REPORT OF THE CEREALIST 241 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Most Productive Varieties of Spring Wheat. — Excluding the durum, wheats, 

 which are considered separately, the following varieties of wheat have shown unusual 

 productiveness for a series of years on this farm: — Preston, Pringle's Champlain, 

 Huron, Itcrisson Bearded and Bishop. The first four of these are red wheats with 

 bearded heads. Bishop is a white wheat and is beardless. Of the five varieties, 

 Pringle's Champlain is probably the best for the production of strong flour. 



Somewhat lower in yield, but superior in the strength of their flour, are Red Fern 

 (bearded), Ked Fife (beardless), and White Fife (beardless). 



Earliest Varieties of Spring Wheat. — Several very early varieties of spring wheat 

 are being grown on this farm, but they are not at present being distributed or recom- 

 mended for general cultivation, i'armers applying for very early sorts should remem- 

 ber that extreme earliness is frequently associated with a rather small yield, short 

 straw, liability to rust or some other defect to which the more vigorous wheats are less 

 subject. 



The earliest wheats which are as yet included in the regular distribution of seed 

 grain from this farm are Pringle's Champlain, Preston, Huron, Stanley and Percj'. 

 These are all somewhat eai'licr than Eed Fife. Stanley and Percy are beardless sorts. 



DUEUM OR MACARONI WHEAT. 



The term ' Macaroni ' wheat is often employed to designate those varieties having 

 very large, hard kernels of which ' Goose ' or ' Wild Goose ' is the best known example 

 in Canada. As these wheats are not all suitable for the making of macaroni it is 

 T')erhaps better to employ the term ' Durum ' (meaning hard) which is used in many 

 countries and is both accurate and scientific. The different sorts of durum wheat are 

 Jiy no means identical in quality, though they are usually considered to be so. Excel- 

 lent bread can be made from some of them, but the extreme hardness of the kernels 

 and the somewhat unusual qualities of the flour produced make the wheats of this 

 class unpopular at present, with both millers and bakers. Farmers who grow any of 

 the durum wheats sho\ild exercise great care to prevent them from becoming mixed 

 with wheat which is to be sold for flour-making. 



As a rule, these varieties suffer less from drought and from rust than other sorts. 

 They may therefore, in some cases, be grow'n to advantage, especially in any rather dry 

 district where rust is apt to be severe. They arc not, however, to be generally recom- 

 mended for damp climates. It should also be borne in mind that the market price of 

 durum wheat is usually lower than that paid for varieties which are popular for mill- 

 ing purposes. 



The plots of durum wheat were one-fortieth of an acre in extent. The seed was 

 sown on April 27, at the rate of If bushels to the acre. The soil was a rather sandy 

 loam. 



The yield per acre is expressed in pounds and also in 'bushels' of 60 pounds. 



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