| thin, with a silvery glisten in the sun; grain large, dark, 
/ 
CLASSIFICATION OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 155 
SILVERSHEAF (JONES SILVER SHEAF LONGBERRY RED). 
Description.—Plant winter habit, midseason, tall; stem usually white, mid- 
_ Strong, coarse ; spike awned, fusiform, lax, inclined; glumes glabrous, white, 
- long,: midwide, easily deciduous; shoulders midwide, usually elevated; beaks 
= 2 to 30 mm. long; awns 8 to 10 cm. long; kernels pale red, long, soft, ellip- 
tical; germ small; crease midwide, shallow to middeep; cheeks rounded; 
brush midsized, midlong. 
: The variety as grown contains mixtures of purple straw. Silversheaf is 
_ distinct in having dark coffee-colored stripes on the glumes. <A spike, glumes, 
and kernels of Silversheaf wheat are shown in Plate XLIII, A. 
History.—This variety was originated by A. N. Jones (128), Le Roy (for- 
' merly of Newark, N. Y.), Genesee County, N. Y., in 19038. Concerning it he 
has written the following: 
I offer this season for the first time the finest Longberry Red wheat ever 
_ known in this country. ... This wonder in the wheat line originated from a 
eross between my No. 8, or better known as American Bronze, and the cross- 
' breed from a cross between Lancaster and Seedling No. 91, Longberry. 
He described the wheat as follows: 
i Straw of a light yellow color, medium tall, thick walled and strong; head 
' long, wide, and full, which as they ripen has a drooping habit. Chaff white, 
| and flinty, nearly as long as rye. 
. This wheat was advertised and distributed by Peter 
Henderson & Co. (110), seedsmen, of New York, as early 
- as 1903. 
Disiribution.—Grown in New York and South Caro- : 
7 lina, and under the names of synonyms in Maryland, > 
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. vas 
(Fig. 62.) ey 
Synonyms.—Ausiralian, Clipperd’s Bearded, Coffee, yy¢, 62.—Outline map 
and Davis. of a portion of the 
Australian is the name under which a sample of Silver- _ ©@8térn United States, 
: F showing the _ distri- 
Sheaf was obtained from Frederick, Md., in 1919. The  pution of Silversheaf 
variety was reported under this name from Maryland wheat in 1919. MUsti- 
and Pennsylvania. Clipperd’s Bearded is thename under M™a@ted area, 34,900 
which a sample of Silversheaf was obtained from Chat- oe 
ham County, N. C., in 1919. Coffee is the name used for Silversheaf in West 
Virginia. A sample was obtained from Shepherdstown, W. Va., in 1919. The 
_ name Coffee is probably due to the color of the glumes. Davis is a name used 
for Silversheaf in Maryland and North Carolina. A sample of Davis was ob- 
tained from Lynch, Md., in 1919. 
FRETES. 
_Description.—Plant Spring habit, although very prostrate in early growth, 
midseason, midtall; stem white, weak to midstrong; spike awned, fusiform, 
middense, inclined; glumes glabrous, white, midlong, midwide; shoulders mid- 
wide, oblique to elevated; beaks 2 to 20 mm. long; awns 2 to 7 em. long; Ker- 
_ hels pale red, long, soft, ovate, humped, pointed; germ gmall; crease midwide 
_ to wide, shallow to middeep; cheeks angular; brush midsized, midlong. 
History.—¥retes was introduced into the United States from El Outaya, 
| Constantine, Algeria, in 1901 (197, S. P. I. No. 7582) by David Fairchild 
and C. S. Scofield, of the United States Department of Agriculture. It is ex- 
_ tensively grown in the oases of the Sahara Desert and is sown in November. 
