc.
In the USSR, Michurin varieties have been zoned: apple trees - Pepin saffron, Slavyanka, Bessemyanka Michurinskaya, Bellefleur-Chinese, etc.; pears - Bere winter Michurina, cherries - Nadezhda Krupskaya, Fertile Michurina, etc., mountain ash - Chernoplodnaya, etc. Michurin marked the beginning of the advancement of grapes, apricots, cherries and other southern crops to the north.
Michurin argued: “We cannot expect favors from nature. Taking them from her is our task.” Michurin expressed this idea when discussing selection, trying to help nature accelerate natural selection. Michurin’s activities were approved by N.I. Vavilov. Subsequently, T.D. Lysenko used Michurin’s achievements for his own purposes, making them a fact of his biography.
In 1932, the city of Kozlov, Tambov province, where he lived and worked, was renamed Michurinsk.
Like any inventor, Ivan Vladimirovich was a little out of this world. He did not consider himself a genius and was grateful to the Soviet government, which appreciated his merits.
Michurin, Ivan Vladimirovich
Sov. biologist, great transformer of nature, whose works marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of Darwinism; honorary member USSR Academy of Sciences (1935), valid. member VASKHNIL (1935). Honored activities n. etc. RSFSR (1934).
Born in the village. Long Pronsk. Ryazan County. lips After graduating from Pronsk. district school (1869) he entered Ryazan. gymnasium, from which he was soon expelled “for disrespect towards the authorities.” In 1872 he began working as a clerk at the Kozlov freight station (now Michurinsk). At this time, despite difficult working conditions and insignificant earnings, M. began to realize his dream - to devote his life to gardening. On a small plot of land behind the outbuildings of the house where he lived, M. began to grow plants from the seeds of selected fruits of apple trees, pears, plums and cherries; At the same time he was studying Russian. and the world assortment of fruit and berry plants. In 1875 he moved to the city of Ryazhsk, where he began working as a senior clerk in a railway freight office. stations. In 1877 he returned to the city of Kozlov; a new job (master of clocks and signaling devices on the Kozlov-Lebedyan railway section) allowed him, during trips around the section, to become acquainted with gardening in the central part of Europe. Russia.
Back in 1875 (in Kozlov), M. rented a small (130 sq. sq.) empty city estate, where he began his remarkable experiments. But very soon the experimental plot became too small for work (by this time M. already had a collection containing more than 600 species of fruit and berry trees and shrubs), and in 1882 he rented a new, slightly larger plot, where he moved all his plants . In this area, he developed the first varieties of raspberries (“commercial”), cherries (“griot pear-shaped”, “small-leaved semi-dwarf”, “fertile”, interspecific hybrid variety"Beauty of the North") In 1888 M. acquired 7 km from the city, near the Turmasovo settlement, area approx. 12 acres, on which he was able to expand his research.
Already in 1875-77 M. began working on improving and replenishing the assortment of fruit plants in central and northern Russia. parts of Russia. Being fascinated by the ideas of acclimatization, in his initial experiments he used methods that were promoted in Moscow at that time. gardener A.K. Grell, and sought to change the heredity of the south. varieties of fruit plants by grafting their cuttings into the crown of an adult tree of a local variety or onto cold-resistant wildflowers. However, after a number of years of work, M. came to the conclusion that this method of acclimatization of the south was untenable. varieties, because all plants grafted in this way died in harsh winters. Later M. published the article “How is plant acclimatization possible?” (1905), in which he revealed the fallacy of Grell’s methods, pointing out that any heat-loving variety that did not have the ability to withstand low temperatures in its homeland cannot adapt to them in new climates. conditions, if acclimatization is carried out by transferring plants, cuttings, layering, etc.; such plants die or degenerate. M. came to the conclusion that acclimatization of plants is possible only if plants are sequentially transferred by seeds to the north through a series of geographic regions. regions. Using this method (using connections with amateur gardeners in a number of provinces), he created the “northern apricot” and the “first swallow” cherry.
However, this path of plant acclimatization turned out to be very long. Long-term search for the best ways to promote fruit crops to the north led M. to the method of geographical hybridization. distant forms, to interspecific and intergeneric hybridization in combination with both the systematic education of parental forms before crossing, and the subsequent education of selected best hybrid seedlings. M. formulated his views on distant hybridization in the article “Promotion of hybridization gives more reliable way acclimatization" (1913) and developed them in a number of subsequent works. The more geographically distant forms of plants were crossed, the more plasticity the hybrid organisms had and the easier they could adapt to harsh conditions middle zone Russia. But here new obstacles were encountered. Hybrid seedlings obtained from crossing local plant varieties with southern ones, developing on rich chernozem soil, deviated on the basis of winter hardiness towards southern varieties and died from frost.
In 1893-96, when the nursery already had thousands of hybrid seedlings, M. came to the conclusion that in order to develop more frost-resistant varieties it was necessary to transfer experiments to an area with less rich soil. For this purpose, he acquired a plot in Donskaya Sloboda (near the town of Kozlov) with alluvial sandy loam soil, where he transferred (in 1899-1900) all the seedlings. M. worked at this site until the end of his life.
Under tsarism, M. did not find support from representatives of “official science.” He repeatedly suggested that the Department of Agriculture take over the state's control of its small experimental plot and pointed out the need to organize at least one state institution throughout Russia where hybridization work could continue. All his attempts to arouse interest in his experiments were met with ignorance and indifference of officials, and the reactionary representatives of the scientific world, whom M. called “caste priests of chatter,” openly despised him. But, despite this, M., being an ardent patriot, flatly refused the persistent proposals (1911, 1913) of a representative of the US Department of Agriculture to sell his collections.
