162 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
There is some complaint of the deterioration of seed from old varieties, 
and there are calls for fresh importations and for new varieties. A Lo- 
gan County, Ohio, correspondent writes to the Department that the seed 
of this variety is failing, the yield rapidly decreasing, and that the famous 
Mediterranean wheat, which has been worth millions of dollars to the 
farmers of Ohio, is fast running ont. 
There is no complaint of deterioration in California, in some parts of 
which State this wheat is considered very valuable. From Stanislaus 
County a farmer writes that the wheat received from this Department 
in 1865 increases in favor wherever planted. The yield of 1868 was an 
average of thirty-seven and one-half bushels per acre, and would have 
exceeded that had not some ofthe seed been destroyed by excessively wet 
weather. He considers the variety a great acquisition. From San 
Joaquin County a yield of four hundred and twenty-eight bushels upon 
eight acres in 1863 is reported, nearly fifty-four bushels per acre. In 
1869 fhe yield was not so large, but ten bushels per acre greater than 
that of other varieties under similar circumstances. : 
In Owsley County, Kentucky, where but little has been sown up to 
the present time, it is reported to yield forty bushels peracre. In Shelby 
County, Alabama, a correspondent states, it is decidedly the best variety, 
and preferable for the middle portion of that State. In the region of 
Harrison County, Indiana, it is the principal variety raised, but is later 
than the Tappahannock. : 
In Maryland it is “the champion wheat.” It is stated that too thick . 
seeding ‘and want of care in the selection of seed have resulted in dete- 
rioration. 
In Chautauqua County, New York, this wheat has had a fair trial by 
numerous farmers, and has proved the best variety for that section. In 
1869 a great quantity of it was reported sown and thriving, but no 
reports have since been made concerning it. The same may be said of 
Suffolk County. . ati 
TALAVERA, POLISH, TOUZELLE, AND ROUGH-CHAFF VARIETIES 
have proved valuable accessions in some localities, but comparatively 
few reports concerning them have yet been made. The Touzelle was 
imported and distributed in 1869, the others in 1868, They are still on 
trial only, but sufficient information has come to the Department to 
indicate that the Touzellie, at least, will prove valuable over a wide 
region of country, and the others, like the Mediterranean, in perhaps 
more limited regions. 
ARNAUTKA WHEAT. 
Of the varieties of spring wheat distributed by the Department, the 
Arnautka, imported from Russia in 1866, has proved most successful, 
and is found to be as valuable an addition to the spring as the Tappa- 
hannock is to the winter varieties. It is early, hardy, and prolific, and 
yields a good quality and large quantity of flour, and for these reasons 
is peculiarly acceptable in the colder latitudes. In some regions the 
product has greatly improved in the size of the kernel upon the seed 
furnished, as in New Mexico and Nebraska; while in others, where it 
proves thrifty, it has nearly or quite maintained the quality of the 
original. 
A farmer in Hancock County, Maine, writing to the Department, 
states that the Arnautka is peculiarly adapted to the soil and climate 
of that State, and that the quality of the wheat is remarkably good. 
The yield was at the rate of sixteen bushels per acre. In Piscataquis 
