FERTILE TILLER PRODUCTION AND SEED YIELD IN MEADOW FESCUE (FESTUCA PRATENSIS L.)

Abstract

The fertile tiller production and seed yields of spaced plants of meadow fescue varieties were found to vary widely with the time of sowing, particularly in the first harvest year. The benefit of early spring sowing is indicated in the total productivity over two harvest years.Varieties differed in the amount of heading in the seeding year; the American type was the most prolific. This had a bearing on the relative yields in the first harvest year, since many of the potentially productive tillers of this variety were wasted through the plants becoming ripe to flower in the seeding year and, therefore, the rate of tiller production was checked. Competition within the plant appeared to be the cause of tillers remaining vegetative when conditions otherwise seemed suitable for generative development. The smaller‐sized plants gave a higher proportional increase of fertile tillers at harvest than would be expected from the vegetative tillers counted in April, while at the same time there was a negative relationship at harvest from plants which had a very high number of vegetative tillers.Infertility as reflected in a poor seed set at the time of harvest is a serious wastage of potential production in meadow fescue and, in selecting for superior seed output, breeders need to take this factor into consideration.The 1000‐seed weight varied between varieties, the pasture type being inferior to the two hay types.