82 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



consistently on Mendelian lines, but it must be confessed 

 that so far the intricacies of the problem have prevented 

 the attainment of very notable results. 



A summary of the wheat selection work within the 

 last century is, therefore, as follows : 



1. Single ear selection. Le Couteur (1815). Svalof 



(1893).' 



a. Centgener power. Hay and von Lochow. 



2. Influence of Environment. Hallett (1857). 



3. Mass Selection. Rimpau and others (whole of 



19th Century). 



4. Cross Breeding. Ferrar (1896). 



a. Mendelian Crossing. Biffen (1903). 



2. The Choice of a System for New Zealand. 



In 1909 the writer was instructed by Mr. E. E. 

 Alexander, Director of Canterbury Agricultural College, 

 to undertake experimental work in the improvement of 

 wheat for growing in Canterbury. The scanty literature 

 on the subject was examined in order to see what method 

 would be likely to lead to results satisfactory both as 

 to magnitude and early maturity. Some whisperings of 

 the work done at Svalof had by this time reached New 

 Zealand, and such information as we had of their methods 

 backed by the common knowledge of inheritance in plants 

 seemed to indicate single ear selection as the best plan 

 of action to adopt. Later information as to the Swedish 

 methods and results has fully confirmed this view. As 

 mentioned above, the Swedish Seed Association was 

 founded in 1886. It was a private venture, but its 

 development is closely bound up with the economic and 

 social progress of the country. It now owns thousands of 

 acres of land and palatial laboratories manned by a staff 



*1893 was the year in which single ear selection started. 

 Previous to that mass selection had been used. About 1904 cross- 

 breeding was added to single ear selection. 



