20 



BULLETIN" 270, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and baking qualities are similar, and in others they are somewhat 

 inferior to the fifes. Some of the varieties have been known com- 

 mercially as "velvet chaff." This name is unfortunate, since none 

 of them have pubescent glumes. The preston wheats possess some- 

 what better drought-resistant qualities than those of either the ordi- 

 nary fife or bluestem groups. 



Preston. — The Preston variety (C. I. No. 3698) originated as a 

 hybrid at Ottawa, Canada, about 1893, from a cross of Ladoga and 

 Red Fife. It was selected there for earliness and stiff straw. It is 

 the leading variety of this group. Its average yield for the six years 

 (1909 to 1914) has not been as high as those of the other wheats 

 shown in Table VII. It made a better yield than the bluestems, 

 however, in the dry year 1910. In 1911, a second dry year, its yield 

 was higher than that of any other wheat shown in Table VII. 



BLUESTEM GROUP. 



The bluestem group is composed of varieties with beardless heads 

 and pubescent glumes. The bluestems head and ripen a little later 

 than the fifes. At Williston they have yielded less than the fifes and 

 their weight per bushel has been lower. Table VIII shows that the 

 average weight per bushel falls below 58 pounds. 



Bluestem wheat has been considered one of the best hard spring 

 wheats to grow in the North-Central States. It possesses qualities 

 that give it a high place as a bread wheat. The trials at Williston 

 have shown that for that district it is inferior to the fife and durum 

 groups in yield and in quality of grain. The weight per bushel has 

 not averaged high enough to insure its being graded as No. 1 northern. 



RATE-OF-SEEDING TEST WITH SPRING WHEAT. 



An experiment to determine the best rate of seeding for spring 

 wheat was begun in 1911. Dakota Bluestem (C. I. No. 3083) was 

 the variety used. Six rates, varying from 3 to 8 pecks per acre, 

 were tried in 1911. The 8-peck rate was discontinued at the end of 

 that year and the 7-peck rate at the end of 1913. The results obtained 

 are shown in Table IX. 



Table IX. — Annual and average, yields in a rate-of-seeding test of Dakota Bluestem 

 spring wheat at Williston. N. Dak., 1911 to 1914, inclusive. 



Rate of 

 seeding. 



Yield per acre (bushels). 



Rate of 

 seeding. 



Yield per acre (bushels). 



1911 



1912 



1913 



1914 



Aver- 

 age. 



1911 



1912 



1913 



1914 



Aver- 

 age. 



3 pecks.. 



1.9 

 2.2 

 1.7 



43.7 

 49.0 

 49.5 



15.7 

 31.5 

 30.3 



41.1 

 47.5 

 50.4 



25.6 

 32.6 

 33.0 



6 pecks.. 



7 pecks.. 



8 pecks.. 



2.0 

 2.5 

 2.0 



48.0 

 47.6 



33.0 

 36.6 



48.8 



33.0 



5 pecks.. 















