DISTRIBUTION OF WHEAT IN THE UNITED STATES d 
those containing usable information were edited and the data com- 
piled so that all synonymous names were eliminated and the varieties 
presented under the proper registered name. The identity of the 
misnamed varieties was determined, partly by the tabular description 
of the varieties on the schedules and partly by local varietal names 
heretofore identified. In 1919 more than a thousand letters were 
written to the correspondents requesting samples and additional 
information regarding unknown varieties. About 400 samples were 
received and identified. 
The schedules reported the estimated percentage of the total wheat 
area that each variety occupied in the locality. These percentages 
were averaged by counties. The average percentage in each county 
was then multiplied by the acreage of wheat in the county reported 
by the United States census. The computed acreages of each variety 
were summarized and used in determining the percentage of the 
wheat acreage that each variety occupied in each State and in the 
United States. The estimated acreages of all varieties in each com- 
mercial class were added to determine the class acreage. For the 
year 1919, acreages here used are from preliminary reports of the 
Fourteenth Census, which totaled 72,901,632 acres. This was done 
in order to hasten the publication of Department Bulletin No. 1074, 
Classification of American Wheat Varieties, 1 where the 1919 results 
were first published. Acreages in 1924 are based on final reports of 
the agricultural census for that year. 
It was found, upon examination of the computed data from coun- 
ties in which the wheat varieties were well known, that average 
percentages from 10 or more schedules usually gave accurate informa- 
tion. Individual county data from counties having less than 10 
reports ofteu are somewhat inaccurate. The errors in reporting the 
relative importance of varieties are compensating, however, so it 
is felt that the acreages of varieties by States and in the United 
States are fairly accurate. The acreages and percentages of the vari- 
eties by counties are not given because of their probable inaccuracies. 
The number of reports used in computing the varietal distribu- 
tions is shown for the individual States in Table 1. In 1919, 18,539 
reports were used in the computation, but in 1924 only 6,490 usable 
reports were received. This decrease doubtless was due both to 
the decreased acreage of wheat and to a lessened interest in making 
out such reports in the postwar period. 
Reports were not received from all counties in which wheat was 
grown. Some correspondents failed to report varieties totaling 100 
per cent of the acreage or simply listed a certain percentage of " other 
varieties." Other correspondents reported varieties under local names 
that could not be identified. