414 Journal of Agrictdlure. [8 July, 1908. 



varieties grown together and observe their various peculiarities — their 

 length and strength of straw, their liability to stool, their time of ripening, 

 their variously shaped heads, their susceptibility to frost, hot winds and 

 rust and their shedding or holding of the grain, together with its quality. 

 The difference in yield is just as varied as in other qualities and there 

 is a decided advantage in having a large number to choose from. This 

 variety testing has been carried on for a number of years and has appealed 

 to the practical farmer. 



2. Selection of Sced-W licat. — Even the ancient Romans knew the ad- 

 vantage of choosing their seed from the largest and fullest ears, but apart 

 from this, the selection of seed from the general crop should be carefully 

 done. Bright clean plump grain free from blemish should be chosen and 

 the germmation is then even and regular. Next to choosing a suitable 

 variety it is most important to have specially selected seed. It is well- 

 known that large and well-formed seed produces strong, vigorous and pro- 

 ductive plants. It has been expierimentally proved that plump seed is 

 superior to shrunken, that sound seed has the advantage over that injured 

 in the process of threshing and that thoroughly ripened seed is to be pre- 

 ferred to immature. 



From experiments conducted by Mr. Pearson m connection with the 

 work of the Intercolonial Rust in Wheat Conference, it was found that 

 large seed yielded 21 per cent, more grain at harvest time than small seed 

 and that the seed taken from large heads yielded 25 per cent, more than 

 seed taken from small heads. And to prove the advantage of grading the 

 seed wheat, a mixed sample of large and small was 25 per cent, less 

 prolific than the large seed taken from the large heads only.. Similar 

 results have been obtained by Dr. Cobb in New South Wales and from 

 the general experience in other parts of the world it may be positiveh 

 affirmed that gradmg of seed by suitable sieving machinery is a most im- 

 portant factor in the improvement of the yield of cereals. 



J. Selection of Individual Plants. — It has already been suflficiently 

 insisted on, that if the best results are to be secured, individual plants 

 must be chosen on account of their superior excellence frbm which to select 

 the seed for the improvement of varieties. This insures that the progeny 

 will be pure, being descended from a single mother-plant, and that it may 

 be grown true to the type without further selection. By selecting the best 

 seed from such chosen plants, improved strains are often secured and 

 when submitted to the test of experiment it is invariably found, that the 

 yield of grain from seed obtained from selected plants is greater than 

 that produced from seed obtained from plants not selected. Th^ mistake 

 is sometimes made of selecting extra large ears, irrespective of the plants 

 by which they are produced, but this may be due to plants otherwise 

 unproductive bearing little else than the one large ear. It is the mt>ther- 

 plant which determines the constitution of the progeny, and it is the 

 ilifferences among individual plants on which selection is based. 



4. Production of Plybrids. — Selection of suitable varieties and selec- 

 tion of the best individual plants from among these, will go a long way 

 towards increasing the yield, and some consider that this is quite sufficient 

 for ordinary needs. But there are always some weak points even in our 

 best varieties that we wish to get rid of or to strengthen — they may not be 

 thoroughly adapted to our conditions, or they may not produce the quality 

 of grain we want. To eliminate the weak and strengthen the good qualities 

 and give an added vigor to the new strain is the object of making a cross. 

 Crossing itself is a comparatively simple matter but it is the work of 



