MAGAZINE 
OP 
Tf)G m^OOL OF AGRIOULTUKG, 
COLOMBO. 
Added as ■ Supjdemcnt moti(]iIi/ to the “ TJIOPICAL AGBICULTUIilST'’ 
The following pages include the contents of the Magazine of the School of 
Agriculture for May : — 
Vol. III.] MAY, 1892. [No. 11. 
IMPROVKMENT OP SEED. 
HE SPUJOOTION anti production 
of good send i.s a subject of the 
utmost importance to the agricul- 
turist, and yet no attention what- 
ever is ])aid to it by the grain cultivators of India 
and Ceylon. Mr. llallet, whose name is associ- 
ated with the imi>rovement of wheat in England, 
started his experiments some? Sii years ago, and 
proceeded in this wise: He cbo.se a single head 
of tluo (pialitj’. irrespective of size or vigour, 
“IJ in. long, containing 47 seeds. These grains 
Were carefully planted in rows, one seed 1:1 inches 
each way. At harvest the plants were 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 i)lant. The first year 
the best plant bore 10 heads, the second 22 
heads, the third .HO, the fourth .52, the best head 
of which was 8} in. long and contained 12.H 
grains. This was the origin of Hallet’s famous 
‘‘Pedigree” wheat. Air. Ilallot, w'riting on this 
subject, gives it ns the result of his mature expe- 
rience, that every fully-developed plant, of any 
Cereal, has one ear superior in jiroductive power 
to any others on the plant ; that every such 
plant has one grain more productive than any 
other, and this best grain grows on the best 
oar, and the superior vigour of this grain is 
transmissible to its progeny: that by selection 
this 8\iporiority increases : that the improvement 
la at first very rapid, but in successive years 
jt gradually grows loss : that an improved typo 
IS the result, and by careful selections the 
improvement can bo kept up, 
Experiments conducted by Hr. Gustavo Marck 
at the Experimental Station, Eeip.sic, 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 in 
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 CKperimented 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, ns a rule, re- 
sult from badly-grown roots. I’rof. Darwin 
states t hat 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 well-enriched 
piece of ground for his seed-plot. This plot 
should be enriched by fertilizers to keep it up 
to the highest possible standard of excellence. 
Every tiller of the soil should acquire a habit 
of close observation. In passing through his 
crops his ej'e should Iw ever on the alert for 
a superior cob of maize, a, cob ripening earlier, 
an ear of wheat with a larger grain, or possess- 
ing some superior properties. He may have 
several varieties to seclect from ; let him select 
t he best, the variety showing most good points, 
mark the plants by tying a piece of tape ot 
something noticeable, when ripe, lay carefully 
past, and at sowing time plant it, leaving plenty 
of space for the plant to be fully developed 
Bet this selection bo continued with care, and 
1 will give a guarantee that the seetV-plot wiU 
