192 BULLETIN 1074, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 
KAHLA. 
Description. — 'Plant spring habit, midseason, tall; stem white, midstrong; 
spike awned, oblong-fusiform, middense, nodding; glumes finely pubescent, 
black, midlong, midwide ; shoulders narrow, usually oblique ; beaks wide, 1 to 2 
mm. long; awns black, 6 to 16 cm. long; kernels white (amber) midlong to 
long, hard, elliptical, humped : germ midsized ; crease midwide, middeep ; cheeks 
angular; brush midsized, short. 
A spike, glumes, and kernels of Kahla are shown in Plate LVI, B. 
History. — The Kahla variety {197, S. P. I. No. 7794) was introduced in 1901 
by Messrs. D. G. Fairchild and C. S. Scofleld, from Setif, Constantine Province, 
Algeria, for the United States Department of Agriculture. Concerning the 
variety they recorded the following information : 
This is one of the wheats commonly grown by Arabs throughout Algeria. As 
the name Kahla signifies, this is a black-chaffed sort. It is generally considered 
to be one of the best of the Algerian wheats for adaptability to a wide variety 
of adverse conditions. When such are favorable it produces grain of excellent 
quality for macaroni manufacture. Under certain favorable climatic conditions 
the chaff loses color somewhat, but under native culture on the gravelly hills of 
Algeria or in the semiarid plains the purple-black of the chaff is a striking 
feature. This seed is furnished the department by Mr. G. Ryf, manager of the 
Geneva Society of Setif. Commonly planted in November or December and 
harvested in June or July. 
Experiments with Kahla wheat showed it to be a fairly good yielding variety, 
but not superior to Kubanka. 
Distribution. — After being grown in experiments for a series of years in many 
sections of the northern Great Plains, its culture largely has been discontinued. 
Small lots are known to have been distributed, however, and apparently the 
wheat has become established on farms, especially in Montana, North Dakota, 
and South Dakota, and known by various names. 
Synonyms. — Black Don, Black Durum, Black Emmett, Black Swamp, Purple 
Durum, Red Swamp, and Sloat. 
Black Don {197, S. P. I. No. 5645) is a wheat similar to Kahla except that 
(like Velvet Don) it usually is mixed in kernel color, a considerable percentage 
of red kernels being present. The variety is of Russian origin. It was intro- 
duced in 1900, from Ambrocievka, 20 miles northeast of Taganrog, in the Don 
Territory, Russia, by M. A. Carleton for the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. In experiments in the United States this variety did not prove superior 
to Kubanka and it now largely has been discontinued. It is possible, however, 
that this variety may be commercially grown. 
Black Durum is the name under which wheat similar to Kahla is commer- 
cially grown in Montana. Its distribution apparently started from Fergus 
County. Black Emmett is the name commonly used for a wheat, apparently 
similar to Kahla, in North Dakota, the distribution of which apparently started 
in Hettinger County. Purple Durum is a name used for Kahla in Wyoming. 
Black Swamp and Red Swamp are names under which a wheat practi- 
cally identical with Kahla was obtained from' Morrow County, Oreg., where it 
is grown to a very small extent. Sloat descended from a head selection made 
by Sloat Bros., of Gettysburg, S. Dak. They state that a single head of black- 
chaff wheat was found in a commercial field of Kubanka, and from this origi- 
nated the wheat they have been growing and distributing as Sloat. This strain 
apparently is identical with Kahla. Its distribution dates from 1917. 
