WHEAT 75 



2. Needs of the district : 



Early maturity Drought-resistance 



Rust-resistance Hardy winter varieties in 



southern portion 



67. Hard Winter wheat district. In this district is 

 comprised roughly the middle Great Plains, that is, Kansas, 

 eastern Colorado, and the larger portions of Nebraska and 

 Oklahoma, but including also Iowa and northern Missouri. 

 As the name implies, it is characterized by the production 

 of hard winter wheats, of the very best quality. The 

 only other wheat district in all the world that is exactly 

 comparable to this one, so far as known, is that including 

 the Crimea and the country directly between the Sea of 

 Azov and the Caspian Sea. The latter districts at present 

 produce wheats a little better than are produced in this 

 district, and therefore should be drawn upon for any 

 improvements that are attempted through introduced 

 sorts. 



The wheats of this district have slender, stiff culms, nar- 

 row spikes, usually awned, and medium or small, hard, 

 red kernels. In this district there is the most interesting 

 example of the changes that may take place for the better 

 in the development of the wheat industry. Forty years 

 ago the softer wheats (often white kerneled) were 

 chiefly grown over a large portion of the district, and a 

 large proportion of spring wheat was sown. Now the 

 hard winter varieties are used almost entirely. The 

 introduction of these hard-kerneled winter sorts has 

 added remarkably to the certainty and value of the wheat 

 crop, and has greatly decreased the ravages from rust and 

 chinch bugs. Because of the great overlapping of dis- 

 tricts, many varieties listed below are not hard winter 

 wheats, and some not winter wheats at all. 



