340 



Trials of New Varieties or Cereals. 



T July, 



Union, to organise a voluntary census of yields of varieties of 

 cereals in different districts on the same principle and with 

 similar objects as in the collection of milk records. 



In the case of new races, however, the prospective grower will 

 always have to rely on the experience and testimony of those who 

 produce, multiply and distribute the original stock. He must 

 expect to pay for this in the form of a high price for a few 

 bushels of seed, which is all that he needs at the start in order 

 to stock his farm within a few years, and even so he will some- 

 times be disappointed and find that the new race does not suit 

 his land. On the other hand, if he gets a substantially increased 

 return, due either to yield or to quality, or still better to both, 

 the increase may easily be equal to the rent of the land and he 

 may make much more than this for a few years by the sale of 

 some of his produce for seed. 



Now the position of the plant breeder is that unless he is 

 very lucky the cost of producing a new race which appears to have 

 some definite advantage in its favour is many hundreds of 

 pounds, quite apart from any systematic series of field trials 

 such as have now been inaugurated by the National Institute of 

 Agricultural Botany, and if he proceeds at his own cost to field 

 trials in different localities one of two things happens — either 

 the new race gets into other hands than his and he gets no return, 

 or he must establish an extensive organization for both multi- 

 plication and control. In the latter case he runs the risk of 

 having to incur these costs and then find that his new race is 

 after all " not good enough " — in which case it ought to be 

 " scrapped," because the spreading of inferior races is a dis- 

 service to agriculture. 



The above appear to the writer to be considerations which 

 justify the efforts of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany 

 to organise a system of variety trials for new races in the joint 

 interest of plant breeders and purchasers of seed-corn, and 

 generally in the interest of increased production of grain in the 

 country. 



Does what has been said above make it necessary to test great 

 numbers of new races in a great number of localities and over 

 a long series of years? It certainly shows the need for more 

 systematic methods than have hitherto been adopted : but there 

 are some comforting considerations. It is becoming evident that 

 there are some valuable racial qualities, the presence or absence 

 of which can be demonstrated by plant breeders themselves in a 

 few years in one or a few localities on small areas, and which 



