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Pedigree  Seed  Corn. 
“ Pedigree  ” gives  to  the  grower  and  the  breeder  alike  the 
“ quality  ” of  the  produce  which  they  require  to  the  extent 
that  this  is  determined  by  racial  characters.  Whether  or  not 
it  gives  vigour  of  constitution  and  productivity  depends  on 
suitability  of  the  “l)reed”  to  the  conditions. 
In  both  cases,  however,  without  pure  races  in  which  the 
racial  characters  are  constant,  and  which  therefore  can  be 
systematically  compared,  we  are  groping  in  the  dark  in  en- 
deavouring to  obtain  better  adaptation  of  races  to  different  sets 
of  average  external  conditions. 
Variety  Testing. 
In  several  other  countries  more  attention  has  been  given 
than  in  Great  Britain  to  systematic  “ variety  testing  ” of  cereals. 
This  is,  of  course,  not  to  say  that  this  country  has  been  behind 
other  countries  in  the  raising  of  good  varieties  and  I’aces  of  the 
cereals.  The  present  plea  is  not  for  the  production  of  new 
and  improved  races  which  is  proceeding  as  rapidly  as  our 
knowledge  admits  of,  but  for  their  isolation  and  for  better 
means  of  judging  of  their  adaptation  to  local  conditions. 
What  has  been  done  with  maize  in  the  United  States 
affords  one  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  value  of  variety 
testing.  This  crop  is,  of  course,  of  enormous  importance  in 
the  States.  The  total  area  is  over  a hundred  million  acres — 
computed  by  the  United  States  of  America  Department  of 
Agriculture  to  have  had  a value  of  over  300  million  pounds 
in  1908,  a much  greater  annual  value  than  that  of  the  whole 
annual  agricultural  produce  of  all  kinds  in  this  country. 
In  several  of  the  great  maize  growing  states  variety  trials 
were  commenced  more  than  twenty  years  ago  under  the 
direction  of  the  State  Experiment  Stations.  There  is  a great 
mass  of  literature  on  this  subject,  and  the  recent  operations 
in  one  of  the  principal  maize  states  will  afford  a good  example 
both  of  the  method  and  value  of  well-organised  systems  of 
“ variety  testing.” 
The  state  of  Indiana  grows  about  4^  million  acres  of  maize 
(three  times  the  English  acreage  of  wheat).  The  variety  tests 
are  directed  by  the  Purdue  University  Experiment  Station  at 
Lafayette. 
Out  of  many  hundred  different  varieties  grown  in  different 
parts  of  the  United  States,  twenty  had  been  proved  after  a 
series  of  trials,  in  past  years  to  give  good  results  in  various 
parts  of  Indiana. 
For  the  purpose  of  the  more  recent  trials,  the  state  was 
divided  into  twelve  districts.  To  a number  of  growers  in  each 
district  a set  of  five  out  of  the  twenty  varieties  of  maize  are 
sent  annually.  The  number  of  growers  reporting  on  these 
