32 



and to some extent in Mexico, Chile, and Arjj^entina. In this countiy 

 one variety, Nicaragua, is grown to a limited extent, chiefly in Texas. 

 The special qualities to be obtained in this group are briefly: 



(1) Excellence of gluten content for making macaroni and other pastes. 



(2) Resistance to drought. 



(3) Resistance to orange leaf rust. 



POLISH wHE.\Ts ( T. polonicum). 



This group is considered by all writers to belong to a distinct species. 

 Though there are several subspecies and varieties, apparently only one 

 variety. White Polish, is very widely known. The plant is usually 

 rather tall, with stems smooth and more or less pithv witJiin. It does 

 not stool extensively. The heads are extremely large and loosely 

 formed, and before ripening are bluish-green in color. A special pecu- 

 liarity of this species is the rather long, narrow, outer chafi'. papery in 

 structure, and standing out slightly from the head, instead of being 

 rigid and closely applied to the spikelets, as in other wheats. The 

 grains are of great size when normal, proportionately quite long, yel- 

 lowish-white in color, and very hard. The name Polish wheat is univer- 

 sally applied to this species, though for what reason it is not clear. 

 There is no evidence at all that it originated in Poland, and in fact it has 

 been very little grown in that region. It is more probable that its 

 native home is some portion of the Mediterranean region. A red win- 

 ter wheat ofrown rather extensivelv in Poland and southwest Russia and 

 also called Polish wheat, should not be confused with this group, as it is 

 radically dilierent, being one of the bread wheats. Other names have 

 been given to this species but they are quite local in their use; such are 

 Giant rye, Astrakhan wheat, Jerusalem rj^e, etc. 



In almost all of the few cases where Polish wheat has been tried in this 

 country it has proved a success from both the standpoint of yield and 

 quality of the grain. But it seems never to have occurred to anyone 

 to make use of the wheat for the production of Auierican macaroni, 

 though no doubt it would be excellent for that purpose, and a great 

 demand for its increased production could thus be created. As it is, 

 there is not sufficient incentive to the farmer for growing this wheat, 

 since it is not well adapted for bread making if used alone. 



Though requiring considerable moisture at seedtime. Polish wheat is 

 admirably adapted for cultivation in arid districts; in fact, it produces 

 the best quality of grain when grown under arid conditions. It is also 

 somewhat resistant to orange leaf rust, but not so valuable in this 

 respect as the durum wheats. Varieties of this species are grown 

 chiefly in Italy. Spain, and other portions of the Mediterranean region, 

 and in southern Russia and Turkestan. They are also said to be culti- 

 vated to some extent in Brazil. 