After the Great Oct. socialist revolution, in the very first days after the establishment of the Soviet Union. authorities. M. came to the county land department and declared his desire to work for the new government.
V. I. Lenin drew attention to M.’s works as being of great national importance. In 1918 Sov. the state accepted the nursery transferred to M. into its jurisdiction, appointed him as manager and created favorable conditions for his creative work(funds, equipment were allocated, personnel were provided). Later (1928) a genetic selection plant was created on the basis of the nursery. station of fruit and berry crops named after. I.V. Michurin (now the Central Genetic Laboratory named after I.V. Michurin). In 1931, a decision was made to organize a production training and experimental plant, which included: a state farm-garden on an area of over 3,500 hectares, Central N.-i. Institute of Northern fruit growing (now the National Institute of Fruit Growing named after I.V. Michurin), higher educational institution - Institute of Selection of Fruit and Berry Crops (later renamed the Fruit and Vegetable Institute named after I.V. Michurin), and others. The task of these institutions was the broad development of M.’s teachings, the introduction of his experience into practice, the creation of new varieties of fruit and berry plants, the development of issues related to horticultural agricultural technology, the training of qualified specialists in the field of fruit and vegetable growing, the management of numerous organized zonal stations and strongholds, etc. Only under the Soviet Union. authorities M.'s idea to promote fruit growing in the north. areas of the country could become reality.
M. was associated with numerous practical gardeners, scientists and collective farmers, carried on extensive correspondence with them, gave personal consultations, actively spoke in the press, etc. M. indicated that only Communist. party and Sov. the authorities turned him from a single experienced person into a leader and organizer of fruit growing in the country.
In 1932, Kozlov was renamed Michurinsk.
M. was buried on the square in Michurinsk.
Scientific and practical. M.'s activities were devoted to solving the problem of replenishing the assortment of fruit and berry plants in central Russia and moving the border of southern crops to the north. M. is deeply dialectical. understanding of living nature. He wrote: “Life moves forward unceasingly... Everything that stops at one form and in one place is inevitably doomed to die out. All forms of living organisms are a transitory phenomenon and never completely repeat themselves” (Works, vol. 4, 2 ed., 1948, p. 400). All of M.’s activities were aimed at this. so that man could, having learned the laws of the formation of species, force nature to produce those forms and with such properties that man needs. “We cannot expect favors from nature: taking them from her is our task” - the principle that M. constantly guided in his work (see ibid., vol. 1, p. 605).
M. obtained most of the standard varieties of fruit plants by geographical hybridization. distant forms. Almost every variety he bred served as new confirmation of the correctness of Charles Darwin’s propositions that even the slightest change in living conditions is often sufficient to cause variability in organisms. In the work “Breeding New Cultivated Varieties of Fruit Trees and Shrubs from Seeds” (1911), M. outlined the main theoretical principles. questions of his teaching to create new high qualities. plant varieties. When developing new varieties, he gave great importance selection of producers and indicated that the breeder is required to comprehensively study the properties and qualities of each variety or type of plant selected for the role of producer. He noted that even the age of parent plants of the same variety or species significantly affects the quality of the hybrid offspring: older trees transmit hereditary characteristics more fully than younger ones.
To obtain hybrids between plants of distant species and genera, and to overcome their incompatibility, M. developed a number of remarkable methods and techniques. All his research was a desire to understand the nature of organisms, their heredity and variability and to substantiate ways to control plants in the right direction. Setting himself the task of creating a new variety, he carefully selected the initial forms, taking into account the peculiarities of their individual development, the history of the development of not only direct parental pairs, but also their distant ancestors. The main focus of M.'s work was hybridization in combination with the expedient cultivation of hybrid seedlings as organisms that are most susceptible to environmental influences. He considered hybridization as a means of obtaining a new form that combines the characteristics and properties of the parent pair, and at the same time as a means of loosening the heredity of the plant (overcoming its conservatism). M. pointed out that with the production of hybrid seeds, the breeder’s work does not end, but only begins. In publ. in 1923, in the article “Summary of the results of practical work of the originator of new varieties of fruit plants,” he wrote that without the use of an appropriate regime for raising seedlings, by selection alone, even when combined with all types of crossings, it is impossible to create completely stable varieties of fruit trees. Environmental conditions are the main factor determining the hereditary qualities of the resulting plant. It is completely useless to carry out the most stringent selection among breeding material over a number of generations in the hope of obtaining promising varieties from it, if these organisms are not provided with appropriate soil. plentiful nutrition, light, etc. However, changes in the body that arose as a result of the influence of the external environment in the process of its individual development cannot be considered in isolation from the heredity that has developed in the process of history. development of this species. Heredity is persistent and difficult to change, but even the deepest hereditary properties of an organism can be undermined through hybridization and the influence of new environmental conditions. The young organism resulting from crossing, due to loose heredity, will have greater plasticity, and its development can be directed in the desired direction through the use of various educational techniques.
One of effective ways educating hybrids is the mentor-educator method developed by M.
Having developed methods for controlling the dominance of traits, M., in the articles “On the Inapplicability of Mendel’s Laws in the Matter of Hybridization” (1915), “Seeds, Their Life and Preservation before Sowing” (1915) and others, criticized the Mendelian laws of inheritance of traits. Having deeply studied the nature of the interaction between the rootstock and the scion, he proved the effectiveness of vegetative hybridization using a huge number of facts and thereby confirmed the correctness of the principles of Charles Darwin, who believed that by grafting one plant to another, a vegetative hybrid is obtained - a form that combines the characteristics of the grafted plants. In 1922, M. wrote the work “The erroneous judgment of many scientific researchers regarding the recognition of the possibility of the phenomenon of vegetative hybrids” (first published in the journal “Vernalization”, 1936, No. 4). He showed the possibility of obtaining vegetative hybrids not only between varieties of the same plant species, but also between different types and even their genera, which is impossible to achieve through ordinary crossing in many cases; at the same time, the new properties of the hybrid organism are transmitted to its descendants through germ cells (seeds), which was confirmed in the vegetative hybrid created by M. between an apple tree and a pear (“Renet bergamot”). Through research on vegetative hybridization, M. showed the possibility of inheriting changes that arise during the individual life of an organism. The teachings of M., based on the discovery of patterns in nature, indicate ways and means that make it possible to direct the development of the plant world.
M. was an innovative scientist who knew how to organically combine theory and practice and develop his research work in accordance with practical principles. socialist tasks construction. He developed more than 300 new varieties of fruit and berry plants (apple trees - “Saffron pepin”, “Belfleur-Chinese”, “Slavyanka”, “Antonovka six hundred grams", “Saffron-Chinese”; pears - “Winter bere Michurina”, “Bergamot Novik” "; cherries - "fertile Michurina", "beauty of the north"; plums - "thorn garden", "collective farm farm", "reform garden"; grapes - "northern white", "Russian concord"; rowan - "Michurin dessert"; blackberry-shaped raspberries - "Texas", and many others). M.'s numerous followers (scientists, collective farmers, as well as amateur fruit growers) successfully develop the work he started.
A year before his death, M. wrote: “I have no other desires than to continue, together with thousands of enthusiasts, the work of renewing the earth, to which the great Lenin called us” (ibid., vol. 1, p. 603).
Works: Works, vol. 1-4, 2nd ed., M., 1948.
Lit.: Lysenko T.D., Creator of Soviet agrobiology, in his book: Agrobiology. Works on genetics, selection and seed production, Moscow, 1952; Bakharev A. N., Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, M., 1949; Yakovlev P.N., Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, M., 1951; Vasilchenko I., I.V. Michurin, M.-L., 1950; People of Russian Science, with a preface. and entry article by academician S. I. Vavilova, vol. 2, M.-L., 1948 (pp. 763-71); Gennel P. A., To the centenary of the birth of I. V. Michurin, Scientific notes of the Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute", vol. 41. Proceedings of the Department of Botany, 1956, issue 1; Lysenko T. D., One hundred years since birthday of I. V. Michurin. Report..., October 27, 1955, "Proceedings of the Institute of Genetics of the USSR Academy of Sciences", 1956. No. 23; Tsitsin N. V., I. V. Michurin and the significance of his teachings in modern biology [Report... Oct. 1955]. "Bulletin of the Main Botanical Garden", 1956, issue 25.
Mich at Rin, Ivan Vladimirovich
Genus. 1855, d. 1935. Breeder, creator of new varieties of fruit and berry crops. Author of the distant hybridization method. Knight of the Order of St. Anne, third degree, honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1935), academician of the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1935).
Large biographical encyclopedia. 2009 .
Ivan Vladimirovich was born on October 28, 1855 in the Vershina estate in the Ryazan region. His love of gardening came from his ancestors, who enthusiastically collected fruit trees and a library of agricultural literature. The father of the future scientist, Vladimir Ivanovich, served at the Tula Arms Factory as a weapons receiver, and after retiring, he was actively involved in gardening and beekeeping. It is noteworthy that in winter and autumn (when the agricultural season was coming to an end) he taught literacy to peasant children in his house. Ivan Vladimirovich was the seventh child in the family, however, his brothers and sisters died in infancy, and his mother Maria Petrovna left after them when the boy was four years old. The father gave his son his love and attention and worked with him. As a result, already at the age of eight, the future scientist could perfectly perform budding, copulation, and ablactation of plants.
Ivan Vladimirovich received his initial education at home, then was sent to the Pronsky district school of the Ryazan province. Immediately after his graduation in 1972, his father became seriously ill, and the family estate was sold under the hammer for debts. The scientist’s uncle enrolled him in the Ryazan provincial gymnasium, but the young man was expelled from there that same year due to his difficult financial situation.
At the same time, the young man moved to live in the district town of Kozlov, where he got a job as a commercial clerk in the goods office of the Kozlov station. He rose to the rank of assistant station chief, but lost this position due to a conflict with the station chief.
In 1874, Ivan Vladimirovich married Alexandra Vasilyevna Petrushina, who bore him a son, Nikolai, and a daughter, Maria. In addition to his passion for gardening, the future scientist gained fame as an excellent watchmaker. Needing funds, he opened a watch workshop at his apartment, where he “brought back to life” not only watches, but also various devices. Ivan Vladimirovich could literally determine by sound what was wrong with this or that mechanism.
In rare hours of free time, he created new varieties of fruit and berry crops. In 1875, Michurin rented an empty city estate in the vicinity of Kozlov, where he began conducting plant breeding experiments. Later, he acquired a plot of land near the Turmasovo settlement, which became one of the first breeding nurseries in Russia. Active scientific activity. Already in 1906, the first works of I.V. Michurin appeared, devoted to the problems of breeding new varieties of fruit trees. And in 1912, for his work he was awarded the order St. Anne's 3rd degree. The fame of the scientist resounded not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. The fact that in 1913 Ivan Vladimirovich refused the offer of the US Department of Agriculture to move to America or at least sell his collection of plants speaks for itself. He motivated his decision with the famous phrase: “Mature plants do not take root well in another place, and people even more so.” In addition, the Dutch offered I.V. Michurin a lot of money for violet lily bulbs on the condition that this flower would no longer be grown in Russia. The great scientist refused them, although he himself lived poorly. The gardener remained a true patriot of his homeland until the end of his days.
