The effect of varying the size of the seeding population of a cross-fertilized crop on the performance of the progeny

Summary

Studies were made on the effect of the size of a seeding population on the performance of progeny of the winter cabbage variety Cambridge Drumhead. Clones were produced from 80 selected plants and separate seed lots were derived by seeding the genotypes in one group of 80, two groups of 40, four groups of 20, eight groups of 10 and sixteen groups of 5. When comparing records of head weight and quality of the various progenies, the effect of the size of the seeding group was separated from the effect of the different genotypes in the groups.

Mean performance was best in the progeny of the 40-plant groups and variability was greatest in either those of the 80- or in the 40-plant groups, both factors declining with reduction in size of the seeding group. In spite of the phenotypic similarity of the original selected parents, there was clear evidence that superior (and inferior) genotypes or combinations of genotypes existed for weight and grade of head. As the size of the seeding group was progressively reduced, these genotypes could be traced by their influence on the performance of the particular group in which, by chance, they had been included.