PLANT BREEDING IN SWEDEN 125 



covered an area of 6,000 hektares. All cultures are inspected while growing by 

 the specialists of the Association. The entire seed business of the Company, thus 

 the business with imported foreign seeds also, is under the strict control of the 

 Control Oflfice of the Association of which Mr. J. N. Wallden has been super* 

 intendent from the beginning. All deliveries sent out by the Company, from the 

 largest to the smallest, are delivered under the seal of the Association, and with 

 a guarantee as to purity, germinating power etc The number of sealed sacks 

 delivered last year was about 133,000, and all the seed delivered amounted to 

 about 8,200 tons. The annual export of elit and original seed of Svalof sorts 

 amount to about 1,000 tons. Last year the Company paid the Association 117,500 

 crowns in compensation. The work of the General Seed Company, controlled by 

 the Seed Association, has greatly helped to bring the seed business to the relati* 

 vely high position which it now holds in Sweden. 



The affairs of the Company and the Association are administered by different 

 councils. One member of the council of the Company and five belonging to 

 that of the Association (7 in all) are chosen by the Government in order to be 

 able to control the work of both and to excercise influence as to the use of the state 

 subsidies. The Association is also under the control of the Royal Board of Agri« 

 culture, which is subordinate to the Agricultural Department and is the highest 

 administrative authority for agriculture. 



As well as at the Swedish Seed Association, plant breeding is also carried 

 on to a great extent and according to quite modern principles and methods at 

 WeibuUsholm, a plant breeding institution near Landscrona, a town situated a 

 couple of Swedish miles from Svalof. The work there began about fifty years ago. 

 The father of the present owner began about 1870 to cultivate and sell seed from 

 field roots as a by»trade. He soon began to try to improve these also, first by 

 mass selection of roots, according to their form, but later on with guidance of 

 their specific weight, gained by sinking them into a salt^solution of a certain con« 

 centration. About 1890, when the eldest son had begun to devote himself to 

 the improvement work, new principles were introduced, which were of decisive 

 importance for the future development of Weibullsholm. The pedigree method 

 began to be adopted 1898. The first scientist. Dr. Birger Kajanus, was engaged 

 1907. The improvement work is now carried on by four sections, each of them 

 with a scientific botanist as leader of the breeding work, assisted by an agronome 

 as leader of the practical trials. Kajanus has devoted his attention to winter 

 wheat, six^rowed barley, peas, vetches and forage plants. Dr. Nils Heribert^Nilsson, 

 Lecturer of Genetics, is responsible for rye, oats and potatoes. Dr. Carl Hallquist 

 has field roots and two^rowed barley as his speciality and Amanuensis Carl 

 Hammarlund has charge of the vegetables. The latter is also head of the Control 

 Office of the Institution. An extensive seed business is namely combined with 

 the improvement work. The leader of the whole firm is Harry Weibull, while 

 three of his brothers are responsible for a department each. 



Since many years the firm has naturally dealt with its own improved sorts 

 and strains of all different kinds of field roots and their present sorts compete 

 with the best ones from Svalof As results of the improvement work it has also 



