Carleton Roy Ball (June 12, 1873 – February 2, 1958) was an American botanist and cerealist in charge of the U.S. Bureau of Plant Industry. During his life he described 45 species in the genus ''Salix'' (

willows Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

) and was also a founder of American Society of Agronomy as well as its journal editor.

Early life

Carleton Roy Ball was born in 1873, in Little Rock, Iowa. His parents were Mary A. Mansfield and Leroy A. Ball. In 1896 he graduated with a bachelor's degree from

Iowa State College of Agriculture Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

and master's degree from the same school by 1899.

Career

For two years he was a teacher at Iowa State College where he performed experiments with seeds. A year before obtaining his master's degree he became a part of the United States Division of

Agrostology Agrostology (from Greek , ''agrōstis'', "type of grass"; and , ''-logia''), sometimes graminology, is the scientific study of the grasses (the family Poaceae, or Gramineae). The grasslike species of the sedge family (Cyperaceae), the rush family ...

where he studied various

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es and performed agronomic experiments. In 1906 he experimented with grain

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

s and broomcorn to be used in lieu of corn. By the time

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began he was testing various

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

s and its production. From 1918 to 1929 he was working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences, the Biological Society, and the Botanical Society.

Personal life

He married Bertha F. Steward on June 14, 1904. They had two children, Carolyn (1908) and Robert (1911). He received an honorary Sc.D. from Iowa StateCollege in 1920. He belonged to the Congregational Club, Cosmos Club, First Congregational Church, Friendship House Association, and

Phi Kappa Pi Phi Kappa Pi () is a Canadian national fraternity. Founded on , as Canada's only national fraternity, Phi Kappa Pi has active chapters in Burnaby, Halifax, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as six inactive chapters. There are alumni chapters associa ...

. He died on February 2, 1958, in Washington, D.C. He was commemorated with a plaque at the United States National Arboretum in Washington D.C.

References

1873 births 1958 deaths American botanists People from Lyon County, Iowa Iowa State University alumni Iowa State University faculty {{US-botanist-stub