The contribution of the great scientist to science is truly priceless. Repeatedly he was awarded high awards. For outstanding work and achievements in the field of genetics and plant breeding in 1926, Michurin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and in 1931 - the Order of Lenin. In 1932, Kozlov was renamed in honor of its famous resident. A year before the death of Ivan Vladimirovich, in 1934, a genetic laboratory was created on the basis of his nursery.
The name of Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, an outstanding naturalist, scientist-breeder, who made a significant contribution to improving the nature of plants, developing breeding methods, creating new varieties of fruit crops and the development of domestic horticulture, is surrounded by great love and deep respect in our country.
I.V. Michurin was born on October 27, 1855 in the Vershina estate near the village of Dolgoe in the Pronsky district of the Ryazan province, now the village of Michurovka in the Pronsky district of the Ryazan region in the family of a small nobleman. In the Michurin family, gardening was a family tradition, since not only his father, Vladimir Ivanovich, but also his grandfather, Ivan Ivanovich, as well as his great-grandfather, Ivan Naumovich, were interested in gardening and collected a rich collection of fruit trees.
The boy worked with his father in the garden, apiary, planting and grafting. At the age of eight, he perfectly knew how to budding, copulating and ablacting plants (Michurin I.V., T-1, P. 79).
Ivan Vladimirovich studied first at home, and then at the Pronsky district school in the Ryazan province, devoting his free and vacation time to working in the garden.
In 1869 I.V. Michurin graduated from the Pronsky district school, his father and aunt began to prepare him for admission to a higher educational institution, but only through his uncle was Ivan Vladimirovich admitted to the Ryazan gymnasium, which I.V. Michurin did not finish due to disrespect for his superiors (in the December frost, while greeting his superiors, Ivan Vladimirovich did not take off his hat due to an ear disease).
A seventeen-year-old boy with an incomplete secondary education, Michurin leaves the ruined small estate forever. noble estate to the working area. Through the hard work of a small railway employee and then an artisan mechanic, he earns his livelihood. However, he is not attracted to a career as a railway official. He thirsts for knowledge, dreams of being a plant breeder (Bakharev A.N., p3).
In his autobiography I.V. Michurin says: “Is it due to hereditary transmission to me from my grandfather (Ivan Ivanovich), who put a lot of personal work into growing a large garden...: in the Ryazan province, or perhaps from my great-grandfather (Ivan Naumovich),... and, perhaps, personal the example of my father, who also worked hard to cultivate his garden, greatly influenced me in my very early childhood (Michurin I.V., Works Vol. 1, p. 78).
Work at the I.V. station Michurin combined this with extensive experimental work in the garden and self-education. Such intense and systematic work on himself allowed him to become a highly educated person, without having a document confirming his graduation from higher education. educational institution Ivan Vladimirovich knew the life of plants very well, and his qualifications as a gardener were very high level(Michurin I.V., Works T-1, p. 80).
In 1874 I.V. Michurin holds the position of commodity cashier, and then one of the assistant chiefs of the same station. In 1874 he married Alexandra Vasilyevna Petrushina, the daughter of a distillery worker.
Having a lack of funds, I.V. Michurin opened a watch workshop in the city, at his apartment. Since 1876 I.V. Michurin works as an assembler of clocks and signaling devices on the Kozlov-Lebedyan section of the railway (Bakharev A.N., p. 10).
In 1875 I.V. Michurin rents in the city of Kozlov land plot five hundredths of a hectare and is establishing a breeding nursery there. There he collected a collection of fruit and berry plants of more than 600 species. At that time, Ivan Vladimirovich dreamed of realizing his idea - to develop new varieties with the desired properties and qualities through analytical selection, that is, through mass sowing of seeds of the best southern and central Russian varieties, raising seedlings in appropriate conditions and their subsequent strict selection (I.V. Michurin , T.-1, p.81).
At the beginning of autumn, I.V. Michurin moved to an apartment in the Lebedev house, on Moskovskaya Street, with an estate and a garden. Here he moved the entire collection of garden plants from the Gorbunovs’ estate. But after a few years, this estate also became overcrowded with plants. In 1888 I.V. Michurin bought a plot of land near the Turmasovo settlement. Due to a lack of funds, members of the Michurin family carried plants from the city plot 7 km on their shoulders. Since there was no house on the new site, we walked 14 km and lived in a hut for two seasons. Since 1888, this site near the Turmasovo settlement became one of the first breeding nurseries in Russia. Subsequently, this was the central estate of the state farm-garden named after. I.V. Michurina, with an area of 2500 gardens with Michurin assortment. In 1900 I.V. Michurin moved the plantings to an area with poorer soils “to ensure the “Spartan” education of hybrids” (Bakharev A.N., 1955, pp. 13-14).
In 1906 the first scientific works I. V. Michurina, devoted to the problems of breeding new varieties of fruit trees. In the autobiography of I.V. Michurin wrote: “I absolutely don’t have time to deal with these almost daily visits to various city inspectors, agricultural and gardening instructors, foresters, etc. It’s good for them to travel around - their time spent is paid on the 20th, but I need to work . Every hour is precious to me; I’m at the nursery all day, and until half the night you spend on correspondence, of which, by the way, there is such a mass from all over Russia, and recently from abroad” (Michurin I.V., T-1 P. 93) .
In the summer of 1915, during the First World War, a cholera epidemic raged in Kozlov. This year, Michurin’s wife, Alexandra Vasilievna, died.
That same year, a heavy flood in early spring flooded the nursery, after which severe frosts and falling water destroyed the school of two-year-olds intended for sale with ice. In this case, many hybrids died. However, during the war years I.V. Michurin found confirmation of a number of his judgments and views on the law of inheritance in plants and methods of breeding varieties (Bakharev A.N., p15).
In 1916, the student circle of gardening enthusiasts at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy asked Michurin whether his major work on the development of new varieties of fruit plants had been published. Michurin, however, complained about the lack of funds and personnel for scientific processing of the accumulated material.
The conditions in which Michurin's scientific activity took place were extremely unfavorable for the implementation of his wonderful ideas.
I.V. Michurin repeatedly noted in his works that in Tsarist Russia for centuries nothing was done to develop gardening. There was stagnation in the theory and practice of gardening. There were very few domestic scientific gardening specialists.
Getting acquainted with the state of gardening in Tsarist Russia, I.V. Michurin was amazed at the backwardness of this industry, the poverty of the assortment. In this regard, he set himself two tasks: to advance the border of the growth of fruit plants far to the North and East; to replenish the assortment of fruit and berry crops in central Russia with new winter-hardy, highly productive, high-quality fruit varieties. He devoted 60 years of his creative life to solving these problems (Bakharev A.N., p. 8).
Until 1915, there was not a single higher educational institution in Russia that would train qualified gardeners. The Department of Fruit Growing was first established at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy.
The assortment of peasant gardens in the middle zone consisted of a large number of low-value, low-yielding varieties. Michurin could not remain indifferent to the fate of domestic fruit growing. In 1875, a twenty-year-old young man, Michurin, using his meager personal funds, founded the first breeding nursery in Russia, setting out to improve the varieties of fruit plants in the middle zone (Michurin I.V., T-1., p90).
Worldview of I.V. Michurin was formed under the influence of the works of the largest Russian scientists - biologists A.O. and V.O. Kovalevskikh, I.I. Mechnikova, I.M. Sechenova, K.A. Timiryazev, as well as materialist philosophers and revolutionary democrats A.N. Radishcheva, A.I. Herzen, V.G. Belinsky, N.G. Chernyshevsky.
Completely unknown in the scientific world, the modest gardener - breeder I.V. Michurin on the pages of the magazines “Progressive Gardening and Horticulture”, “Bulletin of Gardening”, “Russian Garden and Vegetable Garden”, “Gardener”, in the catalogs of his breeding nursery, starting from 1895, month after month, year after year, persistently, persistently , passionately, with amazing depth and consistency, sets out a fundamentally new, progressive teaching that asserts human power over living nature (Bakharev A.N., p. 5).
In his creative activity I.V. Michurin did not immediately achieve such a deep understanding of plant life that would allow him to create the foundations of the science of controlling heredity. In the works of I.V. Michurin, as he himself writes in his works, three main stages should be distinguished: the stage of acclimatization, the stage of mass selection and the stage of hybridization (Feiginson N.I., p. 11).
The first stage of work by I.V. Michurin is associated with the acclimatization of southern fruit plants, which he carried out following the methods proposed by A.K. Grellem. A.K. Grell argued that if southern plants are grown correctly good varieties in the north, in particular, by grafting them onto cold-resistant rootstocks, then these varieties will change and gradually adapt to new conditions (Senchenkova E.M., p. 30).
In general, the first stage of his work I.V. Michurin assessed it as erroneous and bitterly complained about the lost time and labor. However, we should not forget that this stage also had its own positive sides. The researcher was convinced that the path proposed by A.K. Grelem, could not lead to the desired goal and therefore not only abandoned it himself, but also called others to put an end to their mistakes, and published articles in the horticultural press outlining his work experience. It was during this stage of work that I.V. Michurin accumulated the first observations on the life and development of plants, made a number of major scientific discoveries, which included the most important regularity - the strong shaping influence of living conditions on young organisms.
Using newly developed selection methods, I.V. Michurin in the period 1884 to 1916 created 154 new high-value varieties of apple, pear, cherry, plum, sweet cherry, apricot, almond, nut and various berry plants.
Life and scientific activity of I.V. Michurina was an amazing example of tireless work, struggle and the great passion of a human creator, who boldly overcame all obstacles and obstacles on the way to realizing her cherished goal - the creation of new high-yielding and high-quality forms of various agricultural plants (Bakharev A.N., 1955, p3) .
Thus, all the work of I.V. Michurina in the pre-revolutionary period was aimed at getting to know the problems of domestic gardening, understanding the life of plants, as well as overcoming constant financial difficulties.
I.V. Michurin made an invaluable contribution to the development of domestic horticulture. For 17 years of creative work during the Soviet period, I.V. Michurin achieved incomparably more than during his 42 years of activity under tsarism.
From 1917 to 1935 I.V. Michurin created about 200 new varieties of fruit and berry plants, completed the development of his general biological teachings and published a significant part of his works (Bakharev A.N., p. 6).
Love for the chosen grandfather, devotion to him, deep knowledge of nature, obtained by continuous observations and permanent job above oneself, the strictest self-discipline, the greatest diligence - these are the wonderful qualities that allowed I.V. Michurin overcome all hardships and difficulties.
