14—Lancaster Farming, Friday, Oct. 26, 1956 Finding New Crops, Saving old Stocks Gets Added Emphasis in Research «e: This article is from the ember issue of Agricultural FINDING NEW CROPS, SAVING OLD STOCKS (USDA) Development of profitable new crops and preservation of valu able breeding stocks to improve our old crops will get added em phasis in USD A crop research in the coming year. Intensive study will be started bn three potential crops Dio scorea, Simmondsia, and the tim ber bamboos All of these have possibilities lIIIIMIIBUIIIIII s VAPAM ■ The Easy-to-Use 2 Temporary Soil ■ Sterilant For ■ "“Tobacco Plant Beds S 2 s Other Seed Beds J 2 "Kills Weeds J ■, And Grasses a J (both annual & perennial) ■ ■ "'■Seed Attacking Fungi ■ • -Nematodes ■ m ■ Can be applied m m “ a With sprinkling ■ ' Can or ordinary ■ i«r a a Sprayer £ Jae ECONOMICAL ■ TO USE 4 FOR BEST RESULTS ■ " TREAT SOIL NOW || 5 ■ ■P.L.ROHRER: S&BRO.INC ! '• ■ ■ ■ Smoketown, Pa. ■ ■ ■ S Ph. Lane. EX 22659 ■ ; « ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■l And a new bank (National Seed Storage Laboratory) will be built in Colorado for the retention of plant species collected abroad or from the wild for use in deve loping better crops of all kinds. The seed bank, for which Con gress recently appropriated $450,000, will be built on a cam pus site donated by Colarado A and M College at Fort Collins, it will house the permanent seed collection of all introduced spec ies still remaining from six de cades of plant exploration as well as breeding stocks recommended as of possible value for the fu ture Many of the collections have been lost some lost for ever because of inadequate space and opportunity to-pre serve and revitalize them. Future accessions of plants reproducible through seeds will be stocked at the Colorado laboratory as long as there’s any hkehood of then usefulness as crops or breeding material. (minerals required in minute amounts) occur in many scatter ed soils in western irrigated areas, along the Gulf, and Atlan tic Coastal Plains, and possibly 'elsewhere. Some trace minerals, zinc and iron included, can’t be supplied through the soil since they're converted to unavailable form by other soil constituents. That keeps plants from getting enough of the minerals natural ly present or applied. Foliar sprays are an effec tive means of'applying nutri ents, but some sprays zinc and iron, for example cause severe foliage burn under most conditions. Since those two are among the elements that can’t be supplied through alkaline or certain other soils, dormant spraying is a practical solution. That makes it doubly import ant to know when trees are ready to take in the bark p sprays. Studies at USDA’s Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Md., show that during complete dor mancy nutrient sprays enter only through pruning wounds and other breaks not through nor mal bark. Absorption through bark occurs only after growth starts. ARS plant physiologists C. P. Harley and L. O. Regeimbal and horticulturist H. H. Moon made these discoveries by treating ap ple trees with needed mineral elements and then testing the yanous tissues for presence of those elements. Treatments were made with nitrogen, phosphorus, Select Top-Grade Macaroni Products Watch for telltale signs of good macaroni products. Quality in macaroni, noodles, and spaghetti defends first on taste. A mild, wheaty flavor is desirable, says Elsie Bamesberg er, extension specialist irt con sumer education at the Pennsyl vania State University. Taste and cooking characteris tics are closely linked. To be a top-grade macaron product, it, must hold its shape in cooking,* be firm to the palate, not mushi together, and leave clear cooking water. and rubidium, but the same prin ciples should govern a tree’s re ceptiveness for zinc, iron, and other minor elements that you’d supply for bark feeding. Fortun ately the major nutrients ni trogen, phosphorus, and potas sium can be supplied through the soil. Eh .these studies, urea was used for its nitrogen content, potassium acid phosphate for its phosphorus, di-ammonium phosphate for nitrogen and phosphorus, and rubidium chloride for the rubidium. The phosphorus in potassium acid phosphate and the rubidium chloride were in radioactive form for convenience In trac ing, while the other materials were in conventional form and called for standard chemical analysis. Each compound was painted in bands around the branches of trees and the tests made_ periodically in various tissue layers in the treated zone at various distances up and down the branches. The scientists found none of the elements in question beneath the uninjured epidermis of treat ed trees during February, but did find it in phloem and xylem tis sues where bark was scraped or cut. Early in April," when flower buds were in the green-tip to cluster stage but vegetative buds still tight, substantial amounts of the nutrients showed up be neath normal bark that had been treated and even some distance from the point where applied. Of course scraped or cut surfaces absorbed much more of the ma terials, but frozen wood, some what less. It was clear that pene tration in uninjured bark doesn’t occur until the tree is growing. Microscopic study of the branches showed why absorp tion coincides with new growth. Since outer bark is in elastic, cambiai growth pro duced many longitudinal cracks in the bark and trans verse cracks at the