BRIEFER ARTICLES 



AARON AARONSOHN 



(with portrait) 



The untimely death of Aaron Aaronsohn in an aeroplane accident 

 occurred May 15, 1919- He was on the postal plane from London, 

 and the plane was wrecked in a heavy fog near Boulogne. 



Aaronsohn is best 

 known as the discoverer of 

 wild wheat in Palestine, but 

 his training and enthusiasm 

 were expressing themselves 

 in many ways, not only for 

 the benefit of his own people, 

 but also in helping to solve 

 the general problem of food 

 production. He was born in 

 Roumania very shortly be- 

 fore his parents migrated to 

 Palestine. He was educated 

 in France, and then devoted 

 himself to the agricultural 

 problems and other interests 

 of his home country. His 

 discovery of wild wheat in 

 1906 was not an accident, but 

 the result of a study of the 

 problem, by which he became convinced that wild wheat would resemble 

 cultivated wheat in appearance and size of grain. He found it growing 

 in rock crevices, and later discovered that it is a relatively common grass 

 throughout Palestine. A drought-resistant and disease-resistant race 

 of wheat fired the imagination of Aaronsohn as to the possibilities of 

 food production. His visits to the United States will always be re- 

 membered by those who met him personally or heard his addresses. 

 He traveled throughout the country, investigating the agricultural 

 Botanical Gazette, vol. 68] [388 



