Due to their low lysine content, the cereal grains are generally considered of reduced nutritional quality in comparison to other protein sources. In maize, a~ second diet limiting amino acid is tryptophan. That increases in both of these amino acids are needed to improve the nutritional quality of maize has been known for many years. With the demonstrated improvement possible with opaque-2 maize, breeders are paying growing attention to improving nutritional quality through increasing the content of these two amino acids. However, the success of such research efforts depends ultimately upon the rapidity with which one can determine the lysine and/or the tryptophan content of individual plants or seeds in segregating populations. From the observed relationship between lysine and tryptophan in the zein fraction and its relationship to the whole endosperm, it was believed a tryptophan value could serve as a single parameter for maize evaluation. This study demonstrates the feasibility of rapid tryptophan analys s and the magnitude of the correlation between. tryptophan and lysine. | 7

Populations from a ‘Lemhi’ ✕ ‘Thatcher’ wheat cross, Triticum aestivum L., planted in 1963 and 1965 were evaluated for various aspects of flour quality. The 1963 and 1965 data, together with those obtained in 1959, 1960 and 1961 were considered in evaluating the usefulness of early-generation testing. For evaluation purposes, the 15 best quality lines from an F₃ population grown in 1959 became Selected Population I, while 15 lines chosen at random from the same F₃ population became the Unselected Population; a new Selected Population containing the 15 best quality lines from the Unselected Population was then obtained each succeeding year that the test was run. In 1965, the best 15 lines from Selected Population I exceeded the best 15 lines from the Unselected Population on the farinograph by 1.0% for absorption, 123.0% for peak, 109.6% for stability, and 34.8% for valorimeter. An increase in wheat protein of 1.3% (8.9% more) of Selected Population I over the Unselected Population in 1965 was due to association with one or more of the farinograph characteristics. Selection in F₃ (Selected Population I) gave the highest average farinograph values, and for each generation that selection was delayed there was a reduction in these values. The data suggest that early generation selection for agronomic characteristics should be accompanied by selection for milling and baking quality to prevent loss of high quality lines. The fact that lines were obtained which exceeded both parents in selected quality traits suggests that vigorous selection in early generations of genetically diverse crosses may be productive in increasing flour quality of lines in breeding programs.

A large proportion of the national annual planting programme is now concentrated on the great areas of upland heaths. The early success of such a plantation depends not only on the quality and fertility of the heath but also on the prevailing climatic conditions. However, after establishment, the crop may be liable to wind damage or early senescence due to a shallow restricted root system. Ironpan formation and indurated subsoil condition has been suggested by Yeatman (1955), Zehetmayr (i960) and others to cause critical impedance to the rooting and is therefore likely to impose limiting factors on both timber yield and tree stability. Recent work by Fraser (1962, 1965), Fraser and Gardiner (1967), and Pyatt (1968b) has established a strong relationship between soil types, rooting and crop stability, particularly for sites suffering from impeded drainage. Little attention has been given to crops on well drained sites, as wind-firmness is considered adeoxuate and obvious problems, such as drainage, do not exist. However, windblow damage does occur. The initial rooting habit of trees is generally considered to be a function of heredity and once the tree is established, changes in the root form begin to take place as a response to variations of the soil environment. The object of this investigation was to study the nature and magnitude of the physical soil factors within the rooting zone, their effect upon the spatial arrangement of the root system and the combined influence on tree stability, to determine: (i) the relationship existing between the physical soil factors within the rooting zone; (ii) the predominant physical soil factor(s) limiting root growth; (iii) the extent to which soil factors affect root form and development; (iv) the affect of variations in root form on tree stability within a given site; (v) differences in stability on sites where root development is mechanically restricted and where development is essentially unrestricted. The study was confined to well-drained soils, at Allerston Forest, Yorkshire, bearing Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris, Linn.) whose root systems were exposed by winching over of each selected tree (a technique developed by Fraser 1962) and the type of development compared with an evaluation of the major physical soil properties prevailing within the root environment.