56 PLANT-BREEDING 



With the same object in view, two branch stations have 

 been organized. One of them is situated at Ultima in middle 

 Sweden, and the other at Alnarp in the same region but on a 

 richer soil. At Ultuna, for instance, the cultures of the new 

 Svalof Black Bell oats are attracting special attention. 



During the first years of its existence, the station followed 

 the methods of selection and amelioration which, at that 

 time, were generally accepted by the breeders of central Eu- 

 rope. As we have seen in our last lecture, the German 

 breeders considered the impurities of their races as of minor 

 importance. They could be gotten rid of by a careful choice 

 of the best and most typical ears, and the saving of seed for 

 sowing had of course to be accompanied always by some such 

 kind of selection. The exclusion of inferior ears was more 

 or less considered as the necessary means of keeping the races 

 true to their standard type. Improved races, as a rule, were 

 more responsive to soil, manure and treatment than the local 

 varieties. It is, however, unavoidable that, with the straw 

 of the manure, some stray grains of these inferior sorts will, 

 from time to time, and not rarely, come onto the fields. Here 

 they will be content with a lesser supply of food, space and 

 care than the improved races, and thereby be enabled to grow 

 faster and multiply more quickly. It is hardly conceivable 

 how soon these inferior races may multiply themselves to such 

 an extent as to occupy large parts of the field, supplanting 

 the ameliorated type and lessening the harvest to a noticeable 

 degree. In bad years, even the wind oats which scatter 

 their small seeds to the winds and thereby yield nothing at 

 all for the harvest, may be seen to replace more than half the 

 stock of the fields 



Under such circumstances, keeping the races pure by 

 means of selection is evidently a necessary part of all intelli- 

 gent culture. It is the first thing to be done, but it is consid- 

 ered hardly worthy the name of improvement. In Ger- 



