REPORT or rUK EXPERIMEXT.iLIST 259 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



country than is generally the case. It soems desirable, therefore, to call attention to 

 the efforts which have been and are being made at the Dominion Experimental Farms 

 to discover rust-resisting varieties of cereals. For many years careful notes have 

 been made at the Experimental Farms on the extent to which each variety of grain 

 has suffered; and this information has been published in the tables in the annual 

 reports. Many new sorts of cereals (especially wheat) have been obtained from 

 Europe, Asia, iSTorthern Africa, the United States and Australia in \hc search for rust- 

 resisting sorts. In addition to these, many cross-bred varieties have been produced 

 iit this farm, (by crossing ordinary wheats with macaroni wheats and wheats with 

 emmers) in the hope of obtaining exceptionally slrong types. A careful study of 

 single plants of certain varieties is also being carried on,, to see whether individuals 

 can be found to be used as the mother plants of rust-resisting strains. 



These lines of investigation have not yet been followed long enough to reach 

 very striking results, but the work is being continued on a larger scale than before. 



DESCRIPTION OF CROSS-BRED VARIETIES OF WHEAT. 



The following new varieties of wheat produced at this farm are here described for 

 the first time. They are all being propogated as rapidly as possible, but are not yet 

 available for general distribution. It should be noticed that Early Riga, Downy Riga, 

 Riga and Bishop are valuable cbieily on account of their earliness. They are not 

 recommended for cukivation in districts where the ripening season is long. 



The measurements given in the descriptions apply to the grain as grown at Ottawa. 



Ea7-ly Riga. — Parentage, Gehun (female) crossed with Onega (male). Kernels 

 red, rather small. Heads beardless, rather small, usually about 3 inches long. Chaff 

 yellowish, smooth and downy mixed. Straw stiff, but not above medium height, usually 

 about 42 inches long. Ripens very early, abovit 12 days before Red Fife. Gives a 

 rather small yield, especially in seasons when rust is unusually severe. Makes ex- 

 cellent flour. 



As this variety is a mixture of two distinct types, easily distinguished by the 

 hairiness or smoothness of the chaff", it has been separated into the two varieties de- 

 scribed below. 



Downy Biga. — Obtained from Early Riga by selection of the heads having downy 

 chaff. 



Riga. — Obtained from Early Riga by selection of the heads having smooth claaff. 



Bishop. — Parentage, Ladoga (female) crossed with Gehun (male). Kernels yel- 

 lowish, of about medium size. Heads beardless, usually about 3i inches long, rather 

 blunt. Chaff yellowish, smooth. Straw moderately stiff, usually about 43 inches long. 

 Ripens quite early, about 8 days before Red Fife. Gives a fair yield. Makes very good 

 flour. This variety resembles White Fife in some respects, but is distinguisiied by its 

 rather blunt head, its much greater earliness and its somewhat smaller yield. (White 

 Fife usually ripens witli Red Fife). 



Bed Preston. — The original Preston wheat gave two types of heads, some having 

 yellowish chaff and others red chaff. The name Preston is now being used to designate 

 only the type with yellowish chaff, as described in the Report of the Experimental 

 Farms for 1903, page 219. The name Red Preston is given to the type having red 

 chaff. In other respects Red Preston resemble^ Preston. 



DOUBLE ROWS AND OTHER SMALL PLOTS OF CEREALS. 



Well-lmown varieties of cereals which have been rejected from the uniform test 

 plots as undesirable for general cultivation are retained for reference purposes and 

 are groyn annually in the double rows. These rows are 33 feet long and about 6 inches 

 apart; and each pair of rows is separated from the neighbouring pairs by a space of 



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