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Triticale

The breeding of a male donkey to a horse mare produces a mule--a big, sterile hybrid superior in some ways and inferior in others. Similarly, crossing wheat and rye yields the sterile hybrid triticale. It, too, has certain advantages and disadvantages.

Plantings of triticale made over a four-year period at the Fairbanks Experiment Station have consistently produced a higher yield than other small grains--24% higher than barley, 28% higher than wheat and 39% higher than oats.

But, as is the case with the mule, there are problems, according to the University of Alaska's Frank Wooding who conducted the tests with triticale. It takes about 109 days to grow mature triticale, which is just a bit too long for most Alaskan localities. Barley, wheat and oats require only 81, 97 and 99 days, respectively, and therefore can be grown in the interior and southern parts of Alaska and Yukon Territory.

Another problem of triticale is its susceptibility to the fungus disease called ergot. Ergot forms black pods on the grain spikes that are poisonous to livestock and human beings. It causes abortion in pregnant animals and lameness and gangrene.

Fortunately it is possible to chemically treat triticale seedlings so that they will develop into fertile, seed-producing plants. Therefore there is hope that improved strains of triticale can be developed that will be disease-resistant and adapted to growing in the north. Rapid progress can be expected. Triticale was first grown only 30 years ago; already a number of different varieties have been developed.