296 



The Journal of Hreedity 



tal) as well as forage varieties for use in 

 ripe state {Crop) and as green fodder 

 {Solo.) In vetch, there is need of 

 varieties for fodder, and for seed {Grd 

 and Sat). 



Among the forage grasses, we possess 

 various varieties taken from early, 

 medium and late wild forms to produce 

 meadows of uniform development. Here 

 the natural flora of the country has 

 furnished us material far superior to that 

 of the tradesmen. In dealing with 

 clover, we have principally utilized the 

 indigenous varieties, which are peren- 

 nial, hardy and highly productive. Our 

 demands in respect to potatoes differ 

 widely from those of the continent, 

 since the alcohol industry is highly 

 localized here. In general, however, 

 precocious varieties are required. 



Finally, it is imiversally admitted that 

 the society has contributed in many 

 other ways to the progress which 

 Swedish agriculture has made during 

 the last twenty years: for example, by 

 its proj^aganda in favor of more scientific 

 agriculture, by its advice and directions, 

 its demonstrations, field trials, etc., but 

 most of all in raising the standards of the 

 seed trade throughout the country, an 

 elevation made possible by its control of 

 the wholesale trade of its own sorts. 

 By all these means, the real value of the 

 perfected seeds has been made known, 

 and the farmers have learned to raise 

 their demands to an extraordinary 

 height. 



Ol'R INFLUENCE ABROAD. 



As we have seen, the Institute of 

 Svalof was founded by Swedish farmers 

 to serve their common interests. In 

 organizing and achieving this task, 

 therefore, the society had in view, as 

 it still has essentially in view, only 

 the needs and possibilities of vSweden. 

 Furthermore, it is obvious that varieties 

 selected for their adaptation to as peculiar 

 and northern a climate as ours would be 

 valuable only to a limited extent in a 

 country with difTercnt physical con- 



ditions. Nevertheless, in so far as 

 concerns the continent of Europe north 

 of the Alps, excepting central Russia and 

 certain parts of Austria, it seems that a 

 considerable number of our productions 

 are well adaptated to foreign conditions. 

 Accordingly, they have been pro])agated 

 there to by no means an inconsiderable 

 extent. It has been proved that varieties 

 like the barley Hannchen and the oat 

 Gtildrdgn, maturing early, have ac- 

 commodated themselves to an unexpec- 

 ted degree, even to extreme conditions. 



Thus, to cite only a few examples, 

 the new oats are widely employed and 

 much appreciated, particularly in Rus- 

 sia. Most of our varieties arc much 

 cultivated in Germany, Denmark and 

 Holland, and more lately in England. 

 In France our brewing barleys, and also 

 our oats, are regarded with great favor. 

 In Canada and the United States many 

 varieties are in use, in definite and 

 circumscribed areas. And in all the 

 rest of the world isolated experiments 

 have been made with our ]jroductions, 

 under the most diverse conditions, and 

 with the most diverse results, as was to 

 be expected. 



Beyond this, it becomes daily more 

 evident that the method of organization 

 of plant improvement which was origi- 

 nated at Svalof has been studied by 

 practically every civilized country and 

 adopted as a model. The questionnaires 

 which arrive froin all directions, and the 

 frequent visits of specialists of all 

 nations, are sufficient proof of this 

 foreign interest. 



But I would be going too far, if I 

 entered into a discussion of this subject. 

 Let me conclude by recalling that se- 

 lection in mass, which was generally 

 employed e\'en ten years ago, is at 

 jjresent abandoned. Both young and 

 old breeders ha\'e now adopted the ])lan 

 of separate culture, starting with single 

 plants — that is to say, the very principle 

 on which we established here at Svalof, 

 in 1893, our new method of plant 

 imi)rovement. 



