Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1913-10-23

Iuence Of Professor 81 Z. Budd. a hos.
ticulturist who had the faculty or
awakening the creative instinct IN
men, and decided to give his life to 4
study Of horticulture. u
One Of the problems that engagel
his attention at onre was that of In
Icreasing the list Of orchard and small
fruits for the Northwest. Other men
were trying 70 work out the same
problem BY seeking to acclimate the
fruits from regions to the southwark.
But they were making infinitely slow
progress, and before long the young
man decided that they were on the
wrong track. He came TO believe
That plants tperennials) cannot ba
brought TO endure greater degree
OF cold tc any noteworthy extent:
that hardness cannot be bred into
plants by selection alone In this,
as q young aahistant professor az
Ames. he was making daring de-
parture from accepted beliefs, but he
was not afraid Of that kind of thing
| II he felt he had reason and exper-
ience with him. He believed, how
ever, that hardness could be put into
a tender plant by crossing. or rather
that by crossing a tender plant with
q hardy one the luxuriance OF the
one and the hardness OF the other
could be combined in a new variety,
that thus q hardy plant could be lit
lerally Invented This was the Pro.
fessor's new philosophy Of plant life.
And this new philosophy worked.
In 1895 Professor Hansen was called
to head the department Of horticulture
at Brookings. almost beyond the from
tier Of the orchard and small-fruit
belt Of the Northwest. He inlmedi-
ately decided TO try out his theory.
Out on the prairies grew wild straw
berries In abundance, and they were
perfectly hardy. Many such plants
were gathered, pr9pagated, and be.
lected with infinite. carer Then the
work Of crossing with fine CONNER
lciai varieties was begun. Among the
results were strawberries of large and
luscious type from vines that knew
no fear Of forty y-below-zero weather
out on the open prairies, even with
out blanket of snow or OF straw.
Like experiments were made with
raspberries, with plums in large mum,
bers, and even with roses. And the
work Is still going on.
The latest achievement OF the kind.
announced only last spring, is the
Waneta plum, a cross between the
Apple plum, a large Japanese variety,
originated by Luther Burbank, and
1.-THE Terry. the largest native plum,
originated by II. A. Terry, OF Iowa.
As grown at Brookings last year, this
fruit was two inches In diameter,
weighed two ounces. was OF good red
color. with q skin free from acerbity,
and a delicious flavor. The tree,
moreover, needs no coddling to keep
Iit alive through extreme winte.
weather. .5
| In 1897 James Wilson, then Secre-
tary Of Agriculture. who had known
Professor Hansen at Ames, called
upon him to gosto Russia and Asia as
the nations first plant explorer. He
was to get drouth-resistant and cold.
resistant plants OF commercial yalns
to supplement those OF the Northwest
or other parts of the United States.
Having crossed through northern
Europe, and made his way eastward
and then southwark across Russia
again. the Professor turned southwara
through Transcaucasia. and then sail
ed over the Caspian Sea to the realms
OF the Turkoman. Here he came
face to face with the problem I'm the
discovery OF hardy alfalfa.
II was almost like discovering Al
new continent. Here was an alfalfa
that nature. doubtless through thous-
ands Of years. had Injured to drouttl
and cold. II held hardness.
Hardness had been worked into IL
by natures slow processes as the
plant had travelled with infinite pains
IRON the southward; perhaps in Per.
sia, whereas the common alfalfas Of
the United States had travelled an
other way. These were taken from
Persia to Greece in the fifth century
B. G. Thence they were carried toI
Italy and Spain, and after that tol
South America, long after which they
were brought to the southwestern
States. They had never had an op.
Portunity to spread northward thru
long centuries Of time, becoming
hardy by infinitely slow degrees, as
had those Of the part Of Asia where
Professor Hansen had Just made his
discovery. With the discoverers
philosophy Of 'plant-hardiness, how
ever, the hardness Of these new al
falfas could be transferred to other
alfalfas. and a variety both luxuriant