CEREAL EXPERIMENTS AT THE WILLISTON SUBSTATION. 19 



The fife wheats have proved superior in most points to the blue- 

 stern group for the territory surrounding Williston. One of the prin- 

 cipal points in their favor is that they do not shatter so badly when 

 fully ripe. The tests made at Williston show that the quality of the 

 fife grain is ordinarily better than that of the bluestem group. 



Power. — The Power variety is a selection from the original Red 

 Fife. It is said to have originated about 1885 with Mr. James Holes, 

 of Fargo, N. Dak., from a single plant. It was increased and dis- 

 tributed hi large quantities by Mr. J. B. Power, of Power, N. Dak.; 

 hence the name. Seed from Mr. Power was given the number 66 by 

 the experiment stations of both North Dakota and Minnesota. Later 

 selections from Minnesota No. 66 were given the Minnesota numbers 

 149 and 276. 



The average yield of Power fife (C. I. No. 3697) for the six years 

 (1909 to 1914) has been 31.2 bushels per acre, as shown in Table VII. 

 This is the highest yield made by any variety of common wheat 

 tested at Williston for the same period. Power fife also has had the 

 highest bushel weight of any variety tested except the durums, as 

 shown in Table VIII. 



Ghirka Spring. — The Ghirka wheat (C. I. No. 1517) came from 

 Russia. It seems to possess better drought-resisting qualities than 

 any of the other fifes or any of the bluestems tried at Williston. This 

 quality was very noticeable during the two dry years, 1910 and 1911. 

 In 1910 the yield of Ghirka exceeded that of any other wheat tested 

 that year, and in 1911 it stood second in yield. 



In 1910 and 1911 the heads of Ghirka filled completely to the tips, 

 while the other fifes and bluestems did not. Ghirka has a longer, more 

 tapering head than the other varieties of the fife group. The kernel 

 of the Ghirka is larger than that of the other fifes or of the bluestems, 

 but it is not as hard, and the milling quality is somewhat inferior. 



Marquis. — The Marquis variety (C. I. No. 3641) was derived from 

 a cross made in Canada between a hard red Calcutta wheat and Red 

 Fife. This wheat is of comparatively recent origin and distribution. 

 While grown for several years on the Dominion experiment farms in 

 Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, it has been in the tests at 

 Williston but two years. During this time it has given results about 

 equal to those from Power fife. 



The growth of straw is shorter 1 ban that of the other fifes; the head 

 also i- shorter, and the grain is held more firmly within the glumes. 

 The kernels are short, vory plump, and the weight per bushel is good. 



PRESTON (iUOtJ)'. 



The wheats plaeed together in I he somewhat, variable preston 

 group are all bearded, with glabrous glumes and hard red kernels 

 DIUch hke those of I \\c life gTOUp. Ill some of the varieties the milling 



