Abstract
THE Meyer Medal of the American Genetic Association, for distinguished service in plant introduction, was presented on June 13 to Mr. P. H. Dorsett, who for more than forty-five years has been associated with the scientific work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Dorsett was instrumental in bringing together the largest collection of soy bean varieties that has ever been made. Two expeditions to China were undertaken to make this collection. On the first trip Mr. Dorsett and his son, the late James Dorsett, collected more than two thousand samples from Nanking and its vicinity. On the second expedition, Mr. Dorsett and Dr. William J. Morse, soy bean expert of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, collected more than six thousand samples which were sent to the United States for test. A total of some two thousand distinct varieties of soy beans was obtained from these samples. These are being tested to determine their value to the American farmer. Some of them are already being widely used. The soy bean is a relatively new plant immigrant in the United States, but in 1935 five and a half million acres were planted with it, and forty million bushels of the dry beans were harvested. Mr. Dorsett also took part in three expeditions to obtain new varieties of plants to Brazil (1913-14) and to the West Indies in 1927-30. He was instrumental in bringing into the U.S. valuable citrus varieties and many rare ornamental plants. The Meyer Medal is awarded at intervals by the Council of the American Genetic Association for distinguished services in plant introduction. It is named in honour of the late Frank Meyer, pioneer plant explorer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and had its origin in a fund left by Meyer to his fellow workers in plant introduction, who decided to use it for this purpose. Meyer spent the last nine years of his life in plant explorations in China. Among previous recipients is Mr. H. N. Ridley, who was responsible for the introduction of Para rubber into the East Indies.
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Meyer Medal for Plant Introduction. Nature 138, 18 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138018c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138018c0