Michurin’s great diligence and love for his chosen work was reflected primarily in the tireless search for new plants for breeding and cultivation.
Numerous diaries, notebooks, notebooks, catalogs of fruit, ornamental, forest nurseries and botanical gardens are covered with entries, notes, postscripts containing names and descriptions of the economic, medicinal or decorative qualities of plants.
As a true patriot and innovator, striving to enrich the Motherland the best varieties fruit plants, for decades he patiently and persistently collects, bit by bit, valuable varieties and forms of fruit plants scattered all over the world, often disappearing without a trace (Bakharev A.N., p. 62).
It was not always easy to get the necessary plants. On the contrary, in most cases the scientist had to face insurmountable obstacles, and it was impossible to build breeding work on a large scale on randomly obtained initial plant forms. The Department of Agriculture rarely equipped expeditions to search for new plants and almost did not send botanists and taxonomists to other countries. Expeditions organized on the initiative of individual scientists to collect plants for a narrow scientific purpose, unfortunately, could not meet the needs of breeding practice.
The Soviet government fulfilled I.V.’s dreams. Michurin about special state expeditions to collect new forms of plants in little-explored areas and especially in the regions of the Far East (Bakharev A.N., pp. 66-67). “Having received an unlimited space rich in possibilities,” wrote Ivan Vladimirovich in his address to the Komsomol member in 1932, “breeding thought must now persistently work in creating high-yielding, excellent quality, early fruiting and resistant to adversity varieties of fruit and berry plants.” (Michurin I.V., Works, T-4 p. 240-242).
The entire creative life of I.V. Michurina is a wonderful example of patriotic service to the Motherland (Bakharev A.N., p. 76). Even at the very beginning of his work, I.V. Michurin set himself the task of “moving the south to the north” and did not retreat from solving this task until last days life. He strove to ensure that in the relatively harsh conditions of central Russia it was possible to cultivate High Quality varieties and breeds of fruit and berry trees and shrubs that were grown only in the south, in milder climatic conditions (Feiginson N.I., p. 11).
In the history of breeding and genetic science there are no examples of such a deep understanding of the life of plant development as achieved by I.V. Michurin.
Michurin’s works, and especially the book “Results of Sixty Years of Work,” summarize everything that he learned as a result of his deepest knowledge of life. The special value of the book by I.V. Michurin is that all the provisions set out in it are the result of numerous experiments conducted by I.V. Michurin. He conducted the experiments themselves not just for the sake of experiments, not to satisfy idle curiosity, but always to overcome obstacles standing in the way of creating the necessary varieties and forms of plants, unprecedented in nature (I.V. Michurin Results of sixty years of work, p. 10) .
Outstanding achievements of I.V. Michurin received wide recognition in our country and abroad. He was awarded the highest government awards of the USSR - the Order of Lenin (1931) and the Red Banner of Labor (1926). In 1934 I.V. Michurin was awarded the title “Honored Worker of Science and Technology.” In 1935, he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Czechoslovakia.
The development of breeding work on fruit and other agricultural crops was greatly influenced by the new approaches developed by I.V. Michurin for the selection of parental pairs for hybridization and the selection of valuable seedlings. The first proposed by I.V. was widely used in practical selection. Michurin's method of hybridization of ecologically and geographically distant forms, as well as the method of return crosses. He improved the method of selecting “cultivated” seedlings at a young age based on the correlation between traits. I.V. Michurin made a great contribution to improving the assortment of fruit and berry crops in our country (Senchenkova E.M., p. 30).
Academician P.P. Lukyanenko believed that hybridization of geographically distant forms is the most effective breeding method, allowing the creation of wheat varieties with great adaptive potential and a wide distribution area in production. A classic and world-famous example of this is the Bezostaya 1 variety. Characteristic Features creative activity of I.V. Michurin were constant evolution his views, a self-critical and cautious attitude towards the results obtained, exceptional persistence in solving assigned problems.
Michurin never claimed to be unconditional in his conclusions, realizing that his judgments could also be erroneous. And this was quite natural, since at that time, according to N.I. Vavilova (1990, p. 91), “...methods for fruit selection were not developed and Michurin himself had to pave new paths. The theory of fruit tree selection was still in the darkness of contradictions.”
I.V. Michurin was also characterized by an unyielding character, rare persistence in achieving goals, and moral endurance. For example, he blessed the harsh winter as the most strict and impartial rejector. Hundreds of seedlings froze to death, and he said: “That means we have to work better.” It is about this character trait that I.V. Michurin is especially clearly evidenced by the decision he made in 1900 to move his entire nursery from a black earth plot of land to a new place with “the thinnest sandy soil.” The reason for this was the conviction in the need for Spartan education of hybrids in the first period of their development - before fruiting, only after which the transition to enhanced nutrition follows. “... Otherwise, I would never have achieved success in breeding new varieties of fruit plants....” (Zhuchenko A.A., p. 2).
