212 



BREEDING CROP PLANTS 



The practical results which have been attained by this method 

 of breeding are brought out in Table LI, also taken from Webber 

 etal 



TABLE LI. SUMMARY, SHOWING YIELD OF FIELD-DRY HAY 



Yield in pounds per acre 



1910 



1911 



Average yield of 17 new varieties. 



Average yield of 7 checks 



Actual average increase 



7,451 



6,600 



851 



7,153 

 4,091 

 3,062 



FIG. 51. View of vegetatively propagated row plots of timothy. Each plot 

 is propagated from a single, original plant. Note that the two central plots are 

 comparatively late in maturity; also note differences between these two strains, 

 one having erect culms and heads, the other having somewhat spreading culms 

 and long loose heads. (Courtesy of Piper.) 



The season of 1911 was particularly unfavorable for the growth 

 of timothy. The new varieties gave a greater increase that year 

 than in the preceding and more favorable one. Webber et al 

 attribute this difference partly to the rust resistance of the new 

 strains. 



The method of breeding timothy at Syalof as reported by 

 Witte (1919) is not essentially different from that practiced at 



