CEREAL IMPROVEMENT INTRODUCTIONS 169 



tained by N. E. Hansen in 1898, at Tashkent, for the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. Its full value 

 was not realized for some time. In 1902 a second larger 

 introduction was made by E. A. Bessey from Dzhizak, 

 100 miles north of Samarkand. The California Experi- 

 ment Station secured some of the seed, and distributed 

 it to farmers for seeding in the fall of 1903. The yields 

 from these plantings averaged about 20 bushels an acre. 

 In its native home Chul is grown on the steppes, without 

 irrigation, and is a common wheat, but has hard kernels. 

 It is sown either in the spring or fall, but preferably just 

 after the snow melts in the spring. 



Chul is an early, erect, and vigorous variety, which grows 

 to a height of 2J to 4 feet. The wheat stools freely and 

 produces spikes which are medium long, tapering, and 

 awned. It will stand the strong winds of the Sacramento 

 Valley without shattering. The kernels are large, long, 

 tapering, translucent, and much harder than those of 

 Australian White (Bknchard, 1910, pp. 24-25). As 

 originally introduced, Chul was a mixture, having two 

 colors of chaff and two colors of kernel. It has given 

 excellent results in trials in California and at Moro, 

 Oregon, but is not yet extensively grown. 

 _ 162. Fretes wheat. The Fretes was obtained for 

 /the United States Department of Agriculture by D. G. 

 Fairchild and C. S. Scofield at El-Outaya, in Constantine 

 Province, Algeria, in 1901. In Algeria it is one of the few 

 common wheats grown, and is noted for its early maturity. 

 It is said to have originated from a shipment of Russian 

 wheat which was made into Algeria, at the time of a famine, 

 many years ago. Because of its nativity it should be 

 resistant both to drought and alkali. 



Fretes is an early, vigorous variety, which in California 



