A preliminary screening was made of many lines of white clover to find a line suited to New Zealand conditions, with resistance to the stem nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci).A rapid screening technique developed for seedlings by Scandinavian workers was modified to give results which related to field resistance studies.The effects of inoculation varied with age of seedling, unsatisfactory results being obtained if plants were inoculated too soon after germination. Varieties differed in their relative susceptibilities to the white clover and red clover races of nematodes.Screening has revealed several lines relatively resistant to stem nematodes. and these have now to be tested for agronomic type.
INTRODUCTIONThe varieties of Trifolium repens L. (white clover) in general use in New Zealand pastures have been found to be susceptible to infestation by the Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kuhn) Filipjev. stem nematode (Barclay and Williams, unpublished). In a spaced plant study a Ladino white clover and a variety of Moroccan origin possessed high resistance to such infestations, but both were considered to be too open in habit to be useful in New Zealand pastures. Furthermore, crosses made between these resistant types and those in general use produced hybrids which were often resistant to stem nematode but relatively open in habit (Barclay and Williams, unpublished).To make rapid progress in breeding agronomically desirable, nematode-resistant white clovers, many plants may need to be screened for resistance. The present study describes further suitable modifications to a laboratory screening technique devised and modified by Frandsen (1951), Bingefors (1957), Dijkstra (1956), Grundbacher (1962), and Hanna and Hawn (1956. Results of screening a wide range of white clover varieties and ecotypes with the modified technique are described.