NATURAL SELECTION IN A COMPOSITE CROSS OF BARLEY

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A composite of 105 crosses involving 15 parental barley varieties was grown for 5 years at nine stations of widely different latitudes in Canada, U.S.A. and Norway. A resulting sample of seed was recovered from each station and grown with original seed in comparative studies at Edmonton. Significant differences were observed among plants from different stations for heading date, maturity period, yield, spike type, and awn type. Little difference was observed for plant height and seed size. There was little or no effect on collar type, neck shape, neck length, leaf width or shape of basal rachis internode. Natural selection acted strongly against black kernel, the elimination of which was probably due to genetic linkage with a character of low competitive capacity. In general, the shift in the gene pool was consistent with plant breeding objectives.