CLASSIFICATION OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 15 



natural and artificial production of new forms, the number of dis- 

 tinct varieties of wheat existing in the United States is not sur- 

 prising. It is really remarkable to find so comparatively few in com- 

 mercial cultivation. By making all possible combinations of the 

 characters used by the writers in describing the wheat varieties, 

 several thousand new varieties could be produced. 



PREPARING DESCRIPTIONS, HISTORIES, AND DISTRIBUTIONS. 



For each variety there is given the description, the history so far 

 as known, the distribution in the United States, and the synonymy. 



PREPARATION OF VARIETAL DESCRIPTIONS. 



Detailed descriptions have been written of the wheat varieties here 

 enumerated. These descriptions contain much more detailed infor- 

 mation concerning the nature of the varieties than is included in the 

 keys and are necessary for a clear knowledge of the appearance of 

 the varieties. The descriptions are not complete, however, several of 

 the morphological characters of the wheat plant not being included 

 because they are of little or no value in classification. Only the more 

 important taxonomic characters are used. This has made possible 

 shorter and more concise descriptions than would otherwise be 

 possible. However, they are thought to be sufficiently inclusive to 

 provide a comprehensive knowledge of the different varieties. 



Following the descriptions of many varieties is a paragraph show- 

 ing the chief characters which distinguish the variety from closely 

 related ones. This gives the reader a more ready comparison of cer- 

 tain varieties than is otherwise possible. 



PREPARATION OF VARIETAL HISTORIES. 



The history of the origin of varieties can not be neglected in a 

 complete classification, as many varieties are scarcely or not at all 

 distinguishable from similar or closely related varieties and differ 

 only in their origin or qualities. In this study much attention has 

 been given to the history of varieties, and to many readers it proba- 

 bly will be the most interesting and valuable part of the classifica- 

 tion. The compiling of these histories has been a long and arduous 

 task. It has required a review of the literature on wheat varieties 

 written during a period of more than 200 years. The sources of this 

 information are varied. Definite information is readily available 

 on the origin of only a comparatively few varieties. Introductions 

 of foreign varieties have been recorded in recent years by the Office 

 of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. Frequent reference is made 

 to the accession numbers and published inventories of that office. 

 Many bulletins of the State agricultural experiment stations have 



