166 BULLETIN 1014, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Description. — Plant winter habit, midseason, midtall ; stem white, midstrong ; 

 spike awned, fusiform, lax, inclined to nodding; glumes glabrous, brown, mid- 

 long, midwide ; shoulders midwide, oblique to elevated ; beaks 1 to 10 mm. long ; 

 awns 2 to 10 cm. long ; kernels red, midlong to long, usually semihard, ovate ; 

 germ midsized ; crease midwide, middeep ; cheeks angular ; brush midsized, 

 midlong. 



History. — Ariette presumably is of Italian origin. It was obtained by the 

 Portland Seed Co. from Italians in the vicinity of Portland, Oreg., who claim 

 to have introduced it from Italy, where it is known as Ariette. 



Distribution. — Said by the Portland Seed Co. to be grown in the vicinity of 

 Portland, Oreg. They sold seed of the variety for a number of years. 



Synonyms — Aulieata. This is the name under which the Portland Seed Co. 

 sold seed of the Ariette variety in 1919. They submitted a sample of the 

 wheat to the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station for identification and 

 were informed that it probably was Aulieata. They, therefore, advertised it 

 under that name in 1919. It was later determined, however, that it was not 

 Aulieata. 



MEDITERRANEAN. 



i 



Description. — Plant winter habit, midseason, tall ; stem purple, midstrong, 

 coarse ; spike awned, fusiform, middense, erect to inclined ; glumes glabrous, 

 browli, long, midwide, easily deciduous ; shoulders wanting to narrow, oblique ; 

 beaks 1 to 8 mm. long ; awns 3 to 7 cm. long ; kernels red, long, soft, elliptical ; 

 germ midsized ; crease midwide, middeep ; cheeks rounded ; brush midsized, 

 midlong. 



A spike, glumes, and kernels of Mediterranean are shown in Plate XLVI, A. 



History. — Reference to the Mediterranean variety in American literature 

 begins in 1842, when the variety was widely grown, with the statement that it 

 had been introduced some years before. One writer says (103, p. 228) it was 

 introduced into Maryland from the Mediterranean Sea region in 1837. In 1863 

 it was recorded (1^1, p. 501) that it was introduced in 1819 from Genoa, Italy, 

 by John Gordon, of Wilmington, Del. It came into prominence in New York 

 between 1845 and 1855, from which time its culture spread rapidly westward. 

 Its early popularity apparently was gained because it was more resistant to 

 Hessian fly damage than other varieties. It was found also to be several days 

 earlier than the commonly grown winter wheats, such as the Flint, Bluestem, 

 Red Bluestem, Golden Straw, and other wheats grown at that time. It was 

 called rust resistant probably because of its earliness, and was commended as 

 a high yielder of especially heavy grain and adapted to poorer soils than most 

 varieties. White wheats being the standard, it was vigorously criticized, espe- 

 cially by millers, because its red kernels yielded a dark flour and because of 

 the thickness of the bran. This disapproval persisted for at least 25 years, 

 but after the introduction of roller mills it became recognized as a good milling 

 wheat. In the earlier years it became known under many different names, as 

 Bearded Mediterranean, Red Mediterranean, and Red Chaff Mediterranean, to 

 distinguish it from other and different varieties to which the name Mediter- 

 ranean became attached. Other synonyms were Columbian and Quaker in 

 Pennsylvania and German in Maryland. These names apparently now have 

 gone out of use. v This early confusion in names probably was the result of re- 

 peated introductions. 



Distribution. — Grown in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, 

 Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missis- 



