.Tciiinnrx. l!)L'l. 



S C I E N 'I' I I ' I (' A ( i H 1 ( ; 1 1 L 'I' i; R E 



25 



Breeding Methods m Forage Plants 



i;.V M. (t. .MAI/FK, IMi.l). 



Dinnliiiiin Ai/roxI'il'ic/ist , Central Experimental Farm, 



Ottawa. 



(Kead before tlie Western Caiiaflian Society of A<^i-oiio my, and published through the eoui-lesy of that Society) 



Note. — On account of being prepared foi' presenita- 

 tion at the meeting of The Western Canadian Society 

 of Agronomy, held at Edmonton, Alta., December 

 28-30, 1920, the .present paper is restricitied to deal 

 with breeding inetliods of a practical nature ai)])lic- 

 able to Forage Plants of particular interasi to Wes- 

 tern Canada. Lt; doe,s not deal witlh breeding method.s 

 applied to Field Roots, as these are of little imjiorl- 

 ance to the We.st. Neitjier does it deal wifli breeding 

 nidtliods applied to Indian corn. It is confined to 

 breeding metihods applicable to Grasses, Alfalfa and 

 Red Clover. 



Importance of Satisfactory Breeding Material. 



Concerning itilie breeding of Gra.s-ses, Alfalfa, and 

 Red Clover in Canada, it should be emphasized 1ihat 

 the results of the breeder's efforts will in t. 'arge 

 measure depend upon the general nature of the mate- 

 rial with which tjie breeding work is to be undertaken. 

 Of particular importance is the necessity of working 

 with perfectly winter-liardy material. If this is not 

 done, the breeder may experience some disagreeable 

 disappointment sooner or later. 



As an example may be related an incident in Or- 

 chard Grass breeding at tihe Central Experimental 

 P''arm, Ottawa. Years ago, .some jjartially fixed 

 .strains of Orchard GravSs representing apparently 

 very jiiigh-yielding types were received from Europe. 

 The strains in question were grown for observation a 

 couple of years and, a.s they appeared to sitiand the 

 Ottawa climate without: suffering any winter-killing 

 whatever, il was decided to perfect their uiiifonnity. 

 Accordingly, breeding woi-k was sitarted and. in the 

 sununer of 1918, seetl was harvested from several di.s- 

 tinct varieties breeding almost true to type and look- 

 uig very promising from a hay-i)roducing standpoint. 

 The .seed was sown in 1919 and of eadh variety a 

 number of individual young jilants were set out for 



the pui-pose of finally testing the uiiifonnity of the 

 varietiew. T,he winter of 1919-20, however, happened 

 to be very unfavorable to gra.sses and clovers and in 

 the spring of 1920 it was found that every plant of 

 the different varieties was killed. It may be claimed 

 that the kiDing migtht have been due to a general 

 weakening on account of repeated inbreeding l)ul, 

 on tIhe other hand, it was also foujid that a number 

 of the original Orchard grass plants which for years 

 had proven perfectly cold-resistant were also killed. 

 This invites the conclusion that the material worked 

 ivith was hardy imder ordinary winter conditions but 

 not sufficiently, at least only partly so. under very 

 trying conditions. 



This experience at Ottawa is relarted to show how- 

 very important it is to .start from material that: is 

 perfectly winter-Jiardy. This is especially it'he case 

 when working with species which are recognized as 

 being more or less tender, such as Orchard gras.s, Tall 

 Oat grass, Red Clover, Alfalfa and others. In the 

 .case of Orchard grass referred to, it took seven years 

 before its lack of perfect winter-resistance was brouglht 

 out. It is evident, liowever, that it is impracticable 

 to spend such a long time on ob.servations before start- 

 ing breeding work proper. In order to start breeding 

 work with a tender .species as soon as possible, it would 

 therefore be opportune to take some short cuts when- 

 ever possible, i.e., to secure hardy material without 

 having to speiul many years on ob.sei'vations. This can 

 rather easily be .done. 



All the grasses and clovers grown in Canada for 

 hay and pasture occur either in the wild state or a.s 

 escapes from cultivation. The wild plants and t,iic 

 escapes live generally luider conditions which are much 

 more trying tllian those uiulei- which the cultivated 

 plants exist and it is therefore only reasonable to 

 surmise that thej' may represent comparatively Ihardy 



FlRiirp 1. — Western Rye rirass forms, breediriR true to type 

 without i.solation of the mother pLints, Eacli row grown 

 from seed of an indivulu.^l plant. 



Fienr. 



