344 Bulletin 313 



tried. The most convenient arrangement tested was that in which the 

 rows were placed four feet apart and the plants three feet apart in the rows. 



The best time to transplant young plants to the field at Ithaca is in 

 the fall, preferably between the loth and the 20th of September. By 

 this time, seeds from selected plants, if planted immediately following the 

 harvest, will have produced seedlings of sufhcient size so that they may 

 be safely transplanted. When transplanted the young plants should 

 have two to four leaves, each three or four inches long. 



The best known method of handling the seed of select plants 

 is to plant them in flats or small shallow boxes about two feet long, 

 eighteen inches wide, and three inches deep. The sterilized soil is placed 

 in these fiats and the seed sown rather shallow, about one fourth of an 

 inch deep, in rows about two inches apart. When the seed is well up the 

 plants can be thinned out in the rows and left with a space of about an 

 inch between them. By this treatment the seedlings may be grown 

 continuously in the same flats until transplanted to the field. The soil 

 used in growing the seedlings should contain enough well-rotted and 

 pulverized manure to keep the young plants growing vigorously for a 

 period of six weeks or two months preceding the transplanting to the field. 



It has been found desirable to transplant to the field rather early in 

 September, as it is important that the young plants should have oppor- 

 ttinity to get well rooted before the weather becomes too cold for growth. 



Young seedlings transplanted in the fall do not produce a very large 

 yield the following season, but even the first summer gives an indication 

 of the rapidity of growth and comparative vigor of the different plants. 

 They must be followed through four or five different seasons, at least, in 

 order to obtain a definite judgment of their comparative value. 



In the first lot of plants grown from seed obtained from the different 

 sources, there were 298 plats of forty-two plants each, or a total of 12,516 

 plants. This number was gradually reduced by the death or accidental 

 destruction of some plants (Plate I). 



In the summer of 1905 a certain number of plants were chosen as rep- 

 resenting the extremes of certain characters, and open fertilized seed from 

 these plants was saved and planted. The characters considered in this 

 lot of plants were : 



Heavy yield and light yield. 

 Vigor good and vigor poor. 

 Coarse stems and fine stems. 

 Early bloom and late bloom. 

 Short, fine heads and long, fine heads. 

 Thick heads and thin heads. 



