PLANT-SELECTION.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 1, 15 January 1913, Page 22

PLANT-SELECTION.

W. S. Hill.

The improvement of plants by selection, which is one of the features of the new agriculture, is not, as many believe, a new science. It was an axiom .of ancient growers of grain, and was probably known to the Chinese before the dawn of Western civilization. In bringing the many cereals and fodder plants known to the agricultural world to their Vpresent stage of perfection some process of selection .has been continuously at work. Attention, however, has been directed to the great possibilities in systematizing the work by that pioneer in modern plant-breeding, Dr. Nilsson, the Swedish investigator.

A brief outline of the principles underlying Dr. Nilsson’s work with cereals may not be out of place. Having secured by selection a large number of promising ears, he proved that each variety had many strains, each' of which would breed true to type. .To determine the most useful of -these strains rows of equal length were planted seed by seed, and by comparison of the resulting produce he was able to determine which strain possessed the most desired characters. These strains breed true to type for many generations, and the value of a pure strain of any cereal compared with the ordinary' commercial sample is most marked. The distinguishing features which have appealed to the grower are purity of sample, evenness of ripening, and increased yield.

. Nilsson was also able to determine the effect of environment on selected plants. It is by the produce of individual plants in the next . generation the influence of environment has been eliminated —that the true comparative value of the individuals .is demonstrated. Thus there is' the necessity for classing plant-breeding work under two main heads: (1) Selection throughout the country; (2) testing at plant-breeding stations, preferably in the locality in which the selections are made.

While other and older countries have given us improved strains which are being grown in increasing stocks in this country, something is being done by - New Zealand investigators to carry on work under local conditions. The necessity for this is apparent, as selecting from acclimatized plants must ensure results of a more lasting character. Again, varieties suited to one locality are entirely useless in many

others, hence local selection is always of more economic value than working with types produced in a foreign country. The wide range of soils and climatic conditions in New Zealand point to the advisability of each ■ district selecting from its own pastures forage and cereal crops. ■

Plant-breeding is at present being carried on at Canterbury Agricultural College by Dr. Hilgendorf, who has already obtained promising results in the improvement of well-known varieties of wheat and oats. At Ruakura Farm of Instruction, the Horticulturist, Mr. Green, has done very valuable work in the selection of a rust-resisting strain of oats and the improvement of certain grasses. Indications at Moumahaki Experimental Farm point to improvement in many grasses and forage crops, notably cocksfoot, silver-beet, and lucerne. In all, only a dozen pairs of eyes have been systematically selecting types from our crops, and the area covered has been very, very' small .yet, most encouraging results have so far been obtained. Here is presented an excellent opportunity for agricultural instructors to do work of great value. Most of our country offers virgin ground for selection, and if the boys and girls of our country schools could be interested sufficiently to bring to the school-gardens any plants they see which show better growth than .the average plant of that variety, then thousands of pairs of eyes, instead of a dozen, would be searching for improved nla'nts. No finer training for the farmer’s child could be afforded than that of observation of nature, and continually seeking for somethingbetter, with the aim of advancing individual and national progress. Many teachers taking elementary agriculture as one of their school courses find that they have run through the class of experiments that they can easily perform on the land at their disposal, and if any such teacher desires a new useful course of work of great educational value for his pupils he could not do better than apply to one of the three students named for particulars as to the methods of making selections. Should any strain prove valuable, it could be named after the school from which it was sent. To quote two . examples of what has been done by chance selection : Rape, the mainstay of the fat-lamb industry, is said to have originated from a wayside plant; . while Western Wolths grass, an improvement on Italian' rye-grass, started from a robust plant found by a small farmer in Holland. .

That there are thousands of exceptionally .fine individual plants existing in our pastures and crops to-day there is no room to doubt. Some of these may be secured by those already on the alert. How many more would be secured if the schools took up the work of selection ! The field for activity is great indeed, and, did the subject attract the individual attention it should, the possibilities of . plantbreeding in this country are practically unlimited.