October, 1910.] 



305 



Edible Products, 



THE BREEDING OF WHEAT. 

 By Prop. R. H. Biffrn, m.a. 



(From the Suppl. Jl. Bd- of Agriculture, 

 Vol, XVII., No. 3, June, 1910.) 



The widespread cultivation of wheat 

 from very early times has led directly 

 to the production of a very large num- 

 ber of distinct varieties, so th it growers 

 have abundant opportunity of choosing 

 those which best suit their special con- 

 ditions of cultivation. Wide as the 

 choice is, however, few would care to 

 admit that they have precisely the 

 varieties they could wish for at their dis- 

 posal ; the improvement of existent type 

 is, in fact, demanded in practically all 

 directions. In most parts of the world 

 the features of outstanding importance 

 are strength, resistance against disease, 

 and yield. Under certain conditions 

 the power of resisting drought and that 

 of maturing early are also of extreme 

 importance, and any improvements in 

 these directions would lead at once to a 

 great increase in the area within which 

 the crop can be cultivated. 



Most of the wheat-growing countries 

 recognise these facts, and several have 

 made considerable efforts either to find 

 wheats suitable for their needs or in 

 some cases to produce them by cross- 

 breeding. In Australia, Canada and the 

 United States such wheat-breeding ex- 

 periments have been in progress during 

 the past twenty years. On the whole 

 the experiments cannot yet be said to 

 have met with the success they deserve, 

 with the possible exception of Farrer's 

 in Western Australia, which promise to 

 effect radical alterations in the types 

 of wheat cultivated there. The reasons 

 for this partial failure are now obvious. 

 Breeders had no definite knowledge of 

 the results to be expected from any 

 particular cross. They knew in a 

 general fashion that the operation re- 

 sulted in "breaking the type" or 

 inducing " great variability," and there 

 was always a hope that amongst the 

 variants some form would be found 

 superior to its parents. Looking back 

 on the records it is now obvious that 

 the majority of their crosses were 

 very unlikely to give results of value. 

 Even when the desired types were found, 

 the difficulties were by no means over- 

 come, as it was necessary to fix the 

 new variety ; under the old conditions, 

 this generally meant years of tedious 

 " selection " and often ultimate failure. 



The republication of Mendel's work 

 and its speedy confirmation and exten- 

 sion altered the whole aspect of affairs 

 by giving a rational explanation of the 

 39 



phenomena which had so puzzled breed- 

 ers. It was proved that variants were 

 the results of recombinations of charac- 

 ters, obvious or otherwise, already ex- 

 istent in the parents ; furthermore, it 

 showed how the essential fixity of type 

 could be secured. 



To put wheat breeding on a certain 

 basis it was necessary in the first place 

 to trace the mode of inheritance of the 

 many characteristics which in various 

 combinations make up the existent 

 varieties of wheat. With some few 

 exceptions this has now been done, and 

 it has shown that nearly all the out- 

 standing features of importance frcm an 

 economic point of* view " Mendelise" and 

 can be brought together in any desired 

 combination. Thus, by way of an 

 example, a wheat of the general charac- 

 ter of Revitt wheat, with its beard grey 

 colour, and rough chaff, but producing 

 strong grain like that of Red Fife, can 

 be bred and fixed in three generations 

 by crossing Rivett whea.t and Red Fife. 

 Again, the same cross will give the 

 corresponding beardless or white smooth- 

 chaffed types. 



In view of the steadily increasing 

 demand for strong wheats and the 

 general shortage of the world's supply of 

 such sorts, much attention has been paid 

 to the inheritance of this characteristic. 

 To simplify matters a strong wheat was 

 denied as one capable of yielding a light 

 and well-piled loaf — that is to say, a 

 loaf of large volume, which stands 

 well and does not flatten out in the 

 baker's owen. Such a definition was 

 necessary in view of the conflicting 

 opinions current as to the real meaning 

 to be attached to the term " strength." 



Before deciding on the best varieties 

 to use as strong parents many preli- 

 minary trials had to be made. These 

 tended to show that strength was not so 

 simple a characteristic as might have 

 been expected. Many varieties possess- 

 ing this feature in a high degree in 

 their own countries, when grown under 

 climatic conditions gave wheat no 

 stronger than our own weak sorts. 

 This appeared to be particularly the 

 case with some of the finest of the 

 Hungarian varieties. Some few varie- 

 ties, on the other hand, produced excel- 

 lent grain when grown year after year 

 in this country. One of the best exam- 

 ples of these varieties is Red Fife or 

 Galician wheat. This has now been 

 grown over a period of sixteen years, 

 chiefly in the West Midlands but also in 

 many other parts of the country, and 

 its grain can still compete on equal 

 terms with the Red Fife imported from 

 Canada as " Manitoba Hard." 



