UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 450 4 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
S&f < &J m U 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
JUT^Ult 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
December 4, 1916 
IMPROVEMENT OF GHIRKA SPRING WHEAT IN 
YIELD AND QUALITY. 
By J. Allen Clark, 
Scientific Assistant in Western Wheat . Investigations, Office of Cereal Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 1 
History and description of Ghirka Spring 
wheat 2 
Experiments 3 
Comparative yields 3 
Page. 
E xper iments — Continued . 
Summary of yields 8 
Milling and baking quality 9 
Improvement by selection 12 
Conclusions is 
INTRODUCTION. 
A demand for hardier and more drought-resistant wheats was 
created with the progress of settlement of the drier portions of the 
Great Plains area. In response to this demand, the United States 
Department of Agriculture began about 1898 to improve the wheat 
crop of that area by the introduction from eastern and southern Russia 
of varieties which were thought to possess hardiness and drought 
resistance. To determine the value of these varieties they were 
tested at agricultural experiment stations in different localities in the 
Great Plains area. The principal economic result of this work was the 
introduction of Kharkof winter wheat and Kubanka durum wheat. 1 
Some of the other varieties obtained were found of value for dry- 
land areas. Among them was the Ghirka Spring wheat, which was 
both productive and drought resistant, but comparatively low in 
milling value. Its improvement in yield and quality is the subject 
of the present paper. 
1 Carleton, M. A. Hard wheats winning their way. In XJ. 
fig. 22-25, pi. 35-41. 1915. 
60143°— 16 1 
Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1914, p. 391-420, 
