Evening star., 1950-03-15
Plant Breeding Enters
Phase of Vitumin Yield
Emphasis Put on Production
OF Nutrition Essentials
By Thomas R. Henry :

By Thomas R. Henry
Plant breeding has entered a new
phase.
For the past century breeders have
juggled genes to produce higher yield
ing, disease resistant wheat, corn. po-
tatoes and tomatoes
Now the emphasis has turned to pro-
ducing varieties with greater amounts
of vitamins and amino acids essential to
human and animal nutrition. 1t has been
found. in many instances. that this de-
pends largely on the heredity constitution
of the variety, according to an exhaustive
review just published by the Nutrition
Foundation.
A significant example is afforded by
the Vitamin c, or ascorbic acid content
of tomatoes. This vitamin is essential
for the prevention of scurvy-a disease
which has disappeared in it's acute form
but of which borderline variety is be-
lieved to be quite prevalent.
Different Varieties Found.
Different varieties have been found, in
Agriculture Department experiments, to
differ as much as f1ve-fold in Vitamin c
content.
The case is more extreme for the caro-
ations of nine-fold have been found in
different varieties of tomatoes and
twelve-fold increase has been achieved
experimentally in breeding experiments
at Rutgers University Carotene is one Of
the essentials of human diet.
A two-fold range has been found in
garden varieties of carrots themselves.
One of the great vitamin deficiencies
is that of NICOTINE acid, lack of which
is a primary cause of pellagra. This
malady is confined largely to areas whose
people are on high corn diet. Nearly
a four-fold range of this vitamin has
been found among "a varieties of corn
and there appears to be possibility of
greatly increasing this, up to the point
where corn alone will supply all Of
this required.
A radio transmitter which can be car
ried in the pocket has been developed
by the Air Force for air-sea rescue
work.
1t is expected to become standard
equipment for every pilot, replacing the
Gibson Girl" familiar to everyone who
has been briefed for an overseas fight.
This rescue set, originally German
invention, weighs at least 40 pounds.
The new set, according to an Air Force
announcement, easily can be held in
one hand. The mercury-type battery is
a separate unit with a rubberized cable
connection attaching it to the receiver
transmitter section. The cable is just
long enough to allow the battery to be
slipped in the pocket while the set is
in use. It can transmit both voice and
code signals.
Built for Punishment.
The gadget has been built to take
lot of punishment Dropped from a TO-
000-foot altitude, 1t might suffer some
damage but any lesser shock hardly
would bother it,
The mercury-type battery, according
to the announcement. will not deteriorate
with lack of use or with age. The entire
unit is entirely unaffected by immersion
in sea water. 1t is designed to stand
temperature extremes from 160 to 80 F.
Even the switches have been engineered
so that they can be operated with heavily
gloved hands.
Tests have shown that a crash sur
vivor can scramble into life raft with
the apparatus in his pocket and imnedi-
ately start transmitting signal which
can be heard by search plane 80 miles
away