WINTER AND SPRING VARIETIES 119 



does occur, and this breaking up will produce new combinations of 

 characters. (2) It is believed that occasionally a " sport " or radi- 

 cal variation occurs, though we do not know the cause. At any 

 rate, careful farmers have occasionally found superior plants grow- 

 ing in their fields, and by increasing these have secured new varieties 

 (Fig. 49). 



Examples of Successful Selection. In 1862 Abraham Fultz, 

 a Pennsylvania farmer, had a field of " Lancaster Red " wheat. 

 Lancaster Red is a red-grained, bearded wheat, but he noted a plant 

 without beards. This plant he selected and, sowing the seed in his 

 garden, soon developed a variety which is known as Fultz wheat, 

 and has for many years been the most extensively cultivated variety 

 of red wheat in the United States. 



In 1865 Garrett Clawson, a New York farmer, had a field of Fultz 

 wheat, and found in this a few superior heads. Planting this the 

 next year, both white and red wheat was produced, indicating that it 

 was probably a natural cross. He secured a pint of the white wheat 

 which the next year produced 39 pounds, and the third year after this 

 254: bushels were harvested. This wheat, known as " Clawson," was 

 extensively cultivated in New York for many years and was dis- 

 tributed by the United States government. 



Crossing Wheats. In 1886, S. M. Schindel, a Maryland 

 farmer, produced a cross of Fultz and Lancaster wheats, which is 

 called " Fulcaster." It is a red bearded variety similar to Lan- 

 caster, and probably stands next to Fultz in extent of cultivation as 

 a semihard wheat. 



In other cases the hybrid wheats were recrossed several times be- 

 fore final selections were made. Two men who have given us many 

 new varieties produced by crossing are C. G. Pringle, of Charlotte, 

 Vermont, and A. N. Jones, of Newark, New York. 



Winter and Spring Varieties. Winter wheats differ from 

 spring wheats chiefly in their ability to resist colder weather for longer 

 periods. True winter wheats have what might be called a dormant 

 period. That is, in order to accommodate themselves to winter con- 

 ditions, they grow for only a few weeks and then remain without 

 growth during the winter months, and resume rapid growth in the 



