ROBERT Z. CALLAHAM 



SUMMARY 



Breeding for rust resistance, as for any other characteristic, 

 requires access to a variety of genetic materials. In recent years con- 

 siderable international interest has developed in the exchange and 

 conservation of germ plasm of forest trees. Obtaining plant materials 

 from other nations or continents can be difficult. Finding reliable seed 

 collectors, paying for collections, political barriers, and restrictive 

 quarantines all may stand between the breeder and the plant material he 

 requires . 



International organizations have been extremely helpful in over- 

 coming these obstacles. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the 

 United Nations has played an active role in gathering experts together to 

 highlight the problems, and its commissions, committees, and professional 

 staff work to alleviate them. The International Union of Forestry Research 

 Organizations has active working groups that have been extremely helpful 

 in acquiring seeds and in conducting cooperative breeding. Other inter- 

 national organizations are showing more interest in the problems of tree 

 breeders. National efforts, most notably in Australia, Denmark, Mexico, 

 the United Kingdom, and the United States, have contributed greatly to 

 meeting the needs of forest tree breeders for seeds, pollen, and cuttings. 



Conservation of germ plasm is of less concern for forestry than it 

 is for agriculture. Relatively few tree species are in danger of extinc- 

 tion or of dire genetic change. The relatively long life, long reproduc- 

 tive period, and vast areas of native forest trees lessen the need for 

 conservation. 



FLOOR DISCUSSION 



Panel moderator Bingham withheld discussion on this paper until 

 after a companion panel paper by Dr. Henry D. Gerhold. Floor discussion 

 of both papers will be found there. 



