26 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



securely wrapped and tied above and below the 

 head. 



Is such work as making new varieties worth 

 while? Mr. Burbank says: "If a new wheat 

 were bred that would yield only one grain more to 

 each head, Nature would produce annually, with- 

 out effort or cost for man, 15,000,000 extra bushels 

 of wheat in the United States alone. " 



THE WHEAT DISTRICTS 



The soft wheat district is along our North 

 Atlantic coast. The semi-hard district is south 

 of the Great Lakes. Hard spring wheat culture 

 centres in the Red River Valley. Kansas is the 

 centre of the hard winter wheat district. The 

 durum wheat area centres in northern Texas. 

 White wheat grows on the Pacific coast. Red 

 wheat grows from Kansas to the Red River Valley. 

 White wheats are starchy. Wheats rich in gluten 

 make the best bread. Such are the varieties 

 grown on the northern and central plains of the 

 United States, Canada, southern Argentina, and 

 eastern and southern Russia. Macaroni wheat, 

 rich in gluten, grows in the Mediterranean 

 countries. Durum wheat grows well on alkali 

 soils, and in semi-arid regions. It is a sturdy new 



