Hayes and Garber - Cucurbit Breeding

212 BREEDING CROP PLANTS
The practical results which have been attained by this method
of breeding are brought out in Table LI, also taken from Webber
et al.
TABLE LI. SUMMARY, SHOWING YIELD OF FIELD-DRY HAY
Yield in pounds per acre
1910 1911
Average yield of 17 new varieties
Average yield of 7 checks
Actual average increase
7,451
6,600
851
7,153
4,091
3,062
FIG. 51. View of vegetatively propagated row plots of timothy. Each plot
is propagated from a single, original plant. Note that the two central plots are
comparatively late in maturity; also note differences between these two strains,
one having erect culms and heads, the other having somewhat spreading culms
and long loose heads. (Courtesy of Piper.)
The season of 1911 was particularly unfavorable for the growth
of timothy. The new varieties gave a greater increase that year
than in the preceding and more favorable one. Webber et al
attribute this difference partly to the rust resistance of the new
strains.
The method of breeding timothy at Svalof as reported by
Witte (1919) is not essentially different from that practiced at