64 PLANT-BREEDING 



was not that wliich might be expected. The cultures were 

 correspondingly increased in extent, and the selection made 

 more intense. The whole experiment was worked up to 

 such a degree of perfection that it could not only be com- 

 pared with the most renowned German pedigree cultures, 

 but might even be considered as a test by which the value 

 of the principle itself could be judged. 



Notwithstanding this, the result was an absolute negative. 

 It was simply impossible to get rid of the propensity to lie 

 down. No real improvement could be reached. After 

 many years of hard work with steadily improved instru- 

 ments and methods of testing and selection, the experiment 

 had to be given up, since there was no ground for the hope of 

 finally reaching the aim. 



At the same time, a considerable number of other selec- 

 tion experiments had been carried on. Some of them gave 

 the desired results, but others did not. The positive in- 

 stances were only few, and although they have produced 

 quite valuable new races, and have distinctly contributed 

 to the improvement of agriculture in southern Sweden, it was 

 clear that they could not afford sufhcient proof for the reha- 

 bihty of the principle. 



Success remained an exception, and exceptional improve- 

 ments were not the aim of the work of the station. Dis- 

 tinct problems it had to solve. It had to free the old varieties 

 from definite defects, which impeded their more extensive 

 use. A method which would give its results in some cases 

 and in others not, could not be considered as involving the 

 principle wanted. On the contrary, the conclusion had to 

 be granted that in the positive cases, the result might be due 

 to quite other causes, and that if it were only possible to dis- 

 cover these, the whole system might be thrown over and 

 replaced by sure and more rehable principles. The Ger- 

 man idea that it was in the power of man to improve his 



