PLANT=BREEDING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 233, 25 June 1908, Page 7

PLANT=BREEDING.

DR. ■ COCKAYNE'S EXPERIMENTS. IMPORTANT SCHEMES. FLOWERS, SEEDS, A'ND POTATOES. Dr. L. Cookayno, F.L.S., has returned to Wellington from a. tour oli visitation of the Government experiment farms in the North Island made with a ; view to ascertaining their capabilities' for.' plant-breeding. To a Dominion representative' yesterday, he gave a highly! interesting account of his impressionsl aiid. intentions.' ■ ■: I have been to Ruakura, Waerenga, Levin, and Mouraahaki," said Dr. Cockayne, " and'havb found one and; all of tho managers and' Horticulturists most enthusiastic with regard to'the work, and anxious to for-ward-it by every means in their power. The fanners . and' fl'ixmillers with whom I have come in contabt also expressed their pleasure that plant-breeding is to becomo one of the linos ofwork taken up by the Agricultural Department. . • !

OATS AND FLAX. "At Ruakura the work has been begun, ind tho first- steps taken towards securing a rust-proof oat. The-collections of flax which, have' been* got together through tho; knowledge : and skill' of Mr.' M'Gregor aro being

rearranged for plant-breeding purposes. I aave already examined the fibre'content and the various vegetative- characters of nearly all the varieties, and, itf accordance with tho knowledge gained, have 'designed a scheme for : learning many facts which it is indispensable to know in - order to make- rapid progress in the improvement of this important planti- During the next year .it is quite pertain ".'that'..the Agricultural Department will bo able to show progress in plant-breed-ing, ;and to.display .to those .interested in. the matter- experiments in progress : at- the stations; and exhibits at the shows' illustrating methods of procedure. ,The experiment ..are - so;,diverse ;; in . their characters and - contain so.. many . different kiiids> of: soil that it would be hard to find platibs more suitable for the-work in hand, that is,.iso:'far,.as:r.tbe; North.lsland is concerned. • '••• .a-,'. •• ..

wildflowers. , ";X purpose," ;in 'the fiifst, place, to -export-' fadnt 'with . the' 'following plants New Zealand/flax, oats, barley,, red - clover,' lucerne, white .cjover,: danthonia grass, New. > Zealand vorohicas, tomatoes, various fruits, and potatoes;' All' these,';;except the veronicas, are ecoiibmio.: plants,.and it may! seem' at first sight hardly my business ; to deal with New Zealand flowers. Our native veronicas, however/ are extremely? popular in the Old Coufltry,-'; and it 'seems,to mo that if the gardeners . at the experiment farms can .succeed in 'making a race of quick, hardy veronicas with inucn more showy flowers—crimson, for instance—than they; bear at present, Buch ' an achifevement , would be a splendid advertisement for the _ Department' and for New; Zealand, arid' this special work! need take very little time: and space.: BLIGHT-PROOF POTATOES. ', "As regards potatoes, there'are probably -few. of your readors' w,h6 have ever seen potatoes, raised from seed, meaning by that, not the: tiibors, but true seeds as in other plantjs:' 'Quite recently^;a: most important paper 1 has-been read 1 by a member of the •well-known firm of Sutton and Co., seed merchants, regarding'the raising of a blightproof■: potato.' With this Vend :in view,; ho set tqrwork torfind-.out the,parentage,;of-,the potato;;,, and,' although hp did .not succeed jn' this,' he came _ across one of the wild forms, seed of which lie had obtained' from the' Edinburgh.-Botanic' ,Garden, :Vhich- is: giving remarkable results.;. Already potatoes of a moderate quality,' from tho edible standpoint, but ': with a perfect blight-re-Bisting capacity, have been raised. • SEEDS FROM ABROAD. . ".This' .mentioning of botanic gardens brings nie to another phase, of my investigations. When my experiment garden at NewBnghjon was in full swing, I corresponded, wit-h'nearly • every important botanic garden in. tho Old and New World, and' I : propose to re-open: relations at ojice on behalf, of the Agricultural Department with all these gardens and some making in all about fifty,' in the hope that by bringing many thousands, of packets of: seed to New Zealand manyinotable. additions will be made to the. economio plants, of the Dominion, and muoh valuable material will be available for plant-breeding." ; .