xxxiv Department of Plant Breeding 



PLANT breeding 



R. A. Emerson, Professor of Plant Breeding 



Teaching. — The addition of Professor C. B. Hutchison to the staff of 

 the Department in charge of teaching, and the consequent reorganization 

 of courses, has materially strengthened the undergraduate instruction not- 

 withstanding the decreased enrollment. 



Investigation. — The investigations of the Department of Plant Breeding 

 have been carried on without serious interruption, notwithstanding the 

 loss of several graduate assistants. This has been possible in part 

 because the lessened enrollment of students has allowed members of the 

 teaching staff more time for research. It is the policy of the Department 

 to maintain its more fundamental investigations with as little interruption 

 as possible during the period of the war. In no other way, it is believed, 

 can the Department contribute more to the readjustments that are likely 

 to follow this critical period. 



In addition to the genetic studies and practical breeding work already 

 under way with com, wheat, oats, potatoes, and timothy, studies of the 

 inheritance of various characters in flax and barley have been begun 

 during the year. In cooperation with Professor M. F. Barrus, of the 

 Department of Plant Pathology, an investigation of the mode of 

 inheritance of resistance to anthracnose in beans has been inaugurated. 

 The production of disease-resistant strains of field beans carried on during 

 the past year by means of a special appropriation gives promise of early 

 results. 



Extension. — With the addition of F. P. Bussell to the departmental 

 staff in charge of extension work, the extension activities of the Depart- 

 ment have been materially increased. While considerable instruction in 

 plant breeding has been given in extension schools, the principal lines of 

 work have been: (i) the distribution to farmers of the State of improved 

 strains of crops produced in connection with the experimental work of 

 the Department; and (2) the helping of farmers to start breeding work 

 on their own farms. In connection with the latter, ntmierous field meetings 

 and demonstrations have been held. Instead of attempting to get a large 

 number of farmers in any community to imdertake breeding work on 

 a small scale with several crops — work which could not well be followed 

 up by the extension specialists — it is rather the policy of the Department 

 to help one or two men of the community to carry out thoroughgoing 

 work with one or two crops of importance in a particular region, \vith the 

 idea that these men will be able ultimately to furnish select seed to 

 their neighbors. Work of this sort with associations growing seed for 

 other parts of the State is of particular importance. 



