CLASSIFICATION" OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 117 



The name is also known to be used for other varieties. The distribution of 

 May wheat was combined with Red May, as most correspondents used the names 

 as synonymous. 



Michigan Amber was grown on the eastern farm of the Pennsylvania Agri- 

 cultural College, in Chester County, Pa., as early as 1871 (8, p. 134). Concern- 

 ing the variety, the Farmers' Advocate, London, Ontario, published the following 

 statement, which was republished in the Rural New Yorker in 1875 (11, 

 p. 186-187) : 



Michigan Amber, or Rappahannock, is of an amber color ; growth and appear- 

 ance otherwise resembling the Midge-proof variety. 



Our samples of the variety are similar to Red May, with the possible excep- 

 tion of being a few days later in maturity. This might easily be due to the 

 fact that Michigan Amber wheat has been grown farther north than the Red 

 May for a period of nearly 50 years. Reported in 1919 from Arkansas, Illinois, 

 Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia. 



Michigan Wonder was reported as one of the highest yielding wheats at the 

 Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station in 1911 (146, p. 211). Our samples 

 are the same as Red May, except that they are slightly more erect. It is 

 reported grown in Michigan and Missouri. 



Orange wheat was reported as having been introduced into Monroe County, 

 N. Y., from Virginia in 1845 (102, p. 286). In 1857 Klippart (131) reported 

 Orange wheat as a beardless, white-grained winter wheat grown in Ohio. The 

 wheat now grown as Orange, however, has red kernels and apparently is 

 identical with Red May. It is reported as one of the excellent-yielding beardless 

 varieties of wheat for Missouri in 1910 (77, p. 67). Reported grown in 

 Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Oklahoma. 



Pride of Indiana wheat obtained from the Indiana and Missouri Agricultural 

 Experiment Stations is the same as Red May. The origin of the wheat is 

 undetermined. Possibly the name became used for wheat through error, as it 

 is a name of an important variety of corn in Indiana. It was reported in 

 1919 as grown in Indiana and Pennsylvania. 



Red Amber is a name used by growers for Red May or Michigan Amber. 

 A sample of Red Amber identical with Red May was obtained from Georgia 

 in 1919. 



The name Red Cross is sometimes wrongly applied to Red May wheat. 

 Since 1893 the John A. Salzer Seed Co., seedsmen, of La Crosse, Wis., have 

 been selling a wheat under the name Red Cross which is apparently identical 

 with Red May. They bought the seed from a J. J. Barron, who claimed to have 

 originated it (163, p. 17). This he states was done by crossing three varieties. 

 No evidence is given, however, to prove that the crosses were made. 



Red Republic and Republican Red are names used by growers for the Red 

 May or Michigan Amber wheat in Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. Samples 

 under these names were obtained from Illinois and Missouri in 1919. 



ILLINI CHIEF. 



Description. — Plant winter habit, midseason to late, tall; stem purple, 

 strong; spike awnless, oblong, middense, erect to inclined; glumes glabrous, 

 brown, midlong, midwide; shoulders wide, usually square; beaks wide, obtuse, 

 0.5 to 1 mm. long; apical awns few, 3 to 10 mm. long; kernels red, short to 

 midlong, soft, ovate; germ midsized; crease wide, middeep to deep; cheeks 

 usually angular; brush midsized, midlong. 



