116 BULLETIN 1074, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



p. 14), was grown in Virginia as early as 1764. A more recent history of Red 

 May indicates that it was originated by General Harmon from the Virginia 

 May (a white-kerneled wheat) about 1830 (103, p. 226). This wheat has been 

 grown quite widely under the name Red May since 1845. 



Distribution. — Grown in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, 

 Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Okla- 

 homa, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, and under the synonyms 

 in Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Vir- 

 ginia, and Wisconsin (Fig. 45). 



Synonyms.- — Beech wood (in part), Canadian Hybrid, Early Harvest, Early 

 May, Early Ripe, Enterprise, Jones Longberry, May, Michigan Amber, Michigan 

 Wonder, Orange, Pride of Indiana, Red Amber, Red Cross, Red Republic, and 

 Republican Red. 



Beechwood usually is a mixed wheat containing some Red May. For a his- 

 tory of the wheat, see Poole. Canadian Hybrid is the name under which a 



sample of Red May was obtained from 

 Illinois in 1919. The name Canadian 

 Hybrid usually is used as a synonym 

 of Jones Fife. 



Early Harvest differs from Red May 

 only in having a shorter and more ob- 

 long spike. Its history is not known, 

 but the name apparently came into use 

 by farmers of Indiana and Illinois in the 

 late eighties. It was reported as grown 

 in 1919 in Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, 

 Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio. 



Early May was commonly used as a 

 synonym for both Red May and White 

 May from 1843 to 1857. In 1854 a 

 White May variety in addition to the 

 one already discussed is claimed to have 

 been originated by Charles H. Boughton, 

 Center Crossroads, Essex County, Va. This was also known as Boughton 

 and Tappahannock. The name Early May is now probably used partly for Red 

 May, but principally as a synonym for the Little May or Flint. It was reported 

 in 1919 from Alabama, Arkansas, and South Carolina. 



Early Ripe was recorded as having been introduced into Darke County, Ohio, 

 in 1840. During the next 18 years it became distributed over the State as 

 Whig, Kentucky Red, and Carolina (131, p. 142). It apparently has continued 

 in cultivation. Samples obtained from the Ohio and Missouri Agricultural 

 Experiment Stations are identical with Red May. It was reported in 1919 

 from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. 



Enterprise apparently is identical with Red May. It was obtained from the 

 Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station, which received it from W. C. Betts, 

 Forest. Ind. Its further history is undetermined. Enterprise wheat was 

 reported from Hickman County, Ky., in 1919. 



Jones Longberry is the name under which a sample of Red May was obtained 

 from the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. It evidently is wrongly 

 applied to this wheat, as the two varieties of Longberry wheat put out by A. N. 

 Jones, of New York, are awned varieties. 



May is now used most commonly as a synonym for Red May, although it 

 probably was originally a white-kerneled wheat of earlier origin than Red May. 



1 P*<L 



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'10-' : J 



Fig. 45. — Outline map of the eastern United 

 States, showing the distribution of Red 

 May wheat in 1919. Estimated area, 

 1,165,900 acres. 



