CLASSIFICATION OF AMERICAN WHEAT VARIETIES. 191 
Labouresse, at Tessala, near Sidi bel Abbes. It lias been carefully selected by 
Mr. Labouresse from year to year until a fairly pure and very vigorous stock 
has been obtained. The variety is very hardy, resistant to rust, and succeeds 
fairly well under rather droughty conditions. The grain is especially adapted 
for the manufacture of semolina. In the Province of Oran the wheat is sown 
in November and ripens in June, but it might succeed as a spring wheat in the 
spring-wheat region of the northern United States. 
In experiments in the United States Marouani wheat proved best adapted to 
the central and southern Great Plains. 
Distribution. — Marouani has been distributed from the Hays Branch Station, 
Hays, Kans., and the Amarillo Field Station, Amarillo, Tex. The extent of its 
present distribution is not known, as it was not reported in the varietal surv'ey. 
VELVET DON. 
Description. — Plant spring habit, midseason, midtall ; stem white, midstrong ; 
spike awned, fusiform, middense, inclined; glumes pubescent, white, midlong, 
midwide ; shoulders narrow, oblique to elevated ; beaks wide, 1 to 1.5 mm, long ; 
awns black, 6 to 15 cm. long; kernels usually white (amber) midlong to long, 
hard, ovate to elliptical, humped ; germ midsized ; crease midwide, shallow to 
middeep ; cheeks angular ; brush midsized, short. 
Velvet Don as originally introduced was a mixture as to kernel color, a 
considerable percentage of red kernels being present. It has sometimes been 
described as a red-kerneled variety. That which is grown now, however, is 
usually white kerneled. 
History. — Velvet Don {191', S, P. I, No. 5644) was introduced from Ambro- 
cievka, 20 miles northeast of Taganrog, in the Don Territory, Russia, in 1900, 
by M. A. Carleton, for the United States Department of Agriculture. Experi- 
ments with Velvet Don in the L^nited States have proved it to be only a medi- 
ocre yielder, and it now is largely discontinued in experiments. 
Distribution. — Seed of the variety was distributed by the Department at 
various times in the early nineties and the variety is commercially grown to a 
limited extent in Montana and Nebraska. 
GOLDEN BALL. 
Description. — Plant spring habit, midseason, short to midtall; stem white, 
midstrong; spike awned, oblong-fusiform, dense, inclined; glumes pubescent, 
white, midlong, midwide ; shoulders narrow, oblique to elevated ; beaks 1 to 5 
mm. long ; awns black, 5 to 18 cm. long ; kernels white, long, hard, ovate, 
humped; germ large; crease midwide, shallow to middeep; cheeks angular; 
brush small, short. 
History.— Goiaen Ball {197, S. P. I. No. 46766) was introduced by the United 
States Department of Agriculture in 1918, from Johannesburg, South Africa. 
The seed was purchased through J. Burtt Davy from the Agricultural Supply 
Association. Three previous introductions of wheat under the name of Golden 
Ball had been made by the department from South Africa. These wheats all 
resemble this introduction, except that they had red instead of white kernels. 
The Golden Ball is reported to be extensively gro^^^l in South Africa and is 
recognized as a valuable drought-resistant and rust-resistant variety. 
Distribution. — Seed of the introduction discussed above has been distributed 
to field stations of the Office of Cereal Investigations in the northern Great 
Plains and Pacific Northwest. It is not grown commercially. 
