CHAPTER X 



PLANT BREEDING AS A FACTOR IN INTENSIVE 

 AGRICULTURE 



INTENSIVE agriculture is not the produc- 

 tion of special crops, the cultivation of 

 which is intensive. It is the development 

 of a system of farming in which the various 

 factors are so adjusted as to make a highly 

 organized and at the same time specialized 

 aggregate or unit. Nevertheless, plant breed- 

 ing may play an important part in the efficiency 

 of the aggregate. The correct adjustment of 

 satisfactory units may not result in the desired 

 end because of the inefficiency of the units. To 

 make an effective aggregate the units them- 

 selves must be of a high character. 



A dairy farm may fail because the individ- 

 uals in the herd are not efficient. The cropping 

 system may be well suited to the soil and cli- 

 mate and to the need of the dairy herd. The 

 housing of both stock and provender may be 

 of a desirable character and the marketing of 

 the product may be well handled, but with un- 

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