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



Description. — Plant spring habit. ' late, tall ; stem white, midstrong, spike 

 branched, awned, nodding; glumes glabrous, brown, short, midwide; shoulders 

 narrow, usually rounded ; beaks nearly wanting ; awns black, 3 to 12 cm. long ; 

 kernels white, short to midlong, hard, often becoming starchy, ovate, humped; 

 germ midsized ; crease midwide, shallow, sometimes pitted ; cheeks usually an- 

 gular; brush midsized, short. 



Alaska is recognized by the composite spikes, glabrous glumes, and. white 

 kernels. A spike, glumes, and kernels of this variety are shown in Plate LIV, A. 



History.— This variety of poulard wheat probably has been introduced into 

 this country several times from the Mediterranean region of Europe, where 

 poulard wheats are grown commercially to a small extent. The first introduc- 

 tion of this wheat into the United States was thought by Ball and Leighty (-44 

 p. 4) to have been in 1806, when it was brought from Ireland under the name 

 of Jerusalem. Several other introductions have been recorded- in American 

 literature. The wheat often has been used by unscrupulous seedsmen for ex- 

 travagant exploitation. The names listed as synonyms have all been used at 

 one time or another for the variety in the United States. In recent years the 

 name Alaska has been generally adopted for the wheat. It was the name used 

 for the variety by Abraham Adams, of Juliaetta, Idaho, who distributed seed 

 of the variety in the Pacific Northwest from about 1904 to 1908. 



Distribution. — Alaska wheat was reported in 1919 from Arizona, New Mexico, 

 Oregon and Pennsylvania. It also is known to be grown to a small extent in 

 California, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. 



Synonyms. — Egyptian, Eldorado, Jerusalem, Many Headed, Many Spiked, 

 Multiple Headed, Miracle, Mortgage Lifter, Mummy, Reed, Seven Headed, Seven 

 Headed Sinner, Smyrna, Syrian, Taos, Wheat of Miracle, Wheat 3,000 Years 

 Old, Wild Goose. 



The names Egyptian, Jerusalem, Mummy, Smyrna, Syrian, and Wheat 3,000 

 Years Old were applied to this wheat by exploiters who claimed the wheat had 

 been discovered in ancient tombs in Africa or Asia. 



The names Many Headed, Many Spiked, Multiple Headed, Seven Headed, and 

 Seven Headed Sinner have been used because of the composite spikes which 

 sometimes produce several branches. 



Eldorado, Miracle, Mortgage Lifter, and Wheat of Miracle are names given 

 to the wheat because of its supposed large yields. 



Reed is a name used for Alaska because of its tall coarse stem, which is reed- 

 like. Taos is a name long used for Alaska in New Mexico and Utah. Wild 

 Goose is a name given Alaska and several other wheats by men who claimed to 

 have obtained the seed from the crop of a wild goose which had been shot. 



Description. — Plant winter habit, late, midtall to tall ; stem white, midstrong, 

 stout ; spike branched, awned, nodding ; glumes pubescent, brown, short, narrow ; 

 shoulders wanting to narrow, oblique; beak 0.5 mm. long; awns black, usually 

 deciduous, 3 to 10 cm. long; kernels white, midlong, semihard, usually becoming 

 very starchy, oval to ovate, humped ; germ midsized ; crease midwide, shallow, 

 sometimes pitted ; cheeks angular ; brush midsized, short. 



This variety differs from Alaska in having a winter habit and pubescent 

 brown glumes. A spike, glumes, and kernels are shown in Plate LIV, B. 



History. — The Titanic wheat was introduced into the United States by Harry 

 Towell, of Fort Stanley, Wash., in 1912. Mr. Towell had obtained 12 kernels 



