8 BULLETIN 878, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tributed about 1905, was awned, with pubescent white glumes and a red, midsized, 
humped, semihard kernel. The second strain, distributed a few years later, has 
glabrous glumes, but otherwise is not greatly different from the first. In this bulle- 
tin the second strain is called Humpback II. 
DURUM WHEAT. 
Durum wheat can be distinguished from common wheat chiefly by 
the flattening of the spike at right angles to the face of the spikelets, 
instead of parallel, as in common wheat. The spikes usually also are 
shorter and denser and the awns longer. All durum wheat varieties 
have awns, except a few awnless strains developed through breeding. 
THE KUBANKA GROUP. 
Most of the important commercial varieties of durum wheat grown 
in the United States are included in the Kubanka group. This group 
has yellowish awns, glabrous, yellowish glumes, and large white or 
amber kernels. 
Kubanka. — The Kubanka is the best known variety of durum wheat in this country. 
The principal introduction of this variety was made by Mr. M. A. Carleton, cerealist 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, in 1900, from the Uralsk Government 
in Russia. That importation (C. I. No. 1440; S. P. I. No. 5639 4 ) has become widely 
grown, especially in western North Dakota and in South Dakota. Many pure-line 
selections have been made from it. Several are reported in this bulletin. Selection 
Nos. 8 (C. I. No. 4063) and 98 (C. I. No. 6519) were made at the Dickinson Substation, 
Dickinson, N. Dak., and Selection Nos. 712 and 715 were made at the Belle Fourche 
Experiment Farm, Newell, S. Dak. 
Several other introductions of the variety have been made. Yields for two of these 
(C. I. Nos. 1354 and 1516) are here reported. They were both obtained from the 
Samara Government, Russia. Other introductions of similar wheat were made under 
other names. Those that are reported in this bulletin are Beloturka, Gharnovka, and 
Pererodka, all very similar to the Kubanka. 
The Beloturka variety was obtained at the Paris Exposition, but undoubtedly is 
of Russian origin. The name, in Russian, means White Turkish. 
The Gharnovka variety was obtained in three lots from Taganrog, Province of the 
Don Cossacks, Russia. These lots were Gharnovka, G. I. Nos. 1443 and 1447, and 
Yellow Gharnovka, C. I. No. 1444. 
The Pererodka variety came from the Province of Orenburg, Russia. 
Acme. — The Acme variety originated from a pure-line selection of Kubanka (C. I. 
No. 1516) made by Mr. Manley Champlin, in cooperative experiments at the High- 
more Substation, Highmore, S. Dak., in 1909. This high-yielding selection was first 
known as No. 7 and by 1914 had been increased for sowing in plats. By 1916 it was 
grown commercially, and in the rust epidemic of that year it was discovered to be 
resistant to stem rust. As it differs from the true Kubanka it has been given the 
name Acme. 
Arnautka. — Amautka is probably the most widely grown durum variety in this 
country. The first importation of this variety was made by the United States 
Department of Agriculture in 1864. After being grown occasionally for a few years 
it was discontinued. The basis of the present commercial stock is thought to have 
been brought from Russia by early immigrants. Its distribution by the United 
States Department of Agriculture dates from 1900, when seed (C. I. No. 1494) was 
4 Accession number of the office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. 
