AB: Lloyd Austin
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: AB: Lloyd Austin
- From: S* M* <7*@CompuServe.COM>
- Date: Thu, 8 May 1997 00:34:45 -0600 (MDT)
Bill Shear wrote:
:. An
: article I wrote about this appeared in the ASI yearbook many years ago,
: probably sometime around 1962(?).
"The 1958 and 1959 Seasons in the Allegheny Mountains", 1960 YB, p. 42.
"A Germination Experiment", 1962 YB, p. 12.
: I got interested in arils and arilbreds
: after seeing 'Lady Mohr' in 1956 or 57.
Still one of the most fascinating. When she blooms next to her TB
contemporaries, it's easy to see why people were so taken with even the
1/4-oncobreds of the 40s.
: (By the way, I wonder if Sharon could provide us with some
: history on Austin--bound to be interesting. I understand he began as a
: breeder of pines before switching to irises).
Yes, indeed. Lloyd traced his inspiration to his highschool exposure to the
works of Luther Burbank, and wrote his thesis on Burbank's work. While on the
staff of the California College of Agriculture, his interest and responsibility
was breeding fruit trees. In 1925, on the recommendation of Luther Burbank, he
was chosen to head the world's first forest tree breeding station, the Institute
of Forest Genetics. After 15 years of breeding pines he "felt the need to find
a field of hybridizing where it does not take 150 years to grow a mature plant
and judge its characteristics".
For the long version, see
"Twelve Years of Progress in Breeding Arils", by Lloyd Austin, 1958 ASI
Yearbook.
"In Memorium: Lloyd Austin", 1963 ASI Yearbook.
"The Lloyd Austin Story", by Donna Downey, 1986 ASI Yearbook.
Sharon McAllister
73372.1745@compuserve.com
