Evening star., 1941-07-12
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

By Thomas r. Henry.
Ten million bushels more wheat per
year and 100000, 900 bushels more corn
are in prospect during the next decade
In the United States.
These vast increases will be produced
with less acreage and less labor than
are required for the crops at present.
They will be due almost entirely to the
work Of plant breeders of the United
States Department Of Agriculture and
various State experiment stations. Once
any increase in the worlds food supply
meant that pioneers must push beyond
frontiers Of civilization, destroy the will
derness and bring new empires under
the plow. Today the place of these
pioneers is taken by men in laboratories.
The prospects for 10 years have just
been forecast by an Agriculture Depart
ment committee on technology appointed
by Former Secretary Henry A. Wallace.
One Of the outstanding achievements,
they point out, has been the production
Of Thatcher wheat 1t is a hard, red
spring wheat that has greater resistance
to stem rust than the varieties usually
planted. 1t was first introduced in 1885
on about 10000 acres. Since then it has
spread over the spring wheat belt, the
committee reports, and probably will
fiuctuate around 5000 900 acres, or one
third of the entire region devoted to
this crop, for the next few years.
From the record of the past it is as
sumed that two or three severe stem
rust epidemics will occur in the next
decade. Because of the new resistant
variety q minimum Of 5000 900 bushels
4 year above the present average is
foreseen. Unfortunately, the committee
points out, this wheat is not resistant to
leaf rust, a disease which took a heavy
toll in 1888 and may be expected to do
so again unless resistant varieties are
obtained. Two such have just been re-
leased by the Department of Agriculture
for commercial seed production and sew
eral others have been developed which
appear promising enough to justify
their release after few more tests.
These varieties, the committee reports,
are at least as resistant as Thatcher to
stem rust, and most of them are highly
resistant to leaf rust. They will re-
place varieties which are themselves so
far superior to those grown half CEN
tury ago that on the same acreage they
yield about 100000 more bushels an
nually. With the old varieties the rust
epidemics of the past five years would
have resulted in overwhelming economic
tragedies.
One Of the most serious foes of wheat,
it is explained, is the Hessian fly. Sew
eral varieties that appear resistant to
this pest have just been created by the
plant breeders and one of these has
been released to California seed growers.
Even more remarkable has been the
increase In corn production on the same
acreage, due to the Introduction of
hybrid varieties.
Hybrid corn" says the report, lis as
AhpSA eoAie dAhOiS Pldhco 10 IllC u dSIol
is among machines. 1t is almost impos-
sible to exaggerate the importance Of
corn. 1t is the most valuable of all farm
crops in the United States and any
threats to its success are watched care
fully by millions of persons. The addi-
tional security against low yields and
crop failure offered by hybrid corn is
cfo a oli TO- -
past decade"
The first commercial hybrid seed corn
was produced at the Connecticut Agri-
cultural College in 1922 and hybrids
adapted to the corn belt became avail
able about seven years later In 1888
about 10000 acres were planted with it.
Six years later this had increased to
"a 900 900 acres-about a fourth of the
entire corn acreage in the United States.
This included this year about IS per
cent of the total corn land in Ohio and
Illinois and rs per cent of that in Iowa
The yields are from Is to 80 per cent
greater than those of the old varieties.
In addition there has been bred into
these varieties resistance to such pests,
sometimes devastating, as chinch bugs
and corn root worm. Certain expert
mental hybrids show some resistance to
the dreaded European corn borer. A
220 900 900 -bushel increase in the total
production is very conservative, the COM
mittee reports. Hybrids have not vet
been developed for the corn areas of the
South, but some are under way which
may be ready for distribution among
Southern farmers by 1945.
Several new varieties of oats have
been developed in State experiment sta
tions, the committee found, which are
highly resistant to oat diseases. Some
of these now are being distributed to
farmers of the North Central States.
They may be expected to add about
100000 bushels a year to the total
production without any acreage increase.
Discusses Limited Warfare"
Against Germany Now.
To the Editor of The Star: