Report of the Committee on Swine Breeding: A Plan for Breeding Swine

D. A. Gaumnitz
1909 Journal of Heredity  
Wheat breeders have for several years past followed a system of plant breeding by which they have developed several strain of wheat that have been indisputably proved to be peers over others in point of yield, disease resistance and adaptation of growth to the several localities in which they were developed. What have been the details of the system by which they have arrived at such tangible results ?. First, they selected the unusually strong, thrifty and heavy yielding individual plants from
more » ... he best fields. Second, they prepared soil of as uniform fertility and physical condition as possible, and planted the seeds frpm these plants therein-giving to each an equal amount of soil from which to derive nourishment. Third, t-hey watched the development of these seeds, and kept notes thereon, as to the stooling qualities, the stiffness of the straw, the retentiveness of the rachis, its resistance to disease, 'the length of time required to mature, the milling qualities of the wheat when ripe, and the yield. They had from the first regarded yield as the preponderating factor, and to their statisfaction discovered that where this was present to a high degree, all these other factors were almost invariably added thereto. Yield, then in the end, became the great measuring criterion. With a series of complete notes, such as these, they were enabled to say with authority, this plant is better than that, and from the seeds of this plant to develop a new variety.
doi:10.1093/jhered/os-5.1.8 fatcat:flmotxrmm5adbnmdy23owfhoay