060 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



it is a pure wheat, is saying a great deal, when we consider the vast 

 amount of white and mixed wheat that Michigan is growing. Red Rock 

 is out-yielding the best of the white as well as all types of wheat so far 

 tested at the College. It is no longer profitable to grow the softer types 

 as the price on white and mixed wheat is being cut |50 to $120 per car 

 below the market for No. 2 Red wheat. Fig. 1 shows a loaf of bread from 

 Red Rock Hour at the left and a loaf from a representative white wheat 

 flour at the right. These loaves were made at the same time and under 

 the same conditions. 



Fig. 1. 



The unusual hardiness of Red Rock appeared in the spring of 1912 

 from its endurance of the ice sheets of the previous winter and the pro- 

 duction of about four times as much grain as the check of that year 

 (viz. Shepherd's Perfection), Red Rock is shown in the left of Fig. 2, 

 where it shows a good stand between two wheats that were badly winter 

 killed. Since that time, the Red Rock has been used as a check (or 

 standard) in the wheat variety series. 



The extreme stiffness of its straw was previously observed but it was 

 especially tested in 1914. The wheat variety series had been planted on 

 a clover sod that yeav and as a result the straw grew exceptionally tall. 

 The heads of the wheat could in many places touch the rim of one's hat. 

 A series of rainy spells came just before harvest. The Avheat lodged badly 

 and several of the varieties went flat, yet the Red Rock always found its 

 way up until it stood erect at harvest time. During the rainy harvest 

 of 1915 a strip of Red Rock on the College farm was not cut until two 

 weeks after being fully ripe, and during these two weeks the piece re- 

 ceived a series of rains, yet it was still standing when cut and had not 

 lost its grain. 



