Carleton Roy Ball

Carleton Roy Ball was born on June 12, 1873 in Little Rock, Iowa. In 1896 he graduated with a bachelor's degree from Iowa State College and master's degree from the same school by 1899. 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 where he studied various grasses and performed agronomic experiments. In 1906 he experimented with grain sorghums and broomcorn to be used in lieu of corn. By the time World War I began he was testing various wheats and its production. From 1918 to 1929 he was working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During his life he described 45 species in the genus Salix (willows) and was also a founder of American Society of Agronomy as well as its journal editor. After his death on February 2, 1958 he was commemorated with a plaque at the United States National Arboretum in Washington D.C.[1]