VARIETIES OF WHEAT 55 



and spring wheat to winter wheat. M. Mouries sowed winter 

 wheat in the spring and out of one hundred plants four alone 

 ripened seeds. These were sown and resown and in three 

 years plants were reared which ripened all their seeds. Con- 

 versely, nearly all the plants raised from spring wheat sown 

 in the autumn perished from the cold, but a few were saved and 

 produced seed. In three years this spring variety was converted 

 into a winter variety. This is a striking example of the climatic 

 adaptabilit}^ of wheat. It shows that a variety which possesses 

 valuable characteristics, although lacking hardiness, may be 

 worth attempting to grow, provided intelligent selection is 

 exercised until it becomes adapted to the climate. 



II. CLASSIFICATION OF VARIETIES. 



87. The Importance of Variety. — The variety has much to do 

 with the successful culture of wheat *n each individual instance. 

 Except in the possible extra outlay for seed, it costs no more to 

 raise twenty bushels from a good variety than fifteen bushels 

 from a poor variety. If, on the other hand, the yield is in- 

 creased by the use of fertiHzers or by better preparation of the 

 seed bed, the increase is made at some expense, more or less 

 considerable. (29) 



88. The Best Variety. — There is no best variety for the 

 whole countr}\ Not only do good varieties in one locality prove 

 poor varieties in anuther, but sometimes a variety which one 

 year gives the largest yield of fifty varieties, sown the next year 

 in the same locality is one of the poorest yielders. Neverthe- 

 less, careful and systematic tests covering a decade or more by 

 several experiment stations show that certain varieties are on 

 an average of years decidedly superior to other varieties in the 

 given locality and for the particular soil and methods of culture. 

 Hays estimates that the Minnesota Station has made possible 

 the increase in the yield of wheat in Minnesota one to two 

 bushels per acre, or live to ten per cent, through the introduo 



