Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1909-04-27
SELECTION AND BREEDING OF PLANTS.
Continued from first page.

most important fields for the
breeder, Farmers often suffer
great loss by paying high prices
for really good seed but which are
not adapted to their local condl-
lions. There is a growing demand
for the production of varltles suit
able to the soil and climate OF the
region where they are grown. The
range of adaptlbility OF the varle-
ties has never been SO determined
that with known soil and climate
conditions growers can intelligent
ly buy seed for planting. How
ever, with proper study it will be
possible for the breeder to produce
seed specially adapted to partlcu-
lar sections. There is a broad
field of usefulness for men trained
for this kind of work.
WHAT CONSTITUTES GOOD PLANTS.
Every farmer expects to grow
plants like those from which he
obtained seed; but IN every field
there will be found plants that
are much above the average IN
value and others that Ire much
below the average. It is by this
variation that we are enabled to
improve our crops. We can bring
the average of plants up to the
basis Of the best plants by contin-
nally selecting seed from only the
best plants. But let us thorough
" understand what constitutes a
good plant. There are many details
of interest, but briefly a good plant
is one which produces a maximum
amount of fruit of the bestquallty
and has these characteristics 80
we'll established that they T re-
produced in succeeding genera
tions. It requires careful work
for several generations to get
these characters fixed or to cause
the plant to acquire the habit Of
doing certain things IN the way
we want them done.
FIXED AND ACQUIRED CHARACTERS.
But the qualities of plants are
due to two very different and i'm
portaut causes. These the plant
breeders must be able to distin-
guish if they expect to get the
best results from their work. Ex-
cellence may be either inherent or
extranious. One plant is good
because its ancestors for several
generations have been good and
therefore it cannot very we'll be
otherwise. 1t will IN its turn
transmit these qualities to it's off
spring. When a habit becomes
fixed or as we might say, when
the plant becomes educated or
trained to do certain things it will
always do these things when con-
ditions are such that it can do
them. Of course there will be
some variations and probably an
occasional reverslon to original
type, but these two matters are
inconsiderate so far as general re
suits are concerned. Another
plant ls a good one because its
envll nment the present season
has cen favorable enough to
MAKE 1t good, but it has very lit
tia power or prepotency, as the
stock breeders say, to reproduce
these good good qualities in the
next generation. A plant may
stand where there was a pile of
compost or where some fertilizer
spilled and may really be a very
tine plant, but we would not &C.
]ect it for propagation. For this
reason a variety of cotton that the
grower advertises as having made
two Dales per acre or q variety of
corn that has made a hundred
bushels per acre are not necessari.
ly good varities. If we could buy
along with these varities the CHI
mate, soil fertilizers and good
civilizations which made the big
yield then we would probably get
as good results. Therefore, the
farmer will be careful in breeding
work to select such plants as have
their desirable makeup due to
their having inherited it rather
than those whose good makeup
IL due to good surroundings. 1t
Is exceedingly difficult to carry
from one generation to another