CHAPTER VII 

 CEREAL IMPRO YEMEN T IN TROD UC TIONS 



SINCE none of the small cereals is native in this country, 

 all varieties now grown have been at some time intro- 

 duced from foreign lands. It is natural, therefore, that 

 our greatest source of improvement of these cereals must 

 now, and for some time in the future, lie in occasional 

 introductions of varieties or strains superior to those we 

 already have, but which are well known in their native 

 country and have become segregated and adapted to 

 conditions similar to ours through a long period of devel- 

 opment. The field of research in this line and its possible 

 results still appear to be unlimited. The groups of vari- 

 eties in which certain needed qualities may be obtained, 

 have been mentioned, as well as their native homes. In 

 the following pages an account will be given of the prog- 

 ress already made, with descriptions of particular intro- 

 ductions. 



152. Mediterranean wheat. This wheat is said to 

 have been obtained first from the islands of the Mediter- 

 ranean sea in 1819, by John Garden of Wilmington, Dela- 

 ware, and is apparently the oldest introduced wheat that 

 has remained in cultivation. At various times the United 

 States Department of Agriculture secured seed and dis- 

 tributed it to all parts of the country. The wheat soon 

 met with favor everywhere. It is a hardy red-chaffed, 

 awned, prolific winter wheat, producing a large red kernel 



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