89 

 NEWS NOTES 



U. S. Explorers Hunt Alfalfas 

 On Plains Of Central Asia 



After visiting most of the countries of Central Europe and 

 working their way well into Asia, H. L. Westover and W. E. 

 Whitehouse, representatives of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture recently returned to the United 

 States, bringing several hundred new plant varieties, principally 

 alfalfa and fruits. 



One of the principal purposes of the trip was to obtain varie- 

 ties of alfalfa which might prove immune from or resistant to 

 bacterial wilt, a disease which is proving serious to alfalfa grow- 

 ers in the Middle West. Preliminary tests had indicated that 

 varieties from Turkestan and France were somewhat resistant 

 to the disease. 



Besides obtaining alfalfa seed from every section of Turkes- 

 tan, Mr. Westover also brought back seed from France, Italy, 

 Germany, Poland, Austria, Rumania, Hungary, and Czecho- 

 slovakia. In all, he brought back about 170 lots of alfalfa seed. 

 These seeds will be tested at our experiment stations to deter- 

 mine whether or not they are resistant to wilt. Doctor 

 Whitehouse was successful in his search for fruits, and brought 

 back seeds of apricot, almond, apple, pistache, and melons. The 

 melon seed will be used by plant breeders who are trying to com- 

 bat melon wilts by breeding new wilt-resistant strains of high 

 quality. The wild fruits are to be tried out in an effort to deter- 

 mine their value as stocks and in addition they may prove of 

 value to plant breeders. 



The Search For Franklinia 



Tallahassee, Fla. — Another search for a rare plant has 

 failed. In the spring of 1773, William Bartram, noted botanical 

 explorer, discovered a handsome shrub, something like a bay, 

 near the Altamaha river, while on his way from Savannah, Ga., 

 to Florida, on horse-back. He called it Franklinia Altamaha 



In the next few years other botanists visited the locality, 

 and transplanted specimens to northern gardens, where some 

 of their descendants still survive. But since 1790 all searches 

 for it in its native haunts have been fruitless, although there 

 have been a few false reports of its re-discovery. 



