To the Editor of the "Nortu-Cnixa Dany News"
Sm,—Noting your editorial in this morning's issue appreciative of the work done at Nanking University under the direction of Dr. J. L. Buck, and deploring the destruction of that institution, I wonder if you are aware of the economic blow to the entire Yangtze valley caused by the destruction of the University's experiment station, Following the north China famine of 1921, something over a million dollars were left in the hands of the American Advisory Committee, when it was deemed that the famine was over and relief no longer necessary. The major portion of this sum was devoted to scientific work, having a famine preventive value, under the jurisdiction of the University of Nanking. One of the projects first undertaken was to develop strains of wheat more prolific and more hardy than those then available in that port of China. After some ten years of preparation and selection, two—possibly three—strains had been developed.to.the point where it was felt that they were worthy of replication. Compared with native varieties, which were tested under the same conditions, these selected strains yielded, as I remember, more than fifty per cent. more, were more resistant to rust and smut, and equally hardy as against winter-kill he next step was to produce such seed in quantity. If the whole wheat-growing region in the Yangtze valley is to have the advantage of such superior strains of wheat, a tremendous amount of seed must be made available, According to my information, the entire seed stock of the University of Nanking has been destroyed. Unless a stray bushel or two of this strain can be found in the bin Of some farmer at a distance from Nanking to whom had been entrusted a little of this precious seed, the entire fruits of fifteen years of scientific experimentation have been destroyed. Applied to the wheat fields that this seed would have reached during the next decade, hundreds of millions of dollars are involved.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.