COMPARISON OF HILL AND ROW PLOTS FOR F3 YIELD TESTING

The yields of F3 lines of four wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em Thell.) crosses were measured in replicated hill plots and row plots. Genetic correlations between line performance in the two plot-types varied from 0.77 to 0.96 in the four crosses. Selection based on a single hill plot was estimated to be 50–75% as efficient as selection based on a single three-row plot. Two to four replicates of hill plots would be required to give the equivalent information of one three-row plot. Hill plots require less seed and land than row plots but, in contrast to the totally mechanized operation for row plots, must be planted and harvested by hand.