Evening star., 1936-04-05

minded monk, who crossed garden
peas in his monastery garden. Men
del did a simple but revolutionary
thing that apparently had not oc-
Cured to previous workers who had
been trying to solve the secrets Of in
heritance. He carefully sorted the
progeny Of his parent plants accord
ing to their characters and counted
the number that had inherited each
character. By doing this he discov-
cred that when the things he was
studying were handed on by the par
ents, they were distributed among the
offspring in definite mathematical ra-
tios, and in no case was there q
significant variation from these ratios.
For the first time he established def
mite laws Of inheritance.
mo one appreciated these discov-
cries until long after Mendel's death
in 1884. In 1900 three European bot
anists independently came across Men
del's paper and had II republished. In
the brief intervening years a vast
amount of intensive work has been
done. The science has become much
more complex. Bright hopes of the
speedy solution Of some problems have
been dashed. New problems have
arisen. But there has been steady
progress.
Scientific breeding with both plants
and animals has become a powerful
and an indispensable tool for making
agriculture more efficient and flexible.
It has become major branch of the
science of life, taking its place beside
modern chemistry and medicine as a
practical means Of conquering some
Of the chief difficulties and dangers
that beset man."
Nevertheless, the geneticists stress,
the work hardly has begun. For ex-
ample, the average hen in the flocks
of the United States produces 30 eggs
q year. There are hocks Of well-bred
birds that produce 200 eggs per bird
per year. Why shouldn't the egg pro-
duction of the Nation be two and q
half times the present average with
the same number Of hens? 1t Is q
problem of isolating the best egg
laying strains.
The average butterfat production is
l65 pounds per COW per year. But the
herds surveyed yielded 450 pounds av-
erage per year. That is, one COW
which eats no more and requires no
more care-yields nearly three times
as much butter as another COW. To
discover a means of tripling butter
production on the present investment
would be sensational, indeed. 1t Is In
the field covered by the survey that
the future discovery lies.
The probability is that it can be
considerably more than tripled. As
pointed out previously, the dairy cattle
Of the country are in bad state. Of
the good butter producers less than
10 per cent represented good produc-
ing stocks. 1t was essentially these 10
per cent that made the difference In
the average.
"The basic significance Of this is,
says the report, that neither egg mol
milk consumption is what 1t should be
especially in the lower income groups
who make up so large percentage o.
the population, because not enough
people can afford enough eggs OF
enough milk for the best nutrition
Fundamental economic considerations
including the distribution OF income
are involved here, but in any cast
scientific breeding should be dynamic
factor in producing necessities OF Life
at less cost, and thereby putting then
within reach Of more people"
The question may be raised here a.
to the effect of all this on the "eco'
nomics of scarcity" sometimes at
tributed to Secretary Wallace. Is Il
not a case of the right hand not know
ing what the left hand Is doing? TIT
answer is not far to seek. The Secre'
tary of Agriculture is perhaps the las'
man in the United States who car
consistently be accused Of advocating
an economies of scarcity" Few mer
living have made greater contributions
to increased productivity than he him
self-as an administrator and q SCI
enlist.
But growing poor wheat on pool
land or pasturing poor dairy cows OF
rocks isn't his idea of raising produc'
ton. It's like making automobiles II
village blacksmith shops.
One of the first acts Of Secretary
Wallace upon coming to Washington
was to appoint the Genetics' Com
mittee to undertake the survey, IN CO.
operation with agricultural expert
ment stations in all the States, tne
superior life strains in plants ano
animals. In some cases. notably with
respect to the survey Of dairy cattle
States made appropriations to CO.
operate In the work. 1t was decided
also. to extend the survey to foreign
countries, since breeders draw their
material from all parts Of the world.
In spite Of drawbacks and handi-
CAPS" says the report. "the effort has
already produced notable results. In
the case of crop plants, q wealth OF
material poured In dealing with breed
ing work in the past and present,
much of which is not available else
where. In general, the material from
foreign countries was not as complete
as had been hoped, but much OF 1t
was Illuminating. Cataloging su-
perior strains In poultry proved to be
impracticable, chiefly because Of the
immense numbers involved and the
methods used by most breeders. With
cattle. sheep, swine and horses the
location of superior strains was beSet
with difficulties, notably the lack OF
standards by which to Judge breed
ing worth from the standpoint OF
economically important characters"
There can be no doubt, the COM
mittee concludes from the progress
thus far in the survey and to which
the entire year book Of the depart