CLASSIFICATION OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 89 



a Mr. Belshaw, who obtained a sample of the wheat at the Centennial Exposi- 

 tion, where it was on exhibition as Bulgarian Red Spring. He sowed the few 

 kernels in his garden and in this way obtained sufficient seed to sow 5 acres. 

 His land was low and heavy, however, and the wheat did not prove satisfactory, 

 so he gave the seed to a Mr. Huston living 16 miles west on the hill lands, who 

 grew it with splendid success and the wheat came to be known as Huston. 



Distribution. — Grown in Benton, Douglas, Lane, Linn, Marion, Polk, and 

 Yamhill Counties, Oreg. 



Synonyms. — Bulgarian, Early Wonder, Grass, Little Red, Ninety -Day, Red 

 Spring, and Swamp. 



Bulgarian, as indicated above, was the name under which the variety was 

 known before it was introduced in Oregon, and the name is still used in Linn 

 County, Oreg. Early Wonder was recorded by Hyslop (126) as a synonym for 

 Huston and is much used for the Huston variety in Benton, Linn, and Polk 

 Counties, Oreg. Grass, Little Red, Ninety-Day, Red Spring, and Swamp are 

 also local names used for Huston by farmers in the Willamette Valley of 

 Oregon. 



ALTON (GHIRKA WINTER). 



Description. — Plant winter habit, midseason, midtall ; stem white, midstrong ; 

 spike awnless, fusiform, middense, inclined; glumes glabrous, white, midlong, 

 midwide ; shoulders midwide, oblique to square ; beaks wide, acute, 1 mm. long ; 

 apical awns few, 3 to 10 mm. long ; kernels red, usually short, hard, ovate ; germ 

 very small; crease narrow to midwide, shallow; cheeks rounded; brush mid- 

 sized, midlong. 



This variety is the only awnless hard red winter wheat grown commercially 

 in the United States. It usually yields somewhat less than Turkey and its 

 milling and bread-making value is also slightly less than that of Turkey. 



History. — Alton was introduced by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 true (197) as Ghirka Winter in December, 1900, from Altonau, near Melitopol 

 in northern Taurida, Russia (S. P. I. No. 5637). It was one of a large number 

 of wheat varieties introduced by M. A. Carleton, department cerealist, who went 

 to Russia and Siberia in 1898 and again in 1900 for the purpose of obtaining 

 cereal crops. 



This variety proved best adapted in Wyoming and Colorado, where it has 

 been distributed in a small way. The name Alton is here substituted for Ghirka 

 Winter to avoid confusion with the variety of spring wheat known as Ghirka 

 Spring. The name Alton is derived from Altonau, the original source of the 

 sample. , r 



Distribution. — Grown as Ghirka Winter to a limited extent in Colorado, 

 Kansas, and Wyoming. 



RED BOBS. 



Description. — Plant spring habit, early, midtall; stem white, strong; spike 

 awnless, fusiform, middense, erect; glumes glabrous, white to yellowish, mid- 

 long, midwide; shoulders wide, oblique to square; beaks wide, acute, 0.5 mm. 

 long, sometimes nearly wanting; apical awns entirely wanting; kernels red, 

 usually short, hard, oval to ovate, with truncate tip ; germ midsized ; crease mid- 

 wide to wide, middeep to deep ; cheeks angular ; brush midsized, short. 



This variety has two types of plants, but differs from Bobs principally in hav- 

 ing red kernels. In the northern spring-wheat sections of the United States Red 

 Bobs has proved very susceptible to stem rust. Spikes, glumes, and kernels of 

 the variety are shown in Plate XX, A. 



History. — The Red Bobs originated from a head selection made in a field of 

 Bobs wheat by Seager Wheeler in 1910 at Maple Grove Farm, Rosthern, Sas- 



