Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

It is clear that in all these umlaute the new vowel is exactly intermediate between the original vowel of the root and the modifying one of the termination : if the new vowel became identical with its modifier, the result would be not an umlaut but a complete assimilation.

It is wrong to lie.

The men who did all the hard yakka believed in a short cut – shoot the bastards; it was cheaper and easier.