42 



But the larger portion of our area most important in wheat pro- 

 duction lies much farther westward than Maryland and possesses a 

 very different soil and a climate characterized by great extremes of 

 drought, cold, and heat. At the same time it is manifestly desirable 

 to search particularly for varieties adapted to such extreme condi- 

 tions for two reasons: (1) It is found that as a general rule sorts 

 which are able to withstand the most rigorous extremes of climate are 

 also of the class which makes the best quality of bread and macaroni, 

 the two principal purposes for which wheat is used.^ (2) It is com- 

 paratively easy to obtain varieties suitable for mild conditions, as 

 those which are resistant to climatic extremes are more easily grown 

 in a milder climate than the reverse. It was therefore decided to test 

 the varieties during the following years in the Great Plains. Accord- 

 ingly, in 1896 the field experiments were carried on at Salina, Kans., 

 and in 1897 at Manhattan, Kans. At Salina Mr. B. B. Stimmel kindly 

 donated the use of about two acres of land for the experiments. At 

 Manhattan, by courtesy of the board of regents of the Kansas Agri- 

 cultural College, the farm department of the experiment station was 

 authorized to cooperate with this Department in the experiments con- 

 ducted at that place, by furnishing land and other facilities for the 

 work. 



During the years of the experiments in Kansas the seasons were 

 unusually severe even for that region. As a result it was found desir- 

 able to discard a large number of sorts from year to year. Only about 

 300 varieties were grown at Manhattan in 1897 out of the 1,000 origin- 

 ally obtained, and of these, less than 200 were selected as being worthy 

 of continued trial. Over 100 of the varieties finally remaining have 

 been made the basis of a large part of the series of field experiments 

 now in progress at Halstead, Kans., while a number of the same vari- 

 eties are still being tested at the Nebraska Experiment Station Farm, 

 Lincoln, Nebr., and at the Arkansas Valley Experiment Station, 

 Rockyford, Colo. Through this process of rigid elimination, which is 

 a good example of the practical application of the law of the " .survival 

 of the fittest" in agriculture, about 100 varieties have been determined 

 upon as being fairly representative sorts of the world as regards hardi- 

 ness and quality of gluten content. There are many varieties, how- 

 ever, which can not be classed with these hardy, glutinous sorts, ))ut 

 which, nevertheless, because of their early maturity or particular 

 adaptation in other respects to certain localities where hardiness is 

 not necessary, and where these sorts would fail because of the lack of 

 other qualities, must be considered as equally important. Palouse 



^ For the present, for the want of space, a full discussion of this proposition in 

 detail can not be given, although the experimental proof concerning the qualities of 

 varieties originating in regions of different climatic conditions will be brought out in 

 connection with the table presented in the following pages. The whole matter is 

 one of much interest and may be discussed in detail in another publication, The 

 Relations of Soi) and Climate to Wheat Production. 



