The Bunt Problem in Relation to Winter Wheat Breeding

Man is forever in search of new and better crops. He has for centuries been a persistant and fairly successful plant . breeder. Ancient Chinese are credited with breeding superior varieties of rice and hybrid flowers. Indians in America produced remarkable varieties of corn, and it was not until modern corn breeders developed hybrid corn that they produced superior yielding varieties. The discovery of Mendel\u27s work on hybridization 50 years ago pointed the way to almost limitless possibilities in plant improvement through breeding. Mendel discovered that if two related individuals were hybridized, it was possible in later generations to obtain progeny with any combination of characters in which the two parents differed. Genetic studies since have shown that by the recombination of genetic factors it is also possible to obtain progeny with characteristics not possessed by either parent. Organisms are thus found to be far more plastic in their hereditary basis than was formally believed. Further proof of these concepts had been demonstrated in breeding new, improved, disease-resistant varieties in many crops. From these concepts and accomplishments, it was assumed that new and better wheat varieties possessing resistance to bunt could be developed in the hope of alleviating a serious bunt ?roblem. As a result of the serious disease situation that existed in dry land ~heat, a project on wheat breeding for bunt resistance was initIated at the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station