The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-10-09
SEVEN

is impossible to estimate at pres
ent," DR.. Spoehr adds, but the
number of animal units. which can
be produced per acre is smaller.
1.-The downward trend Of produce
tlvity Of the range has unfortun.
ately not been evident to the in.
dustrial areas, and political expe.
diency has dominated economic
policy. For the security Of the ma
ton this downward trend must be
reversed if future generations are
to have an adequate source Of one
of the most important food prod
ucts.
Already, DR.. Spoehr says, ''the
abuse of the western range has
seriously affected the economy Of
the whole country.
'The devastating dust storms Of
the early 1905, the tremendous
losses Of top soil by erosion, the
destruction Of prosperous commu.
mites through flash floods, the "a.
pid silting-up of reservoirs are ca.
tastrophic phenomena that have
largely emanated from the range
region where mismanagement has
been a principal factor in turning
vast areas into virtual deserts"
The program Of h e Carnegie
scientists is cooperative effort
with government agencies.
The U. S. Soil Conservation serv-
ice has offered an extensive col.
lection Of native grasses for study
and has aided in obtaining other
grasses from foreign countries.
The role of the Carnegie team
has been 10 test, on an extensive
scale, the validity OF "A recentlyl
developd method in plant breed.
ing.
The method is called "the in.
duction of amphiploidy." This is 4
five:dollar phrase meaning the
crossing of distantly-related grassy
cousins in such a way that the
offspring receive complete sets Of
heredity bearing chromosomes
from each parents, instead Of half
sets as is, usually the case.
The scientists say the method
thus offers means of using the
best qualities OF each parent. They
hope that by making various COM
binations of strains which, individ.
ually. contain qualities needed for
the range, they'll get "super.hy.
brids."
The qualities they seek are deep
ness and toughness Of root, great.
er nutritive value, greater resist
ance to drought and disease, great
er soil-holding capacity. and bet
ter taste.
| More than $500 seedlings from
seven different crossings have
been grown, and the geneticists
say that at least 20 promising Off
spring have been detected from
!: five OF these combinations. They
feel they're on the right track.
So far, the researchers are bet
ting strongly on a toughie devel-
oped by crossing the six foot
bunch grass from eastern Wash.
ington with a blue grass from
Lapland.
This crossing, they say, theoret-
ically brings together the extreme
vigor and productivity of the bunch
grass with the laplander's complete
resistance to rust and mildew.
The Laplander also is rated az
tasty little dish.
Another good bet, they say, is a
cross between the Washington hus-
ky and much smaller but drought
and disease-resistant grass from
Asia Minor.
Following the early promise OF
greenhouse and garden tests con-
Quoted under ideal conditions. the
researchers transplanted many OF
the seedlings to testing stations in
the California desert and mountain
areas.
There, the grasses yet tas
works" in climatic and atnos-
pheric tests under conditions simu.
1atlng those of various plains areas.
II
When women were first employ.
1 l.