EXPEEIMENTS WITH MAEQUIS WHEAT. 7 



in length, averaging 5.2 millimeters, or nearly 1 millimeter shorter 

 than the kernels of Fife and Bluestem wheats (fig. 2). The crease also 

 is broader and deeper. 



The Marquis is an early variety, ripening from 98 to 135 days after 

 sowing, varying with the season and locaHty. The average length of 

 its growing period in the northern Great Plains is about 115 days. 

 This makes it three or four days earlier than most of the other Fife 

 varieties. Because of its earliness it escapes to some extent the 

 drought of dry years, the rust and fall rains of wet seasons, and also 

 the early fall frosts. These are the characters which have made it 

 especially valuable in the Prairie Provinces of Canada. 



The growing season lengthens as one passes southward into the 

 United States, and earhness is no longer so great an advantage. 



VARIETAL EXPERIMENTS. 



As soon as the Marquis wheat began to attract attention in 1912 

 the United States Department of Agriculture began an extensive 

 series of varietal experiments with it. 



SOURCE OF THE SEED. 



A small supply of seed (C. I. No. 3276) was obtained from Dr. C. E. 

 Saunders, of Ottawa, in January, 1912. This was grown in the 

 nurseries at several stations, but became the basis of the varietal 

 experiments in plats only at Aberdeen, Idaho, and Newell, S. Dak. 

 A larger supply (C. I. No. 3641) was obtained from the Lethbridge 

 Experimental Farm in Alberta, in the early spring of 1913. This 

 lot has been used in the varietal experiments of the Department of 

 Agriculture, except m Idaho and Oregon and at Newell, S. Dak. In 

 the sprmg of 1913 the Eastern Oregon Dry-Farming substation at 

 Moro obtained a supply of seed direct from the Indian Head Experi- 

 mental Farm in Saskatchewan. This lot of seed was given Cereal 

 Investigations No. 4158 and has been used in the varietal experiments 

 at Moro and Burns, Oreg. The sources of the seed used by the State 

 experiment stations conducting independent tests are not known. 



GEOGRAPHIC AREA COVERED. 



The experiments recorded herein have been conducted in 13 differ- 

 ent States. The area stretches from Iowa and Minnesota on the east 

 to California and Oregon on the west. All the intervening States are 

 included except Washington. 



In this great expanse of territory the conditions of climate and soil 

 vary greatly. Naturally the adaptation and value of Marquis wheat 

 vary with local conditions. The eastern portion of this territory is 

 distinctly humid in climate, and the soil consists of glacial drift and 

 alluvium. Progressing westward into the northern section of the 

 Great Plains area marked changes occur, especially in the climatic 



