38 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
but new situations have developed that lead to other complications. 
For example, it is discovered that an immune race growing on 
one area may not be immune when grown upon another area; also 
that an immune race may not always be immune on the same 
area. This probably means that the tone of the plant is not the 
same under all conditions, and that as this varies the power of 
resistance varies. In this way investigations lead back to the 
physiology of the plant that is to be guarded against attack. As 
is so often said in these days, we must shift our attention a little 
from the disease-producing organism to the physiology of the 
patient, both normal and pathological. 
The original method of combatting drought was to irrigate in 
regions of perennial drought, and to take the chances in regions 
of possible drought. Pedigree culture suggested the possibility 
of discovering drought-resisting races. A case in point is the 
recently discovered wild original of the wheat in Palestine. This 
plant is certainly more resistant to drought than are any of our 
strains of wheat, which have probably been derived from it 
through many centuries of culture. It would seem easier to 
select a race already hardy, than to induce a pampered race to 
become hardy. Aaronsohn, therefore, in his Palestine experiment 
station, proposes to propagate this hardy race and distribute it. 
The interest of our country lies in the fact that such a wheat 
would not only mean a surer crop in the present wheat areas, 
with their possible drought, but would also enormously extend 
the wheat area into regions of well-nigh perennial drought. A 
vision such as this is most attractive, for it deals with extremely 
important facts, with values of the highest order to the general 
welfare of the country. But it must be remembered that we are 
not cultivating wheat for its hardiness, and the first question to 
ask is as to the quality of the grain that this hardy plant produces. 
It certainly must be improved before it can replace the strains 
we have learned to depend upon, in spite of their sensitiveness to 
the accident of drought and their restricted range. This means 
long and patient and scientific cultural experiments, such as are 
being conducted by Buffum in Dakota, in the attempt to secure 
a combination of hardiness to drought, which we desire, and 
quality of grain, which we possess. I see no reason why the 
vision should not be realized, but you need not invest in arid 
land for immediate use as wheat fields. 
And now within two or three years there has come a race of 
