146 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



Upon the farmers of the country, the United States Department 

 of Agriculture has made careful tests of their value. In Bul- 

 letin 357 of the department the results of these tests are said to 

 show conclusively that neither of the wheats possesses any 

 peculiar quality which justifies high prices for the seed. Many 

 varieties grown commercially throughout the country have, in 

 fact, proved to be somewhat superior to either the Alaska or 

 the Stoner. 



These facts, however, have not prevented the promoters at 

 various times from asserting that yields of from 100 to 222^ 

 bushels per acre can be obtained from this wheat. In partic- 

 ular, they have urged it as a valuable variety for the worn-out 

 farms of the East because with such yields farmers can afford 

 to use fertilizers. According to one circular the wheat flour- 

 ishes in dry countries because its native home, Alaska, is dry; 

 in cold countries, possibly for the same reason; and in hot 

 countries, for some reason not stated. 



A favorite story with promoters is to the effect that when 

 the coflin of an Egyptian mummy 3,000 or 4,000 years old was 

 opened some wheat was found in it. The seed was planted, 

 but only a single kernel grew. This, however, was a wonderful 

 yielder and very different from any other wheat known. This 

 story is responsible for such names as "Mummy," wheat 3,000 

 years old, ''Egyptian," and ''Miracle." It is, of course, an 

 absurdity, for even under the most favorable conditions seeds 

 of wheat dO' not keep their vitality more than a few years. 



In 1908 this wheat was brought forward again, this time 

 not as a product of Egypt, but of Alaska. It was asserted that 

 an Idaho farmer had found in a secluded spot of the Alaskan 

 coast a wheat plant with a branched head. He had brought 

 back one head, sowed its seed that fall (in 1904), obtained 7 

 pounds to sow in 1905, and by 1906 had 1,545 pounds, an in- 

 crease of two hundred and twenty fold. From tliis it was 



