18 BULLETIN 270, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



DURUM GROUP. 1 



Durum wheat was introduced into the United States from Russia 

 in 1899 by Mr. Mark Alfred Carleton, Cerealist of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. The durum wheats have rather long, 

 tough straw and large, heavy, bearded heads. The kernels also are 

 large and the bushel weight is high. The grains are held very tightly 

 within the glumes, thus enabling them to stand without shattering 

 for some time after becoming ripe. Because of the weight of the 

 heads, they have a tendency to droop over as the grain ripens, which 

 makes the durums more difficult to cut with a binder than the fife 

 and bluestem wheats. 



In 1910 and 1911 the yields of the durum wheats were lower than 

 those of the other groups. These two years were characterized by low 

 rainfall and high evaporation during the growing season. In 1911 

 no protracted hot winds occurred, but in 1910 there were several 

 days of continuous hot winds about the time wheat was heading. 

 There was a normal growth of straw and heads each year, but a 

 large percentage of the heads contained no kernels. This condition 

 seemed to be peculiar only to the durum group. 



Kubanka. — The Kubanka variety of durum wheat was intro- 

 duced from Russia-by the United States Department of Agriculture 

 in 1899. It has a stout, rather broad head with yellowish, glabrous 

 glumes and long yellow beards. Of the several durum varieties that 

 have been tested at Williston, the Kubanka has given the best 

 results, with the Arnautka second. Table VII shows that the Ku- 

 banka has the highest average yield of any variety for the 7-year 

 period (1908 to 1914) or for the 6-year period (1909 to 1914). For 

 the two years 1913 and 1914 it has given better juelds than any 

 other except the Taganrog (C. I. No. 1570). 



Taganrog. — The Taganrog variety (C. I. No. 1570) closely resem- 

 bles the Arnautka in having a slightly longer head than the Kubanka. 

 In other respects the three varieties are very similar in appearance. 

 The Taganrog appeared to be promising in the row tests in the cereal 

 nursery, so it was increased and finally added to the field tests in 



1913. For each of the years 1913 and 1914 it produced the highest 

 yield of any of the wheats tested. 



FIFE GROUP. 



The varieties of the fife group are beardless and the glumes glabrous. 

 They head and ripen a little earlier than the bluestems, as is shown 

 in Table VIII. This is especially true of the Ghirka. Their height 

 is somewhat less and the bushel weight considerably more than the 

 average bluestems. 



i For a more complete discussion and history of the wheat groups and their varieties see the following: 

 Clark, J". A. Cereal experiments at Dickinson, N. Dak. II. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 33, 44 p., 7 fig.,1 pi., 



1914. Salmon, Cecil, and Clark, J. A. Durum wheat. U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 534, 16 p. ,4 fig., 

 1913. 



