CLASSIFICATION OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 67 



the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, Calif. At the 

 close of the exposition, the Sperry Flour Co. obtained a part of the sample and 

 grew it at their experiment station near Stockton, Calif., where it was later 

 increased and distributed for commercial growing in the State. 

 Distribution. — Grown in San Joaquin County, Calif. 



Description. — Plant spring habit, midseason, midtall ; stem glaucous, white, 

 strong ; spike awnless, subclavate, middense, inclined ; glumes glabrous, white, 

 midlong, wide ; shoulders wide, oblique to square ; beaks wide, triangular, 

 acute, 0.7 to 1.2 mm. long ; apical awns several, 5 to 15 mm. long ; kernels white,, 

 midlong, soft to semihard, ovate ; germ midsized ; crease midwide, middeep ;: 

 cheeks usually angular; brush midsized, midlong. 



This variety differs principally from Defiance in being shorter and in having 

 shorter and broader subclavate spikes and broader glumes with squarer shoul- 

 ders and longer beaks. The kernels have a distinctly rough coat. Spikes, 

 glumes, and kernels of Gypsum are shown in Plate XI, B, and a single spike 

 in Plate VI, Figure 6. 



History. — Gypsum is recorded by Carleton {58, p. 83) as of hybrid origin. 

 It was developed at the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, Fort 

 Collins, Colo., during the eighties, by Prof. A. E. Blount. The variety became 

 known in Australia as Blount's Lambrigg (12, p. 4; 61, p. 219). During recent 

 years, in the United States, the variety has been grown as Colorado Special, 

 that name having been in use as early as 1912 on the Rexburg Bench, in south- 

 ern Idaho. 



Distribution. — Grown as Colorado Special in Madison, Teton, Franklin, Fre- 

 mont, and Power Counties, Idaho. 



Synonyms. — Blount's Lambrigg and Colorado Special. 



SURPRISE (PEINGLE'S SURPRISE). 



Description. — Plant spring habit, late, midtall ; stem slightly glaucous before 

 maturity, white, strong, coarse ; leaves broad ; spike awnless, clavate, dense, 

 erect ; glumes glabrous, white, midlong, midwide ; shoulders midwide, oblique 

 to square; beaks wide, obtuse, 1.0 mm. long; apical awns several, 3 to 15 mm. 

 long; kernels white, short to midlong, soft, oval to ovate; germ small to mid- 

 sized ; crease wide, deep ; cheeks rounded to angular ; brush midsized, midlong. 



This wheat varies somewhat from the preceding description. Several dis- 

 tinct types have been selected from it, and many more could be. Like Defiance, 

 the variety probably was not pure when first distributed. It is a high-yielding 

 wheat wh( n grown under very favorable conditions and is well adapted for 

 growing under irrigation. 



History. — Surprise was originated by Cyrus G. Pringle, in the Champlain 

 Valley, near Charlotte, Vt, in the late seventies. Concerning the origin of the 

 variety, Mr. Pringle wrote the Rural New Yorker as follows : 



My No. 4 (thus numbered only in samples of wheat sent to Prof. Blount for 

 triah i :i cross between Hie Chile Club, the soft, white variety, widely grown 

 in the Pacific coast, and the Michigan Club, once common over our Northwestern 

 States. Under the name of Prtagle's Surprise, the entire stock was sold two 

 or three years ago by my agent to fhe Commissioner: of Agriculture, Le Due, for 

 distribution (11). 



It evidently wsis widely distributed in several Western States in the eighties. 

 It was advertised in California farm papers at that time, but with the decline 

 of the wheat industry in that State the identity of the variety became lost. It 



