146 

 5. The Breeding of Pease* 



Pease are grown in Sweden chiefly as a fodder crop in conjunction with 

 oats and vetches, where they form a most valued ingredient. As a grain 

 crop they occupy a relatively unimportant place, less than 1% of the whole 

 cultivated area being devoted to their production for this purpose. This is 

 due to a variety of causes, but chiefly to the frequent occurrence of conditions 

 which promote continued growth of foliage at the expense of seed production. 

 Despite these difficulties the value of the pea crop, both as a fodder and as 

 a grain crop, has always been regarded sufficiently great at Svalof to warrant 

 the best efforts of the breeder in attempting to produce more suitable sorts. 

 The difference between sorts in regard to various practical qualities, and their 

 varying attitudes towards different conditions of soil and climate, rendered 

 it necessary first of all to collect and test in large trial plots a number of the 

 best Swedish as well as foreign sorts. The close examination and study to 

 which this collection was subjected soon revealed the nature and extent of 

 the deficiencies in the then available material and showed that improvement , 

 in the form of more suitable sorts, was absolutely imperative if the growing of 

 pease was ever to become even, a partial success. The old varieties were 

 more or less uneven and usually very uncertain in ripening. Under favorable 

 conditions a very good crop might often be realized, but when conditions were 

 the reverse, and this unfortunately is too often the case in Sweden, an almost 

 absolute failure might result. If, for example, the harvest be cool and moist 

 the plant may continue to grow and bloom until insufficient time remains 

 for the seed to ripen. In this case not only is the grain sacrificed but the 

 quality of the straw likewise suffers in that the lower portions become leaf- 

 less and not infrequently become badly decayed. Under these circumstances 

 one of the most pressing needs, especially when breeding for grain, is for a 

 sort which will mature with certainty each year even under relatively adverse 

 conditions. In working toward this end Tedin has found that certain sorts 

 or pure lines which bloom about the same time may behave differently under 

 certain conditions, some sorts being less sensitive to excessive rainfall than 

 others. The Concordia variety for example, begins to bloom about the same 

 time as does another sort out of the Ostgbta variety, but when the precipita- 

 tion is abundant, the latter may continue to grow and bloom indefinitely, 

 while the former ripens almost normally. 



Among the old varieties all was confusion and uncertainty regarding 

 names and practical values when the work at Svalof began. One could obtain, 

 for example, samples under the name of Ostgota Pease from different sources 

 but which on being grown revealed enormous differences. Indeed, the 

 records show that these lots often resembled each other so little that between 

 the earliest and the latest there might be a difference of from three weeks to 

 a month in ripening. 



* Some very interesting work has been done by Tedin with Vetches as well as with Pease, but since 

 the former crop does not occupy a large place in the Agriculture of Canada and since the principles of 

 improvement as well as the methods of handling are practically the same in both cases, it will not be 

 discussed in this paper. 



