With this reestablishment of the forest cover and the creation of the lakes in the final cuts, we can again have our forest resource combined with fishing, hunting and other forms of outdoor recreation, some areas of pasture and, I believe, others that can be profitably devoted to the production of nut crops and the by-product of quality logs for the veneer and lumber industry.
PRESIDENT MacDANIELS: If you ever think you are going to sell your logs for veneer or lumber, don't nail hammocks or other things on the trees. The metal is very soon buried and causes no end of difficulty. We will go to the next paper, which is, "Colchicine as a Tool in Nut Breeding," Mr. O. J. Eigsti, Funk Brothers Seed Co., Bloomington, Illinois.
MR. EIGSTI: Three years ago this project was conceived in a discussion between Mr. Best and myself. Then during the two-year period, all I did was turn over some Colchicine to Mr. Best. Mr. Best took the material, treated the trees and performed as well as any graduate student I had ever graduated in the 13 years that I was in university work. It is through his fine cooperation that we are able to start this project, and I look forward to this developing into a rather important nut breeding venture. But as you all know, it will take a long time. I have this paper written. It's only four pages double-spaced.
Colchicine for Nut Improvement Programs
O. J. EIGSTI and R. B. BEST, Normal, Illinois, and Eldred, Illinois
Colchicine (1, 2) as a plant breeders' tool is universally well known. Only limited use has been made of this technique for nut improvement. Early work was started by Dr. J. W. McKay, a member of the N.N.G.A., but numerous other problems demanded his attention and the Colchicine project was not carried to final completion. Other reports are at hand from Sweden and Japan but these results do not shed direct light on the problems under discussion today at Rockport, Indiana.
Colchicine, acting on cell-division, ultimately causes a doubling of the number of chromosomes within those cells in contact with the substance at the time of division. Such changes are transferred to succeeding generations by the hereditary chain familiar to plant breeders. Several species of nuts are among this class of plants with doubled chromosomal numbers, however, such duplications occurred in nature. A report on this phase was given at a recent meeting of the N.N.G.A. Therefore such excellent nut producing species as the pecan are naturally doubled types, called polyploids. We find numbers such as 32 representative of a polyploid situation.
Since colchicine is effective in doubling the chromosome number and that variations in chromosome number exist among species, the authors planned a series of experiments to determine the best methods of applying colchicine toward a nut improvement program. Seedlings of pecan were available and out of this experience a schedule is submitted that may be of use for other members of this association confronted with particular problems applicable to colchicine techniques.
The most satisfactory schedule for doubling the number of chromosomes is given in a number of steps as listed below.
1) Select expanding vegetative buds in the earliest stages of development.