34 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND THE FARMER : 



In practice it is found that while colour and shape can be deter-^ 

 mined rehably in first-year tubers, it is only possible to give 

 a very rough guess at early maturing and yielding capacity. 

 There is further the difficulty of maintaining the vigour and 

 health of the plants. It has been found to be necessary to send 

 the seedlings to Scotland and Ireland for the production of 

 second-year's tubers, and it is proposed to repeat this practice 

 at frequent intervals in the life of the stock. The present position 

 is that about loo of the best plants have been selected from 

 those grown in Scotland last -season, and these will be again 

 • sent to Scotland for growing on for a further year. DupHcates 

 are sent to the Ormskirk Testing Station to test for immunity 

 from Wart Disease. 



Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth. 



Herbage Plants. — At Aberystwyth the question of producing 

 improved strains of herbage plants is receiving special attention. 

 The aim of the work is two-fold : firstly, to investigate the 

 possibility of introducing new types into the country; secondly, 

 to improve varieties already in cultivation. Under the former 

 heading, some 20 or 30 foreign herbage plants have already been 

 tested at the Station, and a few of these have been found 

 deserving of further investigation. Of these the most promising 

 are two grasses — a slender wheat grass and. a species of Canary 

 grass — and a species of clover from Australia. 



The improvement of existing varieties by breeding is difficult 

 and laborious, mainly because httle work of the sort has hitherto 

 been attempted in this country, and the grasses and other 

 herbage plants contained in the grazing and hay pastures up' 

 and down the country represent a motley collection of hybrids 

 showing all possible variations. In the first instance, therefore, 

 it was necessary to secure as many types of plants as possible, 

 not only from cultivated and wild pastures in this country but 

 also from abroad. A very considerable number of plants have 

 been collected in this way and are being tested in the gardens 

 and trial grounds attached to the Station. At the trial grounds,, 

 some 800 rod and half-rod plots are at present planted out, in 

 addition to over 200 small garden plots. The work has already 

 yielded interesting results. It has been found that for Welsh 

 conditions, commercial Italian red clover is entirely unsatis- 

 factory; that, in general, imported red clover seed is much' 

 less satisfactory than strains grown in this country; and that 

 of " home " red clovers, two strains, viz., Cornish marl clover 

 (from the Wadebridge district) and clover from Montgomeryshire,, 

 are particularly promising, and will be used for the purpose of. 



