NEW WHEAT STRAIN

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1935, Page 9

NEW WHEAT STRAIN

DROUGHT-RESISTING. ‘ CANADIAN SCIENTIST’S HOPES. Winnipeg, Dec. 10. By crossing a stain of Siberian wheat, highly resistant to dry hot weather and capable of maturing seed with a minimum of moisture, with the standard strains of Marquis and Reward wheats, a young Alberta scientist believes he is on the eve of producing a wheat which will largely solve the problem of growing wheat on the semi-arid portions of the Canadian prairie. His name is Dr. O. S. Aambodt. “Ofcourse, we cannot produce a wheat which will grow without moisture,” he warned the newspapermen to whom he told his story during the sessions of the Committee of Grain Research. At the same time, Dr. Aamodt believes that the new strains of wheat he is developing will grow. more wheat with less moisture than the strains now generally cultivated. Dr. Aarhodt is searching for a wheat able to resist hot winds, capable of reviving after being badly wilted, equipped with a vigorous and intensive root system, and nevertheless, comparing favourably in quality and quantity of yield with other types of Canadaian wheat famous the world over. In order to test his wheat, Dr. Aamodt constructed a wind tunnel, which, equipped with an electric heater, was capable of simulating the actual conditions under which the wheat would later be grown in the field.