Teachings of I.V. Michurin about the adaptability of hybrid plant forms is associated with the peculiarities of the manifestation of signs of dominance, which plays an important role in breeding and agricultural technology. At the same time, the combination of Spartan and favorable conditions The external environment at different stages of ontogenesis acts both as a background of selection, which makes it possible to more reliably recognize the desired genotype behind the façade of the phenotype, and to control the factors controlling the dominance of economically valuable plant traits (high environmental sustainability at the first stage and potential productivity at the second). This, accordingly, is the features and advantages of managing “floating dominance” in perennial plants(Zhuchenko A.A., p. 2). Thanks to his deep insight into the essence of the phenomenon of dominance, I.V. Michurin, according to academician N.P. Dubinina (1966), for the first time in the history of world science and practice (and long before the work of famous geneticists in this field), “... develops the problem of identifying heredity in development in connection with the laws of ontogenesis,... raises the problem of the relationship between environment and heredity...”, proposing specific ways of practical management of the manifestation of dominant and recessive economically valuable traits. It is noteworthy that back in 1911 I.V. Michurin considered the property of dominance in connection with the history of form, i.e. from the evolutionary point of view of the emergence of heredity phenomena. Fisher and other geneticists came to such an evolutionary approach, but much later. I.V. Michurin’s work on controlling the dominance of traits in hybrids led him to understand the enormous importance of selecting pairs for crossing, as well as the most important role of crossing geographically distant forms (Savelyev N.I., p. 66).
Hybridization, especially distant hybridization (or, to put it another way, modern language- recombinogenesis) I.V. Michurin considered the “cornerstone” of his theory to breed new varieties. Giving a primary role to the method of hybridization, especially distant one, I.V. Michurin inevitably interfered with the main problem of genetics that was emerging at that time, i.e. science of variability and inheritance of characters. In this regard, it is important to trace the evolution of I.V.’s views. Michurin on the laws of hybrid splitting, first discovered by Gregor Mendel in 1865, and which became widely known after their secondary discovery in 1900. Based on a huge number of his own experimental data, I.V. At the first stages of his work, Michurin denied not only the quantitative patterns of splitting established by G. Mendel, but also Mendelism as such, calling it the “pea law” (Zhuchenko A.A., p. 7).
However, this is the greatness, insight and civil courage of I.V. Michurin as a scientist, that he was able to admit the fallacy of some of his judgments and openly declare this. In 1929 I.V. Michurin writes: “In Mendel’s law, I do not at all reject its merits.... In hybrids with each other pure species rye, wheat, oats, peas, millet, etc. I think the phenomenon of splitting into producers is quite possible. Here, of course, Mendel’s laws apply in all their details.” In an earlier article published in 1923, I.V. Michurin emphasized that “... all the inconsistency between Mendel’s laws and the doctrine of the numbers of cellular chromosomes with the conclusions from my observations results only from the difference in the objects taken for observation.” Consequently, unlike most of his contemporaries, incl. many geneticists, he completely correctly interpreted the basic principle of Mendel’s law (Molchan I.M., p. 12). Outstanding geneticist academician N.P. Dubinin (1966) said: “I.V. Michurin’s instructions that simple, numerical relationships according to Mendel are not applicable to many cases of hybridization of apple trees and other fruits... are completely fair and justified.” It is now generally accepted that the complexity of inheritance of traits in the apple tree is mainly due to the hybridity of its origin and complex polyploid composition.
As a result of the discovery of complex heredity in the apple tree, N.I. believes. Dubinin (1966), I.V. Michurin “...he himself made a number of brilliant guesses about the existence of polyploidy. These include statements that “genes inherited to a weaker degree ... partly completely disappear, and partly remain in a latent state, and sometimes can subsequently be transmitted to offspring in other later generations. From the mutual connection of certain genes and under the influence of extraneous factors, sometimes completely new unprecedented properties and qualities appear in hybrids. Among the “brilliant guesses” of I.V. Michurin can also be attributed to his position that different plant traits in their manifestation depend to varying degrees on environmental conditions and heredity, that the degree of dominance of a trait can change when a hybrid is transferred from one geographical area to another, as well as in cases of a sharp change in conditions growing. It is these features of the manifestation of traits in heterozygotes that underlie modern hypotheses about the ecological nature of the manifestation of the “heterotic effect”, as well as “ecological heterosis”.
In their latest works I.V. Michurin repeatedly emphasized the importance of studying and developing Mendelism, as well as the need for its teaching in all agricultural universities.
Among other important scientific achievements of I.V. Michurin should also be noted:
Work on the use of somatic (bud) mutations in the selection of vegetatively propagated plants, as well as methods of experimental mutagenesis (radiation selection) (N.P. Dubinin, 1966);
Back at the end of the 19th century, i.e. one of the first, I.V. Michurin appreciated the advantages of low-growing trees. He wrote: “First they tried to breed powerful, tall fruit plants. But practice has shown that we need early-ripening dwarfs suitable for mechanization and harvesting”;
Scientific basis for selecting rootstocks for various crops. Rootstock I.V. Michurin called it “the foundation of a fruit tree.” Moreover, if at the beginning (before 1916) he recognized the possibility of obtaining “vegetative hybrids,” then later “he moved away from such a one-sided and exaggerated assessment of the role of the rootstock...” (N.P. Dubinin, 1966);
I.V. Michurin was one of the first to draw attention to the existence of a juvenile period (period of “youth”) in fruit trees as one of the stages of ontogenesis. Currently, the phenomenon of brief repetition of phylogeny in ontogenesis not only in animals, but also in plants is integral part biogenetic law;
The greatest merit of I.V. Michurin is his introduction into breeding practice of methods to overcome the incompatibility and infertility of species during distant hybridization (preliminary “vegetative rapprochement”, etc.), pollination with a mixture of pollen (selectivity of fertilization), and the use of a vegetative mentor (Zhuchenko A.A., p. 6).
Life and work of I.V. Michurin were a feat in the name of humanity, aimed at mobilizing plant resources, as well as managing the heredity and variability of plants. The assessment of I.V. Michurin’s activities is most clearly expressed in the words of N.I. Vavilova: “Endless work, constant dissatisfaction, the eternal search for something new, the eternal desire to move forward - this is the usual lot of the seeker, the researcher. A moment of contentment gives way to days and years of hard work and perseverance.”
