112 BULLETIN 1074, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. | 
POOLE. 
Description.—Plant winter habit, midseason, midtall; stem purple, mid-— 
strong; spike awnless, usually fusiform, sometimes nearly oblong or linear- 
oblong, wide, middense to lax, usually nodding; glumes glabrous, brown, mid-— 
long, wide; shoulders wide, oblique to square; beaks wide, obtuse, 0.5 mm. long; 
apical awns several, 3 to 20 mm. long; kernels red, midlong, soft, ovate to 
oval, frequently elliptical, flattened; germ small to midsized; crease midwide, 
middeep to deep ; cheeks usually rounded; brush small to midsized, midlong. 
This variety is distinguished by the wide, nodding spikes. The kernels are 
rather narrow, flattened, and rounded in outline. Spikes, glumes, and kernels 
of Poole wheat are shown in Plate XXVIII, B, and a single spike in Plate V, 
Figure 4. 
History.—The origin of the Poole variety is undetermined, but it has been | 
an important variety in Ohio and Indiana for about 85 years. It was grown. 
by the Ohio Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station as early as 1884 
G19 PEAS: 
Distribution—Grown in Ala-— 
bama, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, | 
Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mary-. 
land, Michigan, Missouri, New 
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Penn- 
sylvania, South Carolina, Tennes-_ 
see, Texas, Virginia, and West | 
Virginia, and under names of) 
homa in addition. This distribu-. 
tion is shown in Figure 42. | 
Synonyms —Beechwood or.) 
Beechwood Hybrid, Bluestem, 
California Red, Gill, Harvest. 
King, Hedge Prolific, Hundred 
Mark, Hydro Prolific, Mortgage | 
Lifter, Kentucky Bluestem, Niss- | 
Fic. 42.—Outline map of the eastern United joey or Nissley’s Hybrid, Ocean. 
States, showing the distribution of Poole ee Ore Red Ct fe Red 
wheat in 1919. Estimated area, 2,453,400 Wave, Oregon Re ae = 
acres. California, Red Amber, Red 
Chaff, Red Fultz, Red King, Red 
Russell, Royal Red Clawson, Sweet Water Valley, Wagner, and Winter King. 
Beechwood (originally Beechwood Hybrid) was distributed by J. W. Still- 
well, Troy, Ohio, about 1898. In a letter under date of July 15, 1898, to the 
Office of Cereal Investigations he has given the history as follows: 
Mixed one-half bushel Rudy, one-half bushel Red Fultz (not Mediterranean), 
one-half bushel Red Velvet Chaff together. The third year from mixture I. 
named Beechwood Hybrid. Mixed because Rudy is soft straw and large grain, 
Velvet strong straw and small grain, Fultz was put in to get rid of beards. 
A mixture of Poole and Red May is now most generally grown as Beech-| 
wood. It has largely disappeared from commercial culture. 
Bluestem and Kentucky Bluestem are names used by growers for the Poole 
variety because of its purple straw. Kentucky Bluestem was reported from 
Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, and West Virginia. 
California Red is a name occasionally used for the variety under the sup- 
position that the seed came originally from California. A sample of Poole 
synonyms in Arkansas and Okla- } 
