The southern type bromegrass varieties such as Fischer and Achen- 

 bach were superior to northern type varieties at both locations. 



G. M. Dunn, L. J. Higgins, P. T. Blood 



Breeding of Grasses and Legumes in the Search for Superior Plants 



Breeding activities with bromegrass included: (a) The establishment 

 of a polycross nursery for progeny testing of selected plants; (b) The ar- 

 tificial inoculation and selection for resistance to brown leaf spot ; (c) A cor- 

 relation study on leafiness in bromegrass; (d) Crossing of selected brome- 

 grass plants in the greenhouse. 



It was found that seedling bronie plants are very susceptible when ar- 

 tificially inoculated by the brown leaf spot organism, although some plants 

 produce more resistant progeny than others. Of about 1500 plants which 

 were inoculated, approximately 25 plants seemed to have some resistance 

 to this disease. 



The correlation study on leafiness with approximately 200 selected 

 plants involved the following characteristics: (a) Leafiness as determined 

 by a visual rating; (b) Leafiness as determined by dried weight of the sep- 

 arated leaves and stems; (c) Leaf length; (d) Leaf width; (e) Height of 

 plant. 



The plants dilTered greatly in leafiness as determined by weight of the 

 dried leaves and stems. A significant positive correlation existed between 

 (a) and (b) and between (b) and (e). A highly significant negative corre- 

 lation was found between (b) and (c). The objective here is to select for 

 and against leafiness, and to find associated characters which may aid in se- 

 lection for leafy plants. 



Breeding activities with ladino included : 



(a) The establishment of a breeding source nursery, involving ap- 

 proximately 2400 plants of 70 to 80 strains of ladino. Observa- 

 tions taken on these plants include winter hardiness, maturity, 



^^*«v^ > 



•*>-)i.^ 



Ladino clover in its second year of growth in the breeding nursery. 



18 



