20 BULLETIN 270, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and baking qualities are similar, and in others they are somewhat 
inferior to the fifes. Some of the varieties have been known com- ~ 
mercially as ‘‘velvet chaff.” This name is unfortunate, since none 
of them have pubescent glumes. The preston wheats possess some- | 
what better drought-resistant qualities than those of either the ordi- 
nary fife or bluestem groups. 
Preston.—The Preston variety (C. I. No. 3698) originated as a 
hybrid at Ottawa, Canada, about 1893, from a cross of Ladoga and 
Red Fife. It was selected there for earliness and stiff straw. It is © 
the leading variety of this group. Its average yield for the six years 
(1909 to 1914) has not been as high as those of the other wheats 
shown in Table VII. It made a better yield than the bluestems, 
however, in the dry year 1910. In 1911, a second dry year, its yield 
was higher than that of any other wheat shown in Table VII. 
BLUESTEM GROUP. 
The bluestem group is composed of varieties with beardless heads 
and pubescent glumes. The bluestems head and ripen a httle later 
than the fifes. At Williston they have yielded less than the fifes and 
their weight per bushel has been lower. Table VIII shows that the — 
average weight per bushel falls below 58 pounds. 
Bluestem wheat has been considered one of the best. hard spring 
wheats to grow in the North-Central States. It possesses qualities 
that give it a high place as a bread wheat. The trials at Williston 
have shown that for that district it is inferior to the fife and durum 
groups in yield and in quality of grain. The weight per bushel has 
not averaged high enough to insure its being graded as No. 1 northern. 
RATE-OF-SEEDING TEST WITH SPRING WHEAT. 
An experiment to determine the best rate of seeding for spring 
wheat was begun in 1911. Dakota Bluestem (C. I. No. 3083) was 
the variety used. Six rates, varying from 3 to 8 pecks per acre, 
were tried in 1911. The 8-peck rate was discontinued at the end of 
that year and the 7-peck rate at the end of 1913. The results obtained 
are shown in Table IX. : 
TaBLE IX.—Annual and average yields in a rate-of-seeding test of Dakota Bluestem 
spring wheat at Williston, N. Dak., 1911 to 1914, inelusive. 
Yield per acre (bushels). Yield per acre (bushels). 
Rate of Rate of 
seeding ecors seeding. Meter 
1911 1912 1913 1914 age. 1911 1912 1913 1914 age. 
3 pecks. . 1.9 43.7 15.7 af 25.6 | 6 pecks.. 2.0 48.0 33.0 48.8 33.0 
4 pecks. . 2.2 49.0 31.5 47.5 32.6 || 7pecks.- - 250) 47.6 3656-8 oes |e 
5pecks..| 1.7} 49.5| 30.3] 50.4 33.0 | Specks. spa na: Onleeee aie |S. 52 SRE seeke eee 
| 
