2 BULLETIN 450, IT. S. DEPAKTMEXT OP AGRICULTURE. 
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF GHIRKA SPRING WHEAT. 
The Ghirka Spring is the principal variety of beardless red spring 
wheat grown in Russia, particularly in southern Russia and the 
Volga River district. It forms a large part of the wheat exported 
from Russia. 1 This wheat has been introduced into this country 
several times. During the period from 1898 to 1904, inclusive, eight 
lots were obtained by the Office of Cereal Investigations of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. These lots are recorded as Cereal 
Investigations Nos. 1046, 1047, 1051, 1192, 1517, 1534, 2644, and 
2646. 
Other importations of this variety of wheat have been made by 
Russian immigrants. Joseph Dukart, who settled at New England, 
N. Dak., brought a 2-pound lot from Russia in 1905. From the 
Fig. 1.— Heads of eight varieties of wheat grown at the Dickinson substation: (1) Kubanka durum; 
(2) Arnautka durum; (3) Preston; (4) Ghirka Spring; (5) Eysting Fife; (6) Marquis; (7) Crossbred 
Bluestem; and (8) Haynes Bluestem. 
increase of this, several thousand acres are now grown annually in 
western North Dakota as " Russian'' wheat. So far, however, the 
variety has never become commercially important in this country, 
though its acreage may be expected to increase. 
The Ghirka Spring wheat has been placed in the Fife group of 
spring common wheat by most writers, as its characters are essen- 
tially the same as those of the varieties of that group (fig. 1). It dif- 
fers from the Red Fife varieties in that it is earlier, has pubescent 
leaves, and the spike is a little more slender and distinctly more 
tapering at the tip. The kernel is slightly longer, a paler red, and a 
little softer. 
1 Carleton, M. A. Triticum vulgare.- Ghirka. In U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 66 (Seeds 
and plants imported), no. 6002. 1905. 
