August
1926
The road to Tunisia runs through a steppe-like area of Algeria which is planted with hard wheat. I had previously called the attention of Professor Boeuf, [1] director of the botanical garden, to my expedition and was graciously welcomed in Tunis as an old friend. During my expeditions I had repeatedly seen with my own eyes what internationalism means for the sciences. It is enough that colleagues abroad know about your work and somehow appreciate it, it is enough that you have corresponded, for them to make you a welcome guest and give you help such as they would give to a very close friend.
Professor Boeuf is a great investigator of the cultivated plants of Tunisia. As far as botanical gardens are concerned, this one in Tunis is, in essence, a major agronomical station, sharply different from the modest institutes in Algeria and Morocco. In the full meaning of the word, this is a real institute with a considerable staff, laboratories, beautiful meteorological equipment and a herbarium. In other words, this is a complete institute of applied botany. Boeuf does a lot of plant breeding work. In a short time it was possible for me to familiarize myself with his large collection of material from all over the country, as well as with the classification of the cereals. I obtained a large assortment of cultivated plants.
Notes:
- Félicien Boeuf, later to be appointed the first Professor of Genetics in France, in 1936! [↩]
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