Abstract

Seed is selected for some desirable points in a crop such as purity, power to produce large number of tillers throwing out earheads in quick succession, general vigour, uniform ripening, strength of straw etc. But for all practical purposes it is enough to select seed from single plant true to variety with largest number of ears all ripening at one and the same time and to sow the seed and transplant the seedlings separately in a patch of good soil. From this "seed patch" the best plants should be again selected and their seed sown in the seed patch of the following year and the seed from the remaining plants used and multiplied for general sowing. In this way a good strain of seed can be established in a few years and with such seed it is quite reasonable to expect our crops to yield better than is ordinarily the case. The Manganallur Farm has sold about 14,500 Madras measures of pure seeds for this year's sowing, as there were good reports of the seeds sold last year.

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