NCCO BREEDING PROGRAM 
‘1.D., PLANT PATHOLOGIST—COKER’S PEDIGREED SEED COMPANY 
expended towards breeding tobaccos that are not only 
u resistant to these diseases, but at the same time pro- 
I duce as high a yield of top quality tobacco as would 
iy be obtained from any of the standard varieties grown 
ie at the present time, whether produced on diseased 
7 soils or non-diseased soils. 
Our aim is to produce one or more varieties that 
will have resistance to all or most of the important 
tobacco diseases. This program involves the hybridi- 
ay zation or crossing of many types, including wild 
tobaccos with our standard flue-cured varieties, in 
an effort to obtain the necessary combinations that 
will provide disease resistance along with high 
: | quality smoking tobacco. Our overall program, for 
i example, in 1950 included approximately 7500 in- 
the | dividual plants bagged, about 2500 primed separately, 
fe 1426 hybrids and varietal lines in separate plant to 
row plots, and 42 hybrids and selected lines tested 
for yield, quality, adaptability, and general field 
characteristics in a variety strain test. Of these 42, 
fifteen are being processed and analyzed by one of 
the major tobacco companies to determine the manu- 
facturing and smoking properties of each. This co- 
operative project is in its third year, and tests to date 
indicate that many new hybrids, including Golden 
sof Harvest and Golden Wilt, recently released, have 
(00 superior smoking qualities as compared to many of 
tis our standard varieties. 
Dr. C. H. Rogers removing pollen bearing anthers from tobacco 
blooms in preparation for cross breeding with another variety. 
Our Coker’s Golden Wilt, which is resistant to Fusarium and 
Granville Wilt, was bred from such a cross made on plants 
grown on heavily infested soils. 
ry plisswwing hundreds of bagged plant selections. [7] 
