Evening star., 1942-11-19
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

Bureau here, has developed three va
rieties of wheat which will grow and
produce fair yields in the desert-spe-
cifically the great Kara Kun desert
between the Caspian and Lake Ural,
hitherto almost complete waste Of
rocks and black drifting sand.
This covers more than IS per cent of
the Turkmenian Republic, one of the
States of the Soviet Union, which in the
past has been peopled chiefly by nomads
whose agricultural production has been
! very small.
The scientist is DR.. Boris Keller, head
| OF the Turkmenian branch of the Soviet
Academy of Sciences.
All three new wheats have been de-
| veloped, says DR.. Keller, in an expert
mental field in the Kopetdag Mountains
| where the rainfall does not exceed l.9
inches year.
Wheat breeders of the United States
Department of Agriculture were loath to
comment on the report, which might
ture, without further details from DR..
Keller himself. For some years before
the war, they say, reports of revolution
airy new wheats have been coming out
OF Russia, but all efforts to obtain seeds
Tor testing In the dry sections of the
United States or the Arctic stretches of
Canada have brought the reply that
thnrp iS
any distribution, even for strictly expert
mental purposes.
Several experiment stations in the
United States, the Department of Apri-
culture wheat specialists explain, have
been evolving wheats which will grow
with fair yield of very good quality
grain in country where the rainfall aver
ages between and 10 inches annually.
In the past, when wheat was grown in
a region where precipitation was below
IA inches, it has been the practise to
allow fields to lie falloW every other
year In order to conserve moisture.
With the best American Wheats, they
say, 1t has been impossible to produce
crop of any commercial value where
with cool temperature which is of
great Importance. The wheat plant
can grow with relatively little moisture
until it is burned up by the hot sun.
The Kara Kun Desert is likely to be
extremely cold in winter. Summers in
the drifting sand, however, are intoler-
ably hot, but it may be, the scientists
say, that it remains cool long enough
Tor the new wheat to ripen. There also
is possibility of unrecorded moisture
from underground seepage Actually,
the surface of parts of the desert is
covered with flowers in early spring, but
these soon wither under the hot sun.
The drlest spot in the United States
where it has been possible to grow wheat
profitably, the Department of Agricul-
ture specialists say is the Cariso plain
OF California, plateau south of San
Francisco between the lower San joaquin
Valley and the coast, where rainfall is
about II inches year. Here, however,
special conditions obtain.
The technique of producing a drought
resistant wheat, they believe, in the
past has been the same both in Russia
and in the United States and Canada.
First the most drought-resistant wild
Wheats have been selected. These all
come from Southern Russia and Siberia,
The next step has been to cross them
with more drought-resstant plant, a
grass which is close relative of wheat.
1t IS upon such crosses that Russian
claims tho ct hoe
American and Canadian scientists have
made the same crosses described by the
Soviet scientists but have failed to
obtain that same results, possibly be-
cause growing conditions are different,
They never have achieved a commerce.
ally feasible crop.
There is no disposition, they say, to
doubt the claims of DR.. Keller, but they
would like to know more of the amounts
and quality of wheat he is obtaining in
the desert.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agri-
culture scientists have announced. there
have been developed in the United States
Two new winter Wheats-the Comanche
and the PaWnee-Which are better than
NN'' -o"AA AL oAAC pdot 1Ol tllc VdSJ, OTy
Southern Great Plains region. They are
more drought resistant than any of COM
merclal value before, mature early. are
fairly resistant to disease, and pro-
duce good quality of bread flour. They
soon will be ready for distribution to
| farmers. Until the announcement of the
Russian achievement they were con-
sidered about the last word in the
adaptation of wheat to dry areas.
1t is noteworthy, they point out, that
one OF the most notable events in the
last war although generally lost sight of
because of the more exciting war news,
was the introduction first in Canada
and then the United States of the cele-
brated Marquis wheat, early maturing
and rust resistant. It was one of the
| most important factors in feeding the
world after hostilities ceased.
Besides his new wheat, DR.. Keller an
nounces, other scientists at the ex-
pertinent station in the Kopetdag noun
tains have developed breeds of sheep
which do we'll in areas of the Kara Kun
desert where grain growing will be i'm
possible. They also have made a HYDRO
geological study of the desert which has
resulted in finding underground water
which can be tapped with wells. With
o00 Sl1ch wells fhev clo;p, .oo,,ol, 49,.