132 



SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



hereditary qualities. The 

 separation of such worthy 

 individuals is by no means 

 as easy as it may seem, 

 for individual excellence 

 may be due merely to 

 favorable surroundings, as 

 extra space or heavy fer- 

 tilization, in which case 

 the superiority is not 

 transmitted to the off-^ 

 spring. On the other 

 hand, it may be due to 

 inherent power in the 

 plant itself, independent 

 of environment ; such 

 inherent excellence is 

 hereditary. 



The breeder's first task, 

 then, is to devise a system 

 by which he can determine 

 which plants are acci- 

 dentally productive and 

 which are in themselves 

 superior. In other words, 

 he must find which good 

 plants are able to transmit 

 their good qualities. This 

 is best done by means of 

 the "ear-to-row" system 

 of field testing. 



