128 



Gardening 



FIG. 79. A portion of the seed trial grounds of a large seed company. Each 

 row is numbered, and a careful record is kept of the growth and yield of the 

 plants. Reliable seed firms spend much money in keeping up the quality of the 

 seeds they sell. 



will often be of mixed parentage. When this is the case, 

 they may not be true to varieties. 



Most standard varieties are already highly bred and 

 are the result of repeated selection ; they appear to have 

 reached their limits as far as the development of desirable 

 qualities is concerned. Variation in such highly bred 

 varieties most often gives rise to poorer plants. The 

 seed breeder watches carefully and pulls up such poor 

 plants (or " rogues/' as he calls them), so that they 

 cannot become the parents of his later crops. 



Seed growing an important industry. The best 

 seedsmen maintain extensive fields for growing seeds of 

 plants of standard varieties. They also have large 

 growing plots for testing the seeds of other growers and 

 for experimenting in the production of new varieties. 

 Special and often expensive apparatus is used for collect- 



