Breeding of Wheat. 



as yet it is impossible to state definitely the factors which thus 

 determine the stiffness of straw in one case and not in another. 

 As wheat is largely a pioneer crop, and as the pioneer cannot 

 control his conditions to anything like the extent that is possible 

 in more developed parts of the country, it is important that wheat 

 should be bred to suit local conditions. 



III. 



THE BREEDING OF WHEAT. 



By Professor R. H. BlFFEN, M.A. 



The widespread cultivation of wheat from very early times has 

 led directly to the production of a very large number of distinct 

 varieties, so that growers have abundant opportunity of choosing 

 those which best suit their special conditions of cultivation. 

 Wide as the choice is, however, few will care to admit that they 

 have precisely the varieties they could wish for at their disposal ; 

 the improvement of existent types is, in fact, demanded in prac- 

 tically 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 suit- 

 able for their needs or in some cases to produce them by cross- 

 breeding. In Australia, Canada, and the United States such 

 wheat-breeding experiments 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 trie 

 operation resulted 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 overcome, as it was necessary to fix the new variety ; 

 under the old conditions, this generally meant years of tedious 

 " selection " and often ultimate failure. 



