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The Swedish genetic institute in Åkarp.
With regard to the investigations into the mode of inheritance of genetic
characters ecological characters are now especially followed up. With respect to
the annuahbiennial character in wheat distinet multiple or polymeric genes are
met with here as in numerous other characters. Also in wild plants a number of
adaptive genetic charac*
ters are studied, charac*
ters adapted to climate
as well as to soil (the
latter mostly studied by
Mr. Turesson).
The study of muta*
tions involves also the
important point, wheth*
er or not the mutations
S may be regarded to play
any röle in evolution.
For this purpose large
cultures of pure lines of autogamic cereals are made in order to see if in a Men*
delian factor pair, A — a, the mutative change is possible in both directions,
and whether, and to which measure, reversible mutations arise. Another series
of investigations concerns small mutations of quantitative characters (wheat, beans).
Special attention is also paid to the question of the origin of mutations, which
may be of value in the practical plant breeding.
In addition to the purely theoretical work practical plant breeding plays an
important röle at the institute. About 2h of the ground is occupied by plant
breeding plots, while the remaining lh belongs to the purely theoretical work.
Hitherto the plant breeding embraces only cereals (winter wheat, summer wheat,
barley, rye and to some little extent Indian corn).
The writer fulfils his former breeding* and combination*work begun in Svalöf
with regard to wheat. In the summer*temperate, half*maritime part of Sweden the
winter wheat breeding is highly favorized as compared with a Continental, summer*
hot climate, as but little regard has to be taken to early ripening. In the northern
part of Sweden, on the contrary, the importance of winter hardiness increases
with the latitude. The main point is therefore to combine through Crossing high
yieldingspower with sufficient winter hardiness. The best high*yielding West
European wheats yield, when not damaged during the winter, about 50% more
than the old winterhardy Swedish wheat. However, these wheats are in the most
winters (excepting the rare very milde ones) not at all winterhardy enough and
yield therefore only little. Thus through combining sufficient winter hardiness
with high yielding power an increase in mean yielding*power of 50 % should be
reached — a very important economic gain. As winter hardiness, yielding*power
and other characters of practical interest as, for instance, straw stiffness, hereditary
resistance against diseases (yellow rust and others) are characters which segregate
in a very complex manner giving rise to many intermediate (or in other cases
transgressive) stages, the aim is not to be gained at once, that is, through one
cross only, followed by successive selections. A repeated and long continued
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