464 Plant-Breeding 



10. Continuation of the selection. If the farmer has in mind 

 the continuous selection of his seed, with the view of selling his 

 seed as improved seed, he should plant small samples of seed 

 from each of the selected rows in the clonal test plat. Their 

 treatment and subsequent selection should be a repetition of the 

 original scheme outlined above. 1 



General Directions and Questions for Report on Corn 

 Breeding 



Suppose you buy a farm of 200 acres on which are growing 

 the following crops : potatoes, corn, timothy, and one of the 

 three cereals, wheat, oats, or barley. There are 50 acres of 

 pasture and woodland. You wish to continue growing these 

 same crops, and at the same time to improve them by a scheme 

 of selective breeding. Plan the arrangement of fields and breed- 

 ing plots for the first 6 years, using the following directions. 

 Timothy breeding plots should be 200 to 300 feet from any 

 other timothy. Corn plots, 1200 feet from any other corn. 

 (Why?) Each year should be planned separately, using 

 maps and diagrams, but should be included in a definite 

 six-year scheme. Observe proper rotations for crops where 

 desirable. 



1. In selecting plants for breeding purposes, why do we choose 

 individual plants? 



2. In breeding work, why do we test out the selected individ- 

 uals by breeding each one separately? 



3. Why is it most satisfactory for the breeder to work with 

 plants that are self-fertilized? 



4. Why do we plant border rows around breeding plots? 



5. Why do we detassel alternate halves of adjacent rows in 

 corn breeding plots? 



1 For more detailed directions for timothy breeding, see Webber, H. J., 

 4 ' Production of New and Improved Varieties of Timothy." Cornell 

 University Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 313, 1912. 



