UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 357 
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Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
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Washington, D. C. 
April 27, 1916 
ALASKA AND STONER, OR "MIRACLE," WHEATS: 
TWO VARIETIES MUCH MISREPRESENTED. 
By Caeleton R. Ball, Agronomist in Charge of Western Wheat Investigations, 
and Clyde E. Leighty, Agronomist in Charge of Eastern Wheat Investiga- 
tions. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction 1 
Alaska wheat 2 
Description 2 
Early history. . . ., .3 
Recent exploitation 6 
Yields 9 
Milling tests 11 
Stoner, or "Miracle," wheat - 14 
Description 15 
History 15 
Exploitation in Philadelphia 17 
Promoting "Miracle" wheat in 
Chicago 18 
Promoting "Marvelous" wheat in 
Indiana 18 
Promoting "Miracle" wheat in 
Brooklyn 18 
The Stoner Seed Wheat Company.. 18 
Page. 
Stoner, or " Miracle," wheat — Continued. 
Experimental data 19 
Yields in comparison with other 
varieties 19 
Tests at the Maryland Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station 19 
Tests at Arlington Farm 20 
Tests at Nephi, Utah 21 
Rate-of-seeding tests 22 
Tillering power 24 
General tests by State experiment 
stations 25 
Tests in Kentucky 25 
Tests in Pennsylvania 26 
Tests in Indiana 27 
Conclusions. 27 
INTRODUCTION. 
There are many named varieties of wheat and other cereal crops. 
New varieties and new names for old varieties are appearing con- 
stantly. Many of these new varieties, or so-called varieties, are good ; 
some are not. The good varieties are sometimes advertised as being 
much better than they really are. Varieties of little value sometimes 
are claimed to be the best of all. 
There are various ways by which the promoters of supposed new 
varieties interest their customers. Sometimes it is a story of wheat 
of mysterious or foreign origin ; sometimes it is a new or unusually 
developed character that is claimed. Examples of this are the enor- 
mous tillering power claimed for the so-called Miracle wheat or the 
23342°— Bull. 357—16 1 
