EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 283 



convinced that the fact was due, not to any difference in the milling pro- 

 cess but to the superior quality of the Austrian and Hungarian wheats. 

 He therefore imported one of the best varieties grown in that region and 

 distributed the seed to various farmers in the vicinity of Grand Rapids. 

 His first importation, made in 1892, was a failure, the seed becoming lost 

 in transit after reaching this country. Another and successful importa- 

 tion was made the following year, and from this stock has descended all 

 the wheat of this variety since grown in this country. The supply of this 

 wheat is still small, the variety being grown as yet by but few parties 

 outside of Kent county. Reports from that locality regarding this variety 

 have, so far as known, all been favorable. The variety was chosen by Mr. 

 Voigt particularly on account of its superior milling quality, a character 

 which it seems to retain. The grain is nearly always plump and heavy, 

 one sample grown in 1896 weighing 62 pounds per bushel. Two acres of 

 this wheat harvested upon the college farm in 1896 averaged only 12 

 bushels per acre. A portion of this field however was injured by the win- 

 ter and the crop was also badly infested by the Hessian fly. During the 

 preceding autumn this field looked exceptionally well. 



FULTZ. 



Plant hardy, somewhat lacking in vigor; straw rather short and slen- 

 der, of medium length; head bald, white, nearly square, of medium 

 length, slender and tapering, bending downward moderately when ripe; 

 chaff adherent rather closely to the grain ; grain bright red, plump, hard 

 and heavy. 



Few varieties have had greater popularity than this throughout the 

 central states. The Fultz originated in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. In 

 the harvest of 1862 Abraham Fultz of that county, while assisting one of 

 his neighbors, found in a field of Lancaster three heads of a bald variety 

 growing apparently from the same root. He sowed the seed from these 

 heads the same fall and continued to propagate it, furnishing seed to 

 others in the neighborhood, where it soon became popular. In the fall of 

 1871 the U. S. Department of Agriculture purchased and distributed 200 

 bushels of the seed. Two valuable features of this variety are its earliness 

 and the closeness with which the chaff adhers to the grain. The latter 

 feature makes it an excellent variety to stand wet weather and enables it 

 to remain with safety for some lime after maturity before being cut. 

 Owing to its rather weak growth the Fultz is less adapted than some 

 other varieties to thin soils. 



JONBS' WINTER FIFE. 



Hardy and vigorous; straw stiff, of medium length; head bald, white, 

 velvety, long, and curved downward when ripe; chaff adhering closely to 

 the grain; grain amber. 



This variety, originated by A. N. Jones, Newark, N. Y., is said to be a 

 combined cross between Mediterranean, Fultz and Velvet Chaff. It has 

 proved to be hardy and productive, adapted to a wide range of territory, 

 from the eastern states to Iowa. It is now one of the most popular var- 

 ieties in this State. 



