342 REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE ON GENETICS. 
comparison. ‘T'he following table gives the average yields per acre per 
annum for each of the four periods of four years each ; also the average 
yield per acre per annum for the whole period of sixteen years :— 
Average 
Average yield per Acre per Annum for each of four nae 
Orgesantiyaenc tee Periods of four years each | Pee ats 
} years 
1890-1893 1894-1897. 1898-1901 | 1902-1905 | 1890-1905 
Oats : | 
Bushels Bushels Bushels Bushels Bushels 
Joanette . : E 84:8 88-7 84-9 | 102-4 90°2 
Siberian ; . ; 72:9 83°9 90:4 | 1054: 88:2 
Waterloo . 5 ; 74:3 84:1 85:6 | 105°9 87°5 
Oderbrucker ; : 74:6 85:1 85:8 102-9 87:1 
Probsteier . ; d 737 816 881 | 100°3 86:4 
Bavarian. : : 70°6 19°9 86°6 103:3) 5) | 2 Sozt 
Egyptian . : ; 70°7 71:4 76:4 88:5 - "ae aeem 
Black Tartarian . : 67:2 60°5 66°5 91:9.) | eaeaG 
Barley 
Mandscheuri ; : 60°3 (2? 70°3 76:4 69°8 
Oderbrucker ; BPE 61-6 68:4 | 68°9 63:0 
Common six-rowed . 50°5 56°7 68-4 68°9 61:1 
French Cheyalier : 54:6 55°8 68:3 | 61-2 60-0 
N.Z. Chevalier . : 49-6 56°7 68-2 64:7, OOS 
Mensury . F ; 48-4 53°4 73°9 59:0 =| 587 
Black Hulless . : 38°8 39°71 AT‘5 50°1 43°9 
Hungarian.  . .| 42:7 348 | 49-9 50°8 42-6 
The results are very interesting and quite suggestive. Without one 
exception, the average yield per acre for the last four years is greater than 
for the first four years for each variety grown during the sixteen-year 
period. The average results of all the varieties for each of the first, 
second, third, and fourth periods of four years each are given in the same 
order as just mentioned: oats, 74 bushels, 79 bushels, 83 bushels, and 
100 bushels ; barley, 50 bushels, 54 bushels, 63 bushels, and 63 bushels. 
It will therefore be seen that the average yield per annum for the last 
four years surpassed that of the first your years by 26 bushels per acre 
for the oats and 18 bushels per acre for the barley. The figures here 
presented show quite clearly that it is possible to grow the same varieties 
of grain on the same farm for a considerable number of years without 
change of seed, providing care is exercised each year in the selecting of 
the seed and in the handling of the crop. 
THE PropuctTIion oF HyBRIDS. 
Even though we take great pains in selecting the best seed from the 
best plants of the best varieties of cereals, we find that the plants 
produced, although greatly improved in many respects, still have 
weaknesses. We observe that some varieties are specially strong in some 
features, and that other varieties are equally strong in other characteristics. 
With the hope of originating new varieties possessing the good qualities 
and eliminating the weak ones of some of the best varieties, efforts have 
been made to obtain the desired results through cross-fertilisation. 
With the aid of the investigations of Mendel, de Vries, Correns, Bateson, 
