20 



Breeding of Wheat. 



The republication of Mendel's work and its speedy confirmation 

 and extension altered the whole aspect of affairs by giving- a 

 rational explanation of the phenomena which had so puzzled 

 breeders. It was proved that the variants were the results of 

 recombinations of characters, obvious or otherwise, aleady existent 

 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 been shown that nearly all the outstanding 

 features of importance from an economic point of view 

 "Mendelise" and can be brought together in any desired com- 

 bination. Thus, by way of an example, a wheat of the general 

 character of Rivett 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 wheat and 

 Red Fife. Again, the same cross will give the corresponding 

 beardless or white and 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 defined 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 oven. 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 preliminary trials had to be made. These tended to show 

 that strength was not so simple a characteristic as might have 

 been expected. Many varieties possessing this feature in a high 

 degree in their own countries, when grown under our 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 varieties, on the other 

 hand, produced excellent grain when grown year after year in 

 this country. One of the best examples 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." 



It is with strength of this type — the strength determined not 

 merely by climatic conditions, though possibly varying a little from 

 season to season — that the breeders of this country are concerned. 



