Analytical yield investigations on New Zealand wheat: IV. Blending varieties of wheat

Abstract

1. An endeavour was made to obtain a blend of Tuscan wheat with a high quality line which would yield as much as Tuscan, at the same time possessing a superior baking quality. Of the eleven lines which were blended with Tuscan, nine blends returned yields corresponding to the expectation calculated from the pure varieties, and two blends yielded more than the expectation; these increases were not statistically significant. 2. Tuscan, three lines and their blends were submitted to yield analytical treatment. The yield characters of the components of blends were compared with their yield characters when grown by themselves. Whilst the yields per plot of the blends corresponded to the expectation, the yield analyses revealed that the component varieties exerted a modifying influence on each other, which was different in each of the three trials. Tuscan demonstrated its aggressiveness by depressing in every case the yield characters of the lines with which it was blended.