106 



VII. SUMMARY OF WORK DONE WITH DIFFERENT CROPS, 

 AND RESULTS OBTAINED. 



1. The Breeding of Autumn Wheat in Sweden* 



Thirty years ago the area devoted to the growing of autumn wheat in 

 the southern parts of Sweden was much smaller than that of the present 

 day. The so-called " land " sorts (common sorts of the country) which were 

 then generally grown, were relatively unproductive, weak strawed and more 

 or less susceptible to rust, their only virtues being their quality and hardiness 

 or ability to withstand those conditions of temperature which render other 

 sorts unsuitable. 



In the early eighties importations of foreign varieties were made and 

 tested by farmers in the southern parts of the country. Among these the 

 English Squarehead, while much less hardy, was found in good years (mild 

 winters and favorable springs) to greatly surpass the Swedish sorts in yield, 

 stiffness of straw and resistance against rust, and thus quickly became widely 

 distributed. This variety, however, was not hardy enough even for the 

 most southern parts of the country and consequently not at all suitable for 

 the north. By reason of its lack of hardiness, the average yield of this sort, 

 after a long series of years, was found to be scarcely superior to that of the 

 common Swedish varieties. 



When the Institution at Svalof was founded its autumn wheat work 

 was directed towards the production of a sort of the Squarehead's good 

 qualities combined with the superior hardiness of the common sorts of the 

 country. This object it was thought, might be reached in either of two ways 

 and all work was therefore turned in these directions thus : 



(a) To obtain a hardier sort from among the Squarehead varieties or 



(b) To obtain from the hardy Swedish material a sort with the other 

 good qualities of Squarehead. 



Many different foreign sorts were tested in comparative trials but all 

 were excluded except the genuine Squarehead types. Of these, a sort known 

 as Shbriff's Squarehead proved the best. This sort had been introduced into 

 Sweden about 1883 and by the continual thinning out of all weak plants by 

 severe winters had become considerably hardier as a variety, but at the same 

 time it had to a large extent lost its original character. Another Squarehead 

 variety introduced in 1885 had likewise become hardier, but in this case the 

 original Squarehead type was maintained since care had been exercised by 

 the growers to keep only the true Squarehead type. This selection received 

 the nan>e Renodlad (Selected) Squarehead. (See Fig. 4). These two 

 sorts formed the principal basis of breeding work with foreign sorts. 



* The data submitted herewith on work with wheat, as well as that presented later on work with oats, 

 have been obtained from publications by Nilsson-Ehle, 1901-1910, which include annual reports on the 

 work with these crops together with special descriptions and accounts of new sorts distributed from 1905- 

 1910. Of special interest and value are the excellent summaries of results obtained from comparative 

 trials made with different sorts of wheat and oats up to and including 1906, which are published in Sveriges 

 Uts&desfOrenings Tidskrift, 1906. p. 189-308 and p. 45-81 respectively. 



