IN AND ABOUT THE FARM.

Waipa Post, Volume VI, Issue 305, 14 April 1914, Page 4

IN AND ABOUT THE FARM.

COCKSFOOT. The following article, by Mr W S. Hill, appears in the March number of the Journal of Agriculture :

SELECTION TO SECURE AN IMPROVED STRAIN.

New Zealand owes its natural advantages over most agricultural countries of the world to the fact that its soil and climate combine in providing an exceptional environment for the production of pasture and for the maximupi utilization of this by live stock throughout the year. This being the case, it is obvious that the improvement of the plants of the pasture is a work of vital importance. Perhaps it is only natural to overlook the possibility of the more common things surrounding us, yet what subject for investigation is more important than cocksfoot grass, one of the most widely distributed and most useful grasses in this country. Quite apart from the pastoral value of cocksfoot it has to be remembered that a lucrative export trade in New Zealand seed with Great Britain and Europe is already in existence, and that the better the types we can supply the more valuable will this trade become. For many years the production of cocksfoot seed has been an industry of significance to several districts, Banks Peninsula being a notable instance. Widely distributed as is this grass, it yet remains a vast collection types and of variations—variations perhaps accentuated by the fact that the seed for half a century has been gathered from an infinite variety of environments ; from bush burns, rough hillsides, plantations, roadsides — indeed from any nook or corner where stock have permitted the maturation of the seed. It may not be out of place to record the results obtained by the Swiss investigator, Dr F. G. Stebler, who found, that New Zeatand cocksfoot, although maturing more slowly and later- than the French seed, produced a pasture and forage of better quality. From this it will be seen that New Zealand cpcksfoot is known and esteemed in Continental countries. Would it not be worth while to widen this reputation by the production of an improved type ? The improvement of cocksfoot by selection offers a promising field. There is undoubted scope with a plant which comes under the eye of practically every one who may be persuaded to assist the plant-breeder in his search for forms of more economic value. We have good enough example to encourage us in this work, Several of the better-known of the improved varieties of grasses have been secured through the medium of the intelligent layman whose keen observation has enabled him to note a striking individual plant which, fortunately for agriculture, he had the foresight to collect. In view of the possibilities of an improved strain of cocksfoot an investigation has been instituted at the Moumahaki Experimental Farm to this end. The work is now in its second season. As yet it has largely consisted in in choosing desirable parent types and selecting and recording definite variations. It has been found that the variations in qocksfoot are very wide, and apply not only to the form of the seed-head or panicle, but to the quantity, quality, shape, and colour of the leafage, to the height, to the degree of rust-re-sistance, to the earliness of maturity, to the yield of seed, and, in fact, to tlTe general vigour and productivity of the plants. The characters at present sought are bulk and quality of foliage, with a high degree of resistance to rust. Plants exhibiting these desired points to a more or less extent have been isolated; but, owing to the freedom with which cocksfoot cross pollinates, reliable reproduction by means of seed is rendered very difficult. In consequence, reproduction of selected types is being effected by several means : (I:) Vegetative or conal reproduction. This consists in subdividing the plant into as many rooted portions as is possible. This provides the best means of accurately stud’ ing the particular type and of securing a large plot in order to obtain affair quantity of inbred seed. By ‘‘ inbred ”is meant seed produced by the pollination of the flowers of a plant with pollen from a flower on the same plant.' (2.) Reproduction bv inbred seed. This is accomplished by isolating the best strains in a glazed box. This seed is used for testing the stability of the selection.

' (3.) Reproduction by open-fer-tilized seed. This seed is used to ascertain the degree of variation under these conditions. “Open-fertilized” is a term meant to imply that the seed produced may have been fertilized by pollen from flowers of the same plant, or by pollen from other variations or other plants. The accompanying illustrations will convey some idea of the variations in experimental plots. In addition to selecting individual plants another series of experiments has been undertaken. The initial selection has been based on the germinative energy

of the seed. From a bulk sample many seeds which germinated on or before the sixth day were picked out. These were potted, and from them some 340 plants were grown. Subsequently these individuals were reduced to 7 5> and the plants were them subdivided for comparative observation. Most wide and important variations have been found to exist.

In improving cocksfoot by selection those responsible for the conduct of agricultural classes in both primary and secondary schools have good material for valuable demonstration work. Not only does it offer an excellent means of emphasizing the value of cocksfoot and the importance of plant-selection, but it provides excellent material for studying the laws of reproduction and variation in plant-life. To those wishing to utilize cocksfoot for this purpose a suitable method of procedure would be to divide the experimental plots into two main portions. (A) Vegetable Re-production : Each selected cocksfoot plant to be subdivided into rooted subdivisions, and these planted in rows 3R apart and from 2ft to 3ft between each one. (B) Seed Re-production : Each row of plants to be raised from seed obtained from one of the selections from plot A. The rows and plants to be at similar distances .apart. These two plots will then exhibit what variations occur by re-production by means of open-fertilized seed in comparison with the original plant. Should any selection exhibit characteristics regarded as worth further investigation a portion of the plant should be forwarded to Moumahaki for trial. For demonstrating the degree of variation perhaps no other plant is so suitable as cocksfoot. Material for investigation is in abundance almost everywhere. It is hoped that this subject will in time receive some attention in rural courses, and that definite practical results will be the outcome of enthusiastic and welldirected efforts.