DISCOVERY OF MARQUIS WHEAT 157 



of 1906-07 and the following years, fully confirmed the 

 original estimates which had been arrived at by using 

 the teeth as grindstones and the mouth as a substitute for 

 an oven. 



VI. The Introduction of Marquis into Western Canada 



In the spring of 1907, all the seed that could be spared, 

 about 23 lbs., was sent from Ottawa to the Indian Head 

 Experimental Farm in Saskatchewan, and there the grain 

 was sown on two plots, one of one-fortieth of an acre and 

 the other of one-fifth of an acre. In 1908, further tests 

 were made not only at Indian Head but also at the Brandon 

 Experimental Farm in Manitoba. The seasons of 1907 

 and 1908 were somewhat unfavorable for wheat in gen- 

 eral, and, under these conditions, Marquis did astonish- 

 ingly well, far better than Eed Eife which had always 

 been regarded as the best wheat and with which it was 

 compared in the experimental plots. In the spring of 

 1909 the distribution of Marquis to the public began. 

 Four hundred samples were sent out and the farmers who 

 received them sowed the new wheat in many scattered 

 places in western Canada. Marquis thus spread from 

 Saskatchewan to Manitoba on the east and Alberta on 

 the west. But this is not all, for it disregarded the in- 

 ternational boundary line and peacefully penetrated into 

 the United States, where it now covers vast areas, more 

 especially in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. 

 Furthermore, it is now much grown in eastern Canada, 

 especially in Ontario and Quebec; and it has found its 

 way into the Kamloops district of British Columbia. In 

 the Maritime Provinces, however, it does not usually do 

 so well. Its fame has attracted universal attention, and 

 it is now being tested in almost every wheat-growing 

 country in the world. Recently it was greatly in demand 



