15 



ever, there has not been a sufficient number of trials of such varieties, 

 and the different experiments have not been often enough repeated to 

 give reliable results. As to the matter of rust resistance, experiments 

 made in Louisiana^ showed that hard red wheats, including a number 

 of Russian origin, resisted rust the best. In Mississippi two Austra- 

 lian varieties, Beloturka and Defiance, were quite rust resistant, while 

 varieties obtained from England rusted very badly. ^ 



Occasionally wheat is much injured in the noi'thern portion of this 

 region l)y late spring frosts. It is on such occasions that late-maturing 

 wheats and late-sown crops may have the advantage, since those ripen- 

 ing early are likely to be caught by the frost just at blooming time 

 and be prevented from "filling out," while the later ripening crops, 

 blooming after the frost, escape such injury. It seems possible, how- 

 ever, to p-row varieties that will resist the action of these frosts, and 

 therefore varieties hard}' in this respect are desirable. 



The wheats at present grown in the Southern Wheat district are 

 either soft or semihard, and usually amber or reddish in color. They 

 are either bearded, as in the case of the Fulcaster, or beardless, of 

 which the Fultz and May wheats are examples. In Arkansas and the 

 Carolinas, Nicaragua wheat, a durum variety, is grown somewhat, but 

 to no great extent as yet. Wheat from the Southern States is always 

 more likely to be infested with weevil than that from other districts, 

 and occasionally much annoyance as well as injury to the grain results 

 from this cause. Nicaragua and the hard red wheats are more resist- 

 ant to weevil than are the soft wheats. 



SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS AND NEEDS OP DISTRICT. 



(1) Principal varieties at present grown: 



Fultz, Rice, 



Fulcaster, Everett's High Grade, 



Red May, Bough ton, 



Currell's Prolific, Purple Straw. 



(2) Present average yield per acre, about 9| bushels. 



(3) Needs of the grower: 



(«) Rust resistance. 

 (6) Early maturity. 



(c) Resistance to late spring frosts. 



(d) Stiffness of straw. 



HARD SPRING WHEAT DISTRICT. 



The hard spring wheat area comprises the States of Minnesota, 

 North Dakota, South Dakota, the larger part of Wisconsin, portions 

 of Iowa and Nebraska, and small portions of Montana and Colorado. 



'SeeStub1)s, W. C. Experiments in wheat. Louisiana Agricultural Experiment 

 Station Bulletin No. 19, 1892, 2(1 scries, pp. 555-.562. 



■•'See Tracy, S. M., in Mississippi Agricultural Exiieriment Station reports above 

 cited. 



