I 
THE MLAQAZINK 
OF 
Tf)G mwoi OF AQmmunm 
COL.CMBC. 
Added as r Supplement monthh/ to thr TUOPICAL AGBIGULTURISTr 
The following pages include the contents of tlie Magazine of the School of 
Agriculture for May : — 
Vol. III.] 
MAY, 1892. 
[No. 11. 
IMPROVEMENT OF SEED. 
[HE SELECTION and production 
of good seed is a subject; of the 
utmost importance to the agricul- 
turist, and yet no attention what- 
ever is paid to it by the grain cultivators of India 
and Ceylon. Mr. Hallet, whose name is associ- 
ated with the improvement of wheat in England, 
started liis experiments some 3o years ago, and 
proceeded in tliis wise : He chose a single head 
of fine quality, irrespective of size or vigour, 
4f in, long, containing 47 seeds. Tliese grains 
were carefully planted in rows, one seed 12 inclies 
each way. At harvest the plants v^^ere compared, 
and the best head of the best plant planted next 
year, and so on year after year, chosing the head 
from the most prolific plant. The first year 
the best plant bore 10 heads, the second 22 
heads, the third 39, the fourth 52, the best head 
of which was 8f in. long and contained 123 
grains. This was the origin of Hallet's famous 
" Pedigree " wheat. Mr. Hallet, writing qci ^ihia 
subject, gives it as the result of his matiire expe- 
rience, that ovory fuUy-developed plant, of any 
cereal, has one ear superior iu productive power 
jiQ any others on the plant ; that every such 
plant luis one grain more productive than any 
Other, and this best grain grows on tlie best 
ear, and the superior vigour oi this grain is 
transmissiblo. to its progeny : tlmt by selection 
tht.s superiority increases : tliat the improvement 
is at first very rapid, but in successive years 
it gradually grows less : that an improved typo 
is the result, and by careful selections the 
improvement can be kept up, 
E.xperiments conducted by Dr. Gustavo Marck 
at the Experimental Station, Leipsic, and at 
Halle, in Germany, go to show that a larger, 
better and more uniform growth is obtained from 
large seeds, — the superiority being shown ia 
every particular, in height, luxuriance of growth/ 
uniformity, aggregate weight, number of ears 
or pods, number of seed, weight of seed, quality 
of the crop ; in fact every desirable characteristic 
was in favour of larger seeds. Prof, Lebemann 
of Munich had the same results. Prof. Buckman 
of England experimented with seeds from mal- 
formed and misshappen root crops, and finding 
that they produced greater deformities than their 
parents presented, concluded that a degenerate 
progeny and a poorer crop will, as a rule, re- 
sult from badly-grown roots. Prof. Darwin 
states that since the cultivation of beet for sugar, 
in France, the plant has almost exactly doubled 
its yield of sugar, and this has been effected 
by the careful and systematic selection of roots 
for seeds. At one of the late Agricultural Con- 
ferences in Brisbane, the following piece of 
advice was given by Mr. David Clarke:— "Every 
farmer and gardener should select a w«ll-enriched 
piece of ground for his seed-plot. This plot 
should be snrichert by fertilizers to keep it up 
to the highest possible standard of excellence. 
Every tiller of tlie soil should acquire a habiti 
of close observation. In passing through hfs 
crops his eye should be ever on the alert for 
a superior cob of maize, a cob ripening earlier, 
an ear of wheat with a larger gra^in, or possess- 
ing some superior properties. He may have 
several varieties to seclect from ; let him select 
the best, the variety sliowing most good points, 
mark the plants by tying a piece of tape or 
something noticeable, when ripe, lay carefully 
past, and at sowing time plant it, leaving plenty 
of space for the plant to be fully developed. 
Let this selection be coutinued with cure, and 
1 will give a guarantee that the seed-plot will 
^iirt?r»ir* lie * 
