1Y2 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



In spite of the short glumes the seed is held firmly and 

 does not shatter, 



" The kernels of other Fife wheats are short and broad, 

 but those of the Marquis are even more so. They vary 

 from 4.5 to 6 millimeters in length, averaging 5.2 milli- 

 meters, or nearlv 1 millimeter shorter than the kernels 

 of Fife and Bluestem wheats. The crease also is broader 

 and deeper. 



" The Marquis is an early variety, ripening from 98 

 to 135 days after sowing, varying with the season and 

 locality. The average length of its growing period in 

 the northern Great Plains is about 115 days. This makes 

 it three or four days earlier than most of the other Fife 

 varieties. Because of its earliness it escapes to some 

 extent the drought of dry years, the rust and fall rains of 

 wet seasons, and also the early fall frosts. These are 

 the characters which have made it especially valuable in 

 the Prairie Provinces of Canada. 



" The growing season lengthens as one passes south- 

 ward into the United States, and earliness is no longer 

 so great an advantage." ^^ 



IX. Prizes Awarded to Marquis 



The late James J. Hill, of the Great Xorthern Eailway 

 Company, offered a gold cup to the value of $1,000 for the 

 best bushel of hard spring wheat grown in the United 

 States. Sir Thomas Shaughnessy challenged him to open 

 the competition for the prize to Canada, but Mr. Hill was 

 unwilling to do this. Sir Thomas, therefore, on behalf 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, offered a new 

 prize of $1,000 in gold for the best bushel of hard spring 



S3 C. R. Ball and J. A. Clark, Experiments with Marquis Wheat, 

 Bulletin Xo. 400, United States Department of Agriculture, Wash- 

 ington, 1916, pp. 4-6. 



