LANDRETHS’ PLANT-SELECT 
versus 
FRUIT-SELECT SEED 
Most pepper selection is done from the basket rather 
than the plant. This is a great error since the plant 
is the unit of selection, not the individual fruits. 
When we started our new pepper improvement pro¬ 
gram in 1930, we began with the plant, selecting many 
thousands for testing the following year. 
In the subsequent years, we selected and tested the 
best plants each year until we finally obtained uni¬ 
formity of plants and fruit, thickness of flesh, hollow 
crowns and increased jdelds per acre. 
Inspecting Staked Plant 
Dr. Roy Magruder, of the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, Inspect¬ 
ing Staked Plants on Landreths’ 
Bloomsdale Farm. The staking of 
the best plants is the beginning of 
all Landreths’ pepper improvement 
projects. Many thousand of these 
aie select ('d each year. 
Testing the Staked Plants 
Thei e were 1172 plant selec¬ 
tions of World Beater pepper 
tested in this field. Many 
were eliminated. 
Isolating Varieties 
Note the corn used as a screen 
to prevent cross-pollination. 
Hundreds of yards separate 
the different varieties besides 
the planting of crops as screens. 
1 
1 
Checking Plants 
Landreths’ Assistant Plant Breeders checking crown-setting of 
Florida Giant peppers. 