For the first time in our country, I.V. Michurin began bold experiments in the use of interspecific hybridization in fruit growing. While usually breeders abroad, to improve their varieties, were content with crossing similar forms that gave quick results, Ivan Vladimirovich puts forward the method of distant hybridization, in which the winter hardiness, disease resistance and quality of varieties change dramatically. This decisive method required hard work, repeated crossings, skillful selection of initial forms, and many years of persistent work. He went against the prevailing views at that time (Vavilov N.I., 1990 p. 329).
As noted by Academician N.I. Vavilov, “Michurin’s greatest merit is that he, like no one else in our country, put forward the idea of distant hybridization in fruit growing, a bold alteration of plant species by crossing them with other species, and scientifically and practically proved the correctness of this path” (Vavilov N.I. , 1990 p. 330).
According to N.I. Vavilova, Ivan Vladimirovich, for the first time in fruit growing, put forward the idea of widely using the original species and varietal material for crossing.
A great contribution to science is the teaching of I.V. Michurin on the management of heredity and the education of hybrids. The method he developed for raising hybrid seedlings is an important stage in the selection process (Agricultural Encyclopedia, 1972, p. 1145).
The idea of mobilizing the world's and varietal fruit resources in order to improve our varieties turned out to be extremely fruitful and is now the basis of scientific fruit growing. The systematic use of wild and cultivated plant resources in East Asia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia is still the primary task of fruit growing. To promote fruit growing in the northern regions, to radically improve our Soviet assortment, such use of East Asian wild and cultivated forms is crucial.
A huge credit goes to I.V. Michurin is that he translated his ideas into reality, creating many new, essentially plant forms. Talent, perseverance in work and iron will were combined amazingly in this genius scientist.
Michurin is characterized by exploration and ingenuity. His multifaceted talent is striking, manifested in his own design of various tools for fruit growing, various devices, and his ability to approach everything in a new way, including the treatment of diseases. The harsh conditions of reality forced the mind to work in search of overcoming difficulties. (Vavilov N.I., 1990)
Thus, in the post-revolutionary period I.V. Michurin achieved greater results than during the period of work before 1917. He made a great contribution to improving the assortment of fruit and berry crops in the USSR. I.V. Michurin created many new plant forms that did not previously exist in Nature. His achievements have received wide recognition not only in our country, but also abroad; the theoretical principles he developed have found wide application in practical selection.
The material was prepared by PhD student A.G. Sayapina.
The main character of our today's issue will not be a plant, but a man whose whole life was connected with plants and dedicated to gardening, Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin. It is unlikely that there is at least one person interested in gardening who has not heard this name. His surname has already become a household name. This is the name not only for botanists or breeders, this is the name for pioneers and discoverers in many other fields: finance, construction, animal husbandry... But few people know that the life of this man was amazing and could form the basis of a novel or movie script. For the first time in the history of fruit growing, Ivan Vladimirovich created in central Russia winter-hardy varieties cherries, almonds, grapes, papyrus tobacco, oilseed roses. Plum trees that had never been seen before in these places grew and grapes bore fruit. Moreover, even in the Crimea, grapes were covered for the winter, and in the Tambov region near Michurin, the vines overwintered in the open air. Michurin believed that the rich chernozems on which fruit seedlings are grown create too favorable conditions, and this greatly inhibits the development of winter hardiness in plants. But if planted on poor soils, the seedlings will be forced to fight for life and will subsequently become distinguished by excellent winter hardiness. And he moved his nursery to the poor sandy soils, and it bore fruit. Ivan Vladimirovich perfected the mediator method, methods of preliminary vegetative rapprochement and pollination with mixed pollen. He developed a unique technology, which he called the “mentor method.” An amazing person with an amazing destiny. Michurin is sometimes credited with almost magical abilities; contemporaries recalled that Ivan Vladimirovich calmly entered any courtyard and the huge watchdogs did not bark. Moreover, the birds sat on his hat, shoulders, palm without fear and pecked the grains. Ivan Vladimirovich knew many herbs that have medicinal properties, prepared all kinds of ointments and decoctions from them, healed migraines, mumps, renal colic, furunculosis, heart failure, and removed kidney stones. They say that Michurin talked for hours with a dying plant, and it came back to life. He had the ability to influence the growth of plants, intuitively choosing the best from thousands. Contrary to general opinion, Michurin gained worldwide fame even before the USSR. Back in 1898, the All-Canadian Congress of Farmers, which met after a harsh winter, stated that many old varieties of cherries of both European and American origin in Canada had frozen out, with the exception of “Fertile Michurin” from the city of Kozlov. The famous Frank Meyer, after visiting Ivan Vladimirovich’s nursery, not only spoke highly of his work, but offered to move to America, where recognition, money and fame awaited him. However, Michurin refused, citing ignorance of the language and age. The Dutch, who know a lot about flowers, offered Michurin a lot of money (20,000 royal rubles in gold) for the bulbs of an unusual lily, which looks like a lily and smells like a violet, with the condition that all copyrights be completely transferred to them. A lot can be said about Michurin’s achievements and his life. The interesting varieties of rowan he introduced into the cultivation of apple, pear, and plum trees are still popular today. Find his book: Ivan Michurin “Results of 60 years of activity”, read it. Reading this book, it seems that Ivan Vladimirovich describes the situation in gardening not 100 years ago, but the current situation. The advice he gives is still relevant today. That's all.
