EFFORTS TO INCREASE FOOD RESOURCES 



cultivated plant of the world at the present time. It pro- 

 duces the largest total amount of food and lends itself so 

 easily to the use of machinery that it is grown cheaply 

 on large areas. 



A history of the development and use of this premier 

 cereal would tell much about the progress of the white 

 race. The nearest relative of wheat grows wild in Palestine. 

 There the climate is comparatively mild. It is somewhat 

 of a mystery how this plant has been made to endure the 

 cold of Russian steppes, the dampness of English fogs, and 

 the scorching of Kansas droughts. 



One of the notable figures at the Kansas State Agricul- 

 tural College, where I was a student, was Professor Herbert 

 Roberts. He was often seen with a large leather bag, hung 

 from a strap over his shoulder, full of small bottles of 

 wheat. These wheats he had collected from all parts of 

 the world — from Turkey and Russia principally, because 

 from these countries had come the varieties best adapted 

 to Kansas conditions and those that made the finest bread. 

 These samples of wheat were planted in small plots, 

 hundreds of them. When they grew to maturity, some were 

 found to be uniform in type, but many were badly mixed. 

 Following the success of Nilsson in Sweden, Vilmorin in 

 France, and Hays in Minnesota, Roberts selected individual 

 heads and increased the seed from them until a sufficient 

 amount was obtained to judge their good and poor quali- 

 ties when grown in comparison. Each lot was planted in a 

 small square. The test field looked much like a gigantic 

 checkerboard; light-colored, beardless wheats alternated 

 with bearded wheats with dark chaff. Year after year 

 these trial lots of wheat were grown and the poorest 

 discarded, although it was almost a hopeless task to try to 

 pick the best when so many yielded about the same. 



In the spring of the year, when the wheat was first 

 pushing up to head. Professor Roberts usually came late 



[349] 



