254 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



I take the liberty of sending you herewith, a specimen of 

 Minnesota spring wheat which I have just received from there. 

 Although possessing no unusual appearance, so far as the berry 

 alone is concerned, it is certainly an extraordinary variety as to 

 its yield. 



From two bushels of this wheat, sown on 1| acres of land, 

 there were produced, gathered, and threshed, 80 bushels of wheat, 

 from which this sample was taken at random. This would make 

 an average yield of 45 5-7 bushels per acre, which is the more 

 remarkable from the small quantity of sown per acre — ^being 

 only about half the usual quantity. It was grown by Messrs. 

 Starr & Gaylord, of Lake City, Wabasha county, Minnesota, on 

 prairie land, on which corn had been raised the previous season, 

 and without manure of any kind. It was sown on the 2d day of 

 April, and harvested July 15 — all of which statements are veri- 

 fied by the affidavit of the two gentlemen referred to, and which 

 I now have in my possession. The heads are represented as 

 being unusually long, and as containing nearly double the usual 

 number of kernels. The straw is said by them to be very stiff 

 and strong. Its name is unknown to me, and appears to be by 

 them also. If it does not belong to any known variety, I beg to 

 suggest that you christen it the " Minnesota White." Where 

 the seed came from I do not know ; presume they could inform you. 



Inasmuch as the people of Minnesota think injustice has been 

 done them by The Tribune and other Eastern journals in ques- 

 tioning the productiveness of their soil, &c., 1 hope' that you will 

 place this on exhibition in some proper place, accompanied with 

 a statement of the facts that those interested in wheat culture 

 may know the facts. Aside from this I should suppose it would 

 be worth while for your society to take some steps for the pro- 

 pagation and dissemination of this variety, as a valuable addi- 

 tion to our list of varieties already cultivated. 



As a further sample of the yield of wheat in Minnesota, I will 

 state that Mr, George Hendrickson, residing in Rose township, 

 Ramsey county, near St. Pauls, sowed the following kinds with 

 the results, as appended : 



. Number of acres. Total yield. Yield per acre. 

 Kind of wheat. acres, rods. bush. bush. 



White wheat 5 33 156| 31 1-5" 



Scotch club 4 47 187 46^ 



Rio Grande 17| 572| 34 



Canada club 7| 281 28 



