1^6 



The lournal of Heretlitv 



PELISSIER WHEAT 



Figure 5. Pelissier, a black-bearded wheat 

 of the hard or durmn type extensively grown in 

 northern Africa. This variety originated with 

 a selection made by Dr. Trabut among the 

 numerous races cultivated by the natives of 

 Algeria. It is now grown considerably in 

 Montana and has been found especially satis- 

 factory in the manufacture of macaroni and 

 semolina. Photograph from the Office of 

 Cereal Investigation. (See text on this page.) 



2 See Journal of Heredity, V:74-85. 1914. 



BOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE APPLIED IN 

 BREEDING PLANTS 



In an address before the Botanical 

 Society of France, meeting in Tunisia 

 in 1909, Dr. Trabut emphasized the 

 importance of systematic botany as 

 the basis of all progress in applied 

 botany. Never has this truth been 

 better illustrated than in his own 

 career. Trabut's acute and profound 

 knowledge of systematic botany has 

 given him an exceptionally solid foun- 

 dation upon which to base his work as 

 plant breeder and plant introducer, as 

 will be shown by a few examples. 



A systematic study of the numerous 

 races of wheat grown by the natives, 

 several of which often are found in the 

 same field, resulted in the segregation 

 of the Pelissier variety, a black bearded 

 wheat of the durum type, now exten- 

 sively cultivated in Algeria. Locally 

 grown varieties of oats, highly resis- 

 tant to rust, have been discovered and 

 popularized. Incidentally, evidence 

 was obtained that the Algerian oats 

 are derived from Avena sterilis, a 

 botanical species distinct from that 

 to which the European varieties have 

 been traced {A. fatua).- The forage 

 value of numerous grasses, Legumino- 

 sae, and other native plants has been 

 determined and the best of these have 

 been introduced into cultivation. 



Still more striking, perhaps, have 

 been the results attained with orchard 

 crops. Botanical investigation of the 

 species of Pyrus, the genus to which 

 the cultivated pear belongs, led to the 

 description of several new species, 

 one of which, P. gharhiana Trabut, 

 has proved valuable as a stock for 

 the pear when grown on limestone soils. 

 Native varieties of the Persian walnut 

 have been found which flourish in Al- 

 geria on their own roots, as is not the 

 case with the varieties introduced from 

 France. The numerous Algerian varie- 

 ties of the grape have been investigated 

 and selection has been made of those 

 which seem most promising. One of 

 of these, popularized by Trabut and 

 known to the French colonists as 



