2, BULLETIN 1074, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The identification of varieties requires some knowledge of the 
appearance of plant and kernel and is assisted by information regard- 
ing its history or distribution. Wheat varieties are most generally 
designated by names, which are established through publication and 
usage. The association of a name with a recognized type of wheat 
enables identification. Confusion in names is frequent, especially in 
America, where the number of actual varieties is very large. This 
confusion occurs in two principal ways: (1) The same name is ap- 
plied to very different varieties in different parts of the country, and 
(2) the same variety is grown under several different names in dif- 
ferent parts of the country or even in the same part. Identification — 
is difficult in cases of similar or closely related varieties and is con- 
fused by the multiplicity of names. 
There is need, therefore, for a practical and usable system of classi- 
fication which will standardize the varietal nomenclature and enable 
growers to identify varieties with which they are concerned. The 
purpose of this bulletin is to provide such a classification of the 
wheat varieties that are grown commercially in the United States 
or may be grown soon. The classification has been made by using 
only such characters as can be distinguished by the naked eye, no 
instrument other than a measuring rule having been used in the 
investigations. The names of varieties have been standardized in 
accordance with a code of nomenclature prepared by Ball and 
Clark (43)? and adopted with slight changes by the American Society 
of Agronomy. 
This bulletin is written in response to a demand for varietal infor- 
mation from farmers, agronomists, plant breeders, and members of 
the grain trade. It should form the basis for future work in wheat 
improvement, save the time and expense of breeding for combina- 
tions of characters which are already in existence, prevent much 
duplication of work in conducting varietal experiments, and aid in 
preventing the fraudulent or unknown exploitation of old varieties 
of wheat under new names. Its greatest value, however, should be 
in providing a compendium of the wheats of North America for 
all workers in the wheat industry, especially those who have only a 
limited or local knowledge of the varieties which are grown. 
PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS. 
Most of the systematic study of wheat varieties has been done by 
foreign investigators. Comparatively little work of this nature has 
heretofore been done in America. 
1The numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to “‘ Literature cited,” at the end of this 
bulletin, 
