CEREAL EXPERIMENTS AT DICKINSON, N. DAK. 19 



yields. The Heel Fife and Marquis are promising varieties which 

 have recently been introduced into the trials at Dickinson. The 

 appearance of these varieties is similar in many ways. They are 

 beardless, with smooth, white glumes and dark-red kernels. 



Ghirka. — The Ghirka wheat (C. I. No. 1517) differs from the other 

 varieties in the fife group in that it has longer and lighter colored 

 kernels and the grain is not so hard. . The heads of this wheat (fig. 4) 

 are tapering, while those of other varieties of the group are more 

 blunt. The leaves of the young growing plants are of a bluish green 

 shade and the culm at the base of the head is tinged with purple. 

 This wheat was obtained by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture at the Paris Exposition in 1900. Its original source was 

 Grodno Province in western Russia. Many other importations of 

 this variety of wheat have evidently been made by Russian immi- 

 grants, as there are thousands of acres of it grown in western North 

 Dakota as " Russian " wheat. In our trials through a series of years, 

 the Ghirka wheat has outyielded all other varieties of common wheat. 

 During the drier years it has yielded best. In years of more abun- 

 dant rainfall, when wheat diseases are apt to be prevalent, the Ghirka 

 suffers. This variety is inferior in milling quality to the other fife 

 wheats. Breeding work was commenced with Ghirka wheat in 1910, 

 when 300 head selections were made. A brief statement of the work 

 already done toward improving the yield and the milling qualities 

 of this variety is included in the discussion of nursery experiments. 



Red Fife.— The Red Fife wheat (C. I. No. 3329) originated about 

 60 years ago, being a chance discovery by Mr. David Fife, of Ontona- 

 bee, Ontario. 1 It is the typical fife wheat which is grown generally 

 throughout the spring-wheat area. The plants have a normal height 

 of 33 to 36 inches. The head, which is fairly compact and broad, is 

 borne quite erect on the strong straw. The glumes are very firm, 

 short, and drawn together at the point, which prevents shattering. 

 The grain is of fine quality, short, broad, and very plump. By the 

 careful selection and grading of this wheat a high standard of quality 

 has been maintained. From it many strains and varieties have been 

 originated. Among the principal varieties are the Glyndon Fife 

 (Minn. No. 163), Power Fife, and Rysting Fife. These wheats have 

 often been known collectively as Scotch Fife. During the two years 

 the Red Fife has been grown in our trials it has yielded about the 

 same as the Rysting, but the milling and baking tests have shown it 

 to be superior in quality. 



Marquis. — The Marquis wheat (C. I. No. 3611) was originated from 

 a cross made by Dr. A. P. Saunders in 1892 between an early-ripen- 



1 Saunders, William. Review of the work with wheat at the experimental farms. In 

 Canada Dept. Agr., Exp. Farms, Rpt. 1003, p. 13, 1904. 



