EXPEKIMENTS WITH MAEQUIS WHEAT. 3 
Marquis. Its high bread-making strength and color of flour were demonstrated in 
the tests made at Ottawa in the early months of 1907, and all the surplus seed was at 
once sent to the Indian Head Experimental Farm for propagation. 
It will be clearly seen from the above account that the question, "When was Mar- 
quis wheat originated?" can never be answered. It came' into existence probably 
at Ottawa between the years 1895 and 1902. It remained, however, mixed with other 
related sorts until discovered by the writer in 1903. It was first grown in a pure 
state in 1904, when a few seeds were sown in a sheltered garden on the Central Ex- 
perimental Farm. Even then, however, its fine qualities were only partly known, 
and it was not until the cerealist's baking tests of 1907 were completed that he de- 
cided to send out this wheat for trial in Saskatchewan. Its success in the prairie 
country was phenomenal. 
EXPERIMENTS IN WESTERN CANADA. 
Marquis wheat was first sent to the Prairie Provinces of Canada 
in the spring of 1907. The report states that it immediately won a 
phenomenal success. This success was not due to any lack of able 
competitors. 
For nearly two decades previous to 1907 the Red Fife had been 
the most popular and highest yielding wheat grown in the Prairie 
Provinces of Canada. It had been grown in a varietal test at the 
Indian Head Experimental Farm in Saskatchewan continuously since 
1888. Within this 18-year period, 98 other varieties were compared 
with the Eed Fife. Only two of these, the White Fife and Red 
Fern, were grown throughout the entire 18 years. The average 
acre yield of the Red Fife during this period was 37.6 bushels. It 
outyielded both other varieties, though the average acre yield of the 
White Fife was 36.4 bushels. 
At the Brandon Experimental Farm in Manitoba, the Red Fife 
was grown continuously for 17 years, 1890 to 1906, inclusive. Dur- 
ing all or varying parts of this period, 85 other varieties and strains 
were compared with it. Only five others were grown throughout 
the 17 years. The Red Fife, with a 17-year average acre yield of 
33.7 bushels, outyielded all the others except one. This one was the 
White Fife, with an average acre yield of 34.2 bushels. 
These data show the Red Fife and White Fife to be good varieties 
and that any variety outyielding them must possess real merit. 
Marquis wheat was introduced into experiments at Indian Head, 
Saskatchewan, in 1907; at Brandon, Manitoba, and Lethbridge, 
Alberta, in 1908; and at Rosthern, Saskatchewan, in 1911. Table I 
shows the yield of the Marquis and Red Fife varieties at these stations 
from the year of introduction to 1914 and the average yield of each 
in the period during which they were grown. These data have been 
taken from the published annual reports of the Canadian experi- 
mental farms. 
