Show PROF HANSEN AND ALFALFA how lo 10 iowa in scientist secured drought Resle tent plants to supplement those 0 of North northwest it was back in 1897 that hat professor hansen was called upon to go to russia and asia as tho the nations first plant explorer it to Is told in the review of 0 reviews that james wilson tho the secretary of at that time had known professor hansen at ames amea and ho he was instructed by secretary wilson to secure drought resisting and cold resistant resl resi stent plants of commercial value to supplement those of the northwest or other parts of the united state having crossed through northern europe and mado made his way eastward and then abon southwestward across rusala again the professor turned southward through and then sailed over the caspler sea to the realms of the here he came face to face with the problem in the discovery of a hardy alfalfa it was almost like discovering a low continent hero here was an alfalfa that nature doubtless through thousands of df years had bad inured to drought and sold cold it held hardiness hardiness had bad been worked into it by natures slow blow processes a as a the plant had trav clod with infinite pains from the southward Bout hward perhaps in persia whereas the common al falfas of the united states had traveled another way these wore were taken from persia to greece in the fifth century B D 0 thence they were carried to italy and spain and after that to south america long after which they were brought to the southwestern states they had never had bad an opportunity to spread northward through long centuries of time becoming hardy by infinitely slow degrees as had those of tho the part of asia where professor hansen had bad just made his discovery with the discoverers philosophy of plant hardiness however the hardiness of these now new al falfas could be transferred to other al falfas and a variety both luxuriant and hardy be invented that Is if this newly howly discovered alfalfa would not itself do as a successful forage in the amidale midale west of the unfed states but the thing to do was to follow this new plant northward and find out the home of the hardiest handiest har diest of the hardy with this in mind he set out he followed the trail across deserts among wild and forbidding mountains along routes infested by bandits tracing it by caravan for 1300 miles to a latitude about level kith st paul 16 15 degrees north in tile the very heart of asia along the difficult way he interviewed natives soldiers and he horses in the markets ho he and h company gathered seed by hand out steppes then winter overtook over tooh abib tit ube littlie fo to tho the northwestward ot of the Clif chloese fiese fr frontier onder and risking his hl ufa life by exposure ho he made a mlle mile dash north ward to amsk on the tran halberian sal berian rall roA kl whence he started westward with hla his precious freight of seeds |