298 THE SMALL GRAINS 



the winter varieties. Durum wheats tiller less than 

 common wheats. To offset low tillering in any variety, 

 thicker seeding must be practiced (355). The application 

 of fertilizers or any favorable soil treatment or amend- 

 ment will increase tillering. 



323. Winter hardiness. One of the beneficial effects 

 of the plant community, increased greatly by tillering, is 

 the protection thus afforded against cold. The large 

 number of culms to the unit area permits the exposure of 

 a comparatively small extent of surface to the weather. 

 Naturally, therefore, a winter variety must tiller more 

 than a spring variety. Tillering, however, does not en- 

 tirely determine the matter of hardiness, for some of the 

 least hardy winter cereals tiller greatly. What is more 

 important than tillering is, that the winter-hardy variety 

 produces quickly a large number of strong roots, but grows 

 little above ground before winter. The hardiest varieties 

 have narrow, dark green (sometimes partly purplish) 

 leaves, which soon spread out on the ground. 



324. Distinction of spring and winter varieties. The 

 question, what is a winter wheat, distinguished from a 

 spring wheat, cannot be definitely answered. It can be 

 stated positively, however, that certain supposedly dis- 

 tinct characters are not distinctive. In commercial 

 circles there is a strong tendency to class spring wheats 

 generally (thinking of the kernels only) as red, hard, and 

 glutinous in opposition to soft, starchy winter wheats; 

 though, as a fact, some of the most starchy, soft wheats in 

 this country (Oregon and parts of Washington) are spring 

 wheats, while the winter Turkey wheat of the central 

 Great Plains is one of the hardest and most glutinous. 

 Neither are spring varieties always grown in cold lati- 

 tudes, though this is usually true. In Turkestan, Mexico, 



