EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 659 



RED ROCK WHEAT. 



Circular No. 31. 



By F. a. Spragg and A. J. Clark. 



SUMMARY. 



Red Rock is a new variet}^ of wbeat that lias just recently been intro- 

 duced among farmers. It is by far the best wheat that has yet been 

 produced for Lower Michigan by the Experiment Station. Sixty bushels 

 Avere sent to as many farmers in the fall of 1914." It was possible for 

 each farmer who received a bushel to raise all the seed he wished to 

 plant in 1915 and have some for sale. This statement is borne out by 

 the fact that thirty-three sales of farm-grown Red Rock were made 

 through Professor Shoesmith in the summer of 1915. These sales aver- 

 aged nearly eleven bushels (10.85 bu.). This means that after the grow- 

 ers had sown all they wished and furnished seed to neighbors as far as 

 desired, 358 bushels were sold to farmers of other parts of the state. 

 Besides this, 69 bushels were sent out from the College to nearly as 

 many farmers in 1915. It is likely that a thousand bushels of Red Rock 

 were used as seed in the fall of 1915, insuring a reasonable yield for 

 the benefit of farmers who wish to get the best available wheat for 1916 

 planting. Such people may buy the seeds through the Secretary of the 

 Michigan Experiment Association, East Lansing, Michigan. 



SOURCE. 



The Red Rock wheat comes from an individual kernel picked out of 

 a white wheat (Plymouth Rock) and planted in the fall of 1908. It was 

 given the number 97003 and is listed in Table I of Bulletin 268 as Bearded 

 Rock. Since that time Red Rock has been considered as describing the 

 variety better, though it is a bearded red wheat. It also has a red chaff 

 (contrary to the table above mentioned). 



QUALITIES. 



The principal characteristics of Red Rock are: exceptional winter 

 hardiness, high yield, extra stiff straw, and those characteristics that 

 yield a bread far above that usually produced from Michigan grown 

 wheats. The fact that it is a red wheat of unusually high quality, and that 



1. This is an extension of Bulletin 268. That bulletin reported data up to 

 July, 1912, and this continues from that date. 



2. The baking tests were made under the direction of Prof. A. J. Clark and 

 reported herewith together with yield and milling tests. 



3. Prof. V. M. Shoesmith distributed this wheat as Secretary of the Michigan 

 Experiment Association. 



