OUR BREEDING PROGRAM ON ° 
SMALL GRAINS 
The final objective for all plant breeding 
is to improve the quantity and quality of the 
yields of the crop with which the breeder 
is working. In order to accomplish this, it is 
necessary for the breeder to meet and over- 
come many obstacles which stand in the 
way of quantity and quality production. 
In the series of photographs on the follow- 
ing pages, we have undertaken to tell the 
story of our small grain breeding work in 
pictures, and to explain how, through scientific 
breeding on a large scale, it is possible to 
improve the yielding ability and disease resist- 
ance, and to overcome many of the normal 
production hazards of our standard southern 
small grains. Years of painstaking, accurate 
tests are necessary before superior, new types 
can be bred and offered. Utmost care is 
required in making crosses which are made 
with definite aims in view, each parent being 
selected because of certain superior qualities. 
Thousands of segregates in the various genera- 
tions are selected, and these put through severe 
rust and smut inoculation, cold and yield tests, 
and tests for storm resistance. Only those 
whose merit has been established and definitely 
proven are offered as new varieties or strains. 
One of the most important single steps in 
a program of grain breeding is in securing 
accurate and dependable yield records, and 
the plant breeder must recognize the supreme 
importance of laying out and carrying on 
his tests in such a manner and for a sufficient 
number of years to insure reliable, compara- 
tive yield results of the varieties he is breed- 
ing and testing. 
The illustrations accompanying this article 
emphasize the meticulous care with which 
each operation in the breeding program is 
carried out. Through this system we have 
been able to maintain Coker varieties at the 
high standard of performance which has earned 
them an enviable reputation throughout many 
parts of the world. 
The progress of any breeding program de- 
pends on the skill of the breeder, how large 
a number of plant progenies he is able to 
handle, and to some extent on good fortune. 
Our plant breeders are thoroughly qualified 
for the important job they are doing through 
specialized training and many years of prac- 
tical experience; and the answer to a part of 
their success in producing superior varieties 
can be found both in our breeding methods 
and the large volume of work carried on. 
More than 40,000 individual test rows are 
annually grown in these experiments. 
In telling our breeding story in pictures, 
space does not permit an illustration of each 
step in the program. However, these pictures 
bring out most of the important operations, 
and give an accurate picture of how our breed- 
ing work is conducted. 
(14) 
7 
Dr. Geo. J. Wilds and assistant cross-breeding twa 
different oat varieties to combine best features 
Co} MN -Yo (ol o 
Showing typica: segregation found in third gen- 
‘eration from original cross. The best of these 
are ‘saved for further breeding and testing. 
The seed are planted by hand and covered and 
rolled by hand-operated implements. 

