An evaluation of some criteria used in selecting large-yielding tea clones

SUMMARY Several criteria which have been used hitherto in the hope of selecting large-yielding clones of tea have been examined. The heights, girths, root weights and branching a gles of young seedlings in the nursery are correlated with the sizes and yields of the same plants when mature, but not with the rates of growth in the nursery, or the yields at maturity, of the plants derived from these seedlings by vegetative propagation. The pruning weight, size and yield of a mature plant grown from seed are not related to the rate of growth in the nursery or the yield at maturity of the clone derived from that plant. The proportion of cuttings which form roots and the growth rate of the cuttings of a clone are not related to the yield of the clone. It is concluded that these criteria are, at best, of limited value in the selection of large-yielding clones. Phloem Index, which is the number of calcium oxalate crystals counted in the phloem parenchyma in a cross-section of the petiole, varies with the age and rate of development of the shoot from which the petiole is taken and with the concentration of nutrients in the soil. It is therefore not useful as an alternative selection criterion under normal field conditions.