Pedigree  Seed  Corn. 
137 
yield  of  barley  in  Ireland  last  year  as  estimated  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  was  43'8  bushels  of  56  lb.  per  acre, 
as  against  the  estimate  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  of  33 
imperial  bushels  per  acre  in  Great  Britain.  For  the  previous 
ten  years  the  estimated  yields  were  : — Ireland,  35’8  bushels  of 
56  lb. ; Great  Britain,  33’1  imperial  bushels.  The  exceptional 
difference  last  year  was,  of  course,  largely  due  to  a more 
favourable  season  in  Ireland,  but  there  is  very  little  doubt  that 
the  work  of  the  Department  in  variety  testing  has  had  a con- 
siderable effect  in  improving  barley  cultivation  in  Ireland  as 
by  general  consent  it  has  had  in  other  directions. 
Germany. — “Variety  testing”  has  been  conducted  in  recent 
years  on  an  extensive  scale  by  the  German  Agricultural 
Society,  and  by  local  societies  acting  in  co-operation  with  the 
larger  society.  There  were  in  all  573  sets  of  trials  in  1908, 
and  of  these  543  were  of  cereals. 
Registration. 
In  addition  to  “ variety  testing  ” the  German  Agricultural 
Society  carries  on  an  extensive  establishment  which  undertakes 
the  registration,  inspection,  “ recognition,”  and  distribution 
of  seed  on  behalf  of  its  members.  These  operations  were 
described  at  length  in  an  article  in  the  Journal  of  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  (June,  1909).  Briefly  stated,  the  register 
(“  Saat-gut  Angebote  ”)  serves  the  purpose  of  notifying  to 
growers  where  seed  of  pure  races  may  be  obtained. 
This  society  fulfils  in  Germany  the  same  function  as  our 
own  greater  agricultural  societies,  and  in  addition  to  these  the 
branch  of  its  operations  dealing  with  seed  corn  appears  to 
have  been  particularly  successful. 
It  is  only  proposed  here  to  deal  with  the  question  of 
registration  in  a tentative  manner,  and  to  put  forward  some 
of  the  more  apparent  pros  and  cons.  The  establishment  of 
any  such  system  would  be  an  innovation  in  this  country,  and 
any  objections  which  might  be  raised  should  be  fully 
considered  before  any  responsible  society  decided  on  initiating 
any  similar  scheme. 
Putting  aside  that  part  of  the  operations  of  the  German 
society  which  deals  with  actual  distribution,  some  of  the  other 
methods,  and  more  particularly  registration  as  applied  to 
cereals,  app  ’ar  possible  of  imitation  with  advantage  in  this 
country,  with  perhaps  some  limitations  and  not  improbably 
some  improvements. 
It  does  not  appear  probable  that  the  distributive  part  of 
the  system  (although  it  need  not  necessarily  involve  trading 
competition)  would  commend  itself  for  adoption  in  this 
country,  nor  does  this  appear  to  be  any  more  a necessary 
