CATALOGUE AND DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES. 



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present the leading commercial variety. Its good points are its 

 tall habit and prolificness. The rather long season required makes 

 it, however, too late north of Maryland and Kentucky, and even in 

 these two States it is apt not to mature fully. Apparently the 

 first mention of this variety in literature is in 1855 by Ruffin. 1 who 

 states that he knew it as early as 1843 under the name of Shinney. 

 Whippoorwill is a fairly uniform variety, and but slight differences 

 can be detected in lots from various sources. The slight differ- 

 ences that do exist, however, would seem to justify careful selection 

 in this variety to secure the best strains. Other lots that have 

 proved identical with 17349 are the following: 17357 and 17360 

 from the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station in 

 March, 1902; 18521. 24918, and 27543, all from T. W. Wood & 

 Sons, Richmond, Va. ; 19723, from Mr. B. T. Marshall, Fort Valley, 

 Ga. ; and 21049, from Fayetteville, Ark. Besides these lots, 12 mis- 

 cellaneous lots from American sources were tested in 1908 and 110 

 such lots were tested in 1910, all of which proved to be the 

 variety in question. The seeds alone can not be depended on to 

 identify this variety, as other American sorts have indistinguish- 

 able seeds, these being Peerless 25314 and Cardinal 0599. Among 

 the hybrids, of which Whippoorwill is one parent, are the following : 

 Groit 17334, Brabham 21599, Guernsey 17408 and 01508. The 

 seeds of Whippoorwill vary greatly in the proportion of brown. 

 In the lightest seeds the brown marblings occupy not more than 10 

 per cent of the surface, in ordinary typical seeds about 40 per cent 

 of the surface, and from this on up to clear brown. Such brown 

 seeds are not infrequently found in the same pods with marbled 

 seeds, but in all such cases the plants proved to be heterozygotes. 

 Differing from Whippoorwill only in having purple pods is Car- 

 dinal 0599, from Mr. A. W. Brabham, Olar, S. C, grown three 

 seasons. 



17350. Red Ripper. From the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, through 

 Prof. J. F. Duggar, March, 1902. Plants somewhat procumbent, 

 vigorous, very viny, the row mass 16 to 20 inches high, 2\ to 3 

 feet broad ; leaflets large, dark, free from rust, a little affected by 

 red leaf-spot, held late ; flowers violet purple ; moderately prolific ; 

 pods well filled, borne rather low, straw colored, 7 to 8 inches long, 

 the first mature in about 90 days; seeds maroon, rhomboid, 6 by 

 8 mm. Very similar to the above and distinguishable with diffi- 

 culty are the following : 17365 from the Louisiana Experiment Sta- 

 tion as Red Yellowhull ; 17369 from the Mark W. Johnson Seed 

 Co., Atlanta, Ga. ; 17519 from T. W. Wood & Sons, Richmond, Va., 

 as Red Carolina. Other varieties of American origin which are 

 very similar but distinct, as proved by tests covering several years, 

 are described under Nos. 17361, 17420A, 22722, 24919, 25088, 25512C, 

 29286, and 29289. Besides these 3 lots, 40 lots having maroon 

 seeds similar to 17350 from different American sources were tested 

 in 1910. A brief discussion of the results obtained with these 

 different lots will illustrate the complexity of the matter of varie- 

 ties in this group. Of the 40 lots, 30 resembled 17350 very closely 



1 Ruffin, Edmund, Essays and Notes on Agriculture, 1855, pp. 354, 363. 



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