leaf scars and lenticels. Rainwater, dew, and even the moisture normal ly transpired outward through the bark dissolves the nutrient salts and washes them through the cracks to the absorptive phloem tissues. The pattern of movement also is interesting. Once growth start ed, the materials moved inward and to some extent radially. Aft er reaching the tree’s- up-and down channels of transport, they showed up at quite a distance, but especially in buds upward from the treated zone. Most of the nutrient went into the buds and .shoots along the mam chan nel of flow from a painted prun ing wound Around mid-April or a little later greatest concentra tion was in the flower buds then developing most actively. At the end of April the nutrient ma terial was most concentrated in the rapidly growing young termi nal leaves. C. O. Ehlanson, in charge of plant introduction work in ARS, anticipates that in the years to come the laoratory will serve as a repository for many of the close wild rela tives and primitive varieties of our important crops. These plants contain characters such as disease resistance that may be valuable in developing new commercial varieties. Erianson cites the history of clover in troductions. Of thousands of breeding lines introduced since 1898, only 1 out of 50 is now available. Some seeds are short-lived and other quite long-lived, but most of them can be kept far longer even up to several decades in a dry atmosphere and at cool, uniform temperatures. The la boratory will provide those ideal conditions as far as possible. The seeds will be tested from time to time, and whenever deteriora tion shows up they will be grown out to get fresh replacements. The laboratory will maintain active contact with researches likely to haye use for the in troduced species in breeding work. Thus, seed stocks will be discarded only after certain they have no further value. The laboratory will also main tain a. sort of master file of worthwhile plant varieties to guard against their discard and the. loss forever of potentially valuable plasm. Many of our old varieties of maize, fruits, and other crops have been superseded by new ones and lost without the opportunity of again examining those old varieties for genetic characters needed for new prob lems. The Colorado laboratory has the job of maintaining the per manent deposit. But most of the same'matenals will be available for use through the four regional plant introduction stations run cooperatively by ARS and the State experiment stations, and through other research channels. Some study has already been made of the three plants viewed as potential new crops. The Dio scorea famly of wild tropical yams, which contain source ma terials for the anti-arthritic hor mone cortisone, have been col lected and tested to find produc tive, high-quality stocks "(AGR. RES., January 1956, p. 8). Dio scorea will now be tried on a substantial scale under cultiva tion to perfect a method of grow ing it profitably. Timber bamboos have prov ed successful for several pur poses in ARS experiments (AGR. RES.., August 1954, p. 12). Bamboo will now be grown under cultivation to de termine how successful it may be as a new crop. The third plant, Simmondsia chinensis, a native desert shrub growing in our Southwest and parts of Mexico, yields an abun dance of hard wax that can sub stitute, for imported oils and waxes". Exteiisive seed collections will be made m the early future preparatory to field and chemi- GREIDER LEGHORNS i WIN -1956 PA. EGG LAYING TEST : F®" J i f Wt* M " '■SKi&€>J lip" I THIS PEN OF GREIDER SUPER-CROSS LEQ- ; HORNS LAID 3823 EGGS FOR 4097.65 ; POINTS TO WIN THE 350 DAY ■ PENNA. EGG LAYING TEST. ; ALSO . . . .★ 3rd in NATION all tests, all breeds and strains ★ 294 eggs per bird housed in 350 days ★ 100% liveability ★ 25.6 ounces per dozen average egg size ★ Ist in egg quality 1955—4th in 1956 GREIDER LEGHORN FARMS, INC. MT. JOY PH. 3-9900 West Chester Bull ' Summarized Sire PETERBOROUGH, N. H Jewell’s Cathedral King, regis tered Guernsey bull, owned by J. W. McCoy, West Chester, Pa.* has become a Summarized Sire, according to the American Guernsey Cattle Club. To attain this distinction, a bull must have at least 10 daughters with offi cial production records. “King”, has 42 tested daugh ters that have made 95 official records Their average produc tion is 9,306 lbs of milk and 467 lbs of fat, when converted to a twice-day milking, 305-day, ma ture equivalent basis. This- fine Guernsey bull was bred by H. H. Buckley, Oneoita, N. Y This bull’s su-e was Rilma’s Cathedral Rose’s King and its dam was Sadie’s Cathedral Jewell, that posted an Official production record of 17,629 lbs of milk and 782 lbs of fat. “King”, also has had four of his registered daughters classi fied with an average rating of Very Good. ADD SIMILES She attracts rib more attention than a thermometer after the ar rival of a cool wave. Toledo Blade. cal testing. Studies have showh that this plant’s waxes are satis factory substitutes for imported sperm oil and carnauba wax, | possibly for ouricuri oil, in a number of industrial products. Those materials are sometimes scarce, Simmondsia might there fore provide a profitable use for several thousand acres of south western dry land if it can be economically produced. Stanley H. Deiter Auctioneer And Appraiser 1906 WiUovr Street Pike Ph. Lancaster EX 4-1796
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