CLASSIFICATION OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 107 
A wheat known locally as Lars Peterson grows fairly well in high altitudes 
under dry-farming conditions. County agents think it fairly promising for 
dry-land cultivation.'^ 
Peterson wheat has been planted in this section of the country for the 
past 25 years, but of late Bluestem spring wheat has been planted more 
extensively." 
Distribution. — Grown in Navajo County, Ariz. 
ODESSA. 
Description. — Plant winter habit, late, midtall to tall; stem usually white, 
midstrong ; spike awnless, fusiform, middense to lax, inclined ; glumes glabrous, 
brown, long, midwide, shoulders midwide, usually oblique to square, sometimes 
elevated; beaks usually wide, obtuse, 1 mm. long; apical awns several, those 
below apex strongly incurved or recurved, 5 to 20 mm. long; kernels red, mid- 
long, soft, ovate to elliptical; germ small; crease midwide, middeep; cheeks 
usually rounded; brush small, midlong to long. 
Odessa is very winter hardy. It is distinguished from other varieties in 
this group by its late maturity and its slender fusiform spike. Different 
strains of Odessa vary widely, due in part to natural field hybridization. 
Several white-kerneled strains have been selected from these natural hybrids, 
one of which appears to be immune to bunt. Because of its winter resistance, 
it often is used as one parent for crosses in breeding for greater winter resist- 
ance. Minhardi and Minturki, winter-hardy varieties developed at the Minne- 
sota Agricultural Experiment Station, are the result of a cross between Odessa 
and Turkey. Spikes, glumes, and kernels of Odessa wheat are shown in 
Plate XXVI, B. 
History. — According to Carleton (58, p. 53) Odessa is of Russian origin. 
Several introductions have been made. The variety was grown in Minnesota as 
early as 1865: 
The Odessa wheat is one of the importations of the United States Department 
of Agriculture that is coming into notice and favor. It was started, says the 
Lake City (Minn.) Leader, by Porter Martin, of Dakota County, four years ago, 
from a small package of seed sent him by Hon. Ignatius Donnelly and has 
been grown exclusively on his farm till this year, for the purpose of giving it 
a reliable test (5, p. 238). 
The variety was included among a number of wheats obtained by the Minne- 
sota Agricultural Experiment Station in 1893 and 1894 from American consuls 
and from seed dealers in Russia (lOO, p. 40). It is evident, however, that the 
variety was quite widely grown in the United States before that time. A 
variety known as Odessa was grown by the Wisconsin College of Agriculture 
in 1875 (12). A sample of Odessa wheat obtained from the Black Sea region 
was grown by the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station in 1879 (^6, 
p. 40). It also was reported to have been grown in Utah for 40 years, having 
been taken there from the Eastern States by Mormon settlers, and in Cali- 
fornia in the seventies and eighties, because of its resistance to rust in the 
coastal areas. 
Distribution. — Grown in California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, 
Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. A 
map showing the distribution of Odessa wheat is presented as Figure 40. 
Synomfm. — Grass. This was reported as a synonym for Odessa by Tracy 
in 1880 {195, p. 896). A sample of Grass wheat nearly identical with Odessa 
was obtained from W. B. Bass, of Stevensville, Mont, in 1918, who states that 
" Letter of Prof. W. E. Bryan, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.. Mar. 31, 1917. 
^5 Varietal Survey, Report of James L. Hall, Plnedale, Navajo County, Ariz., 1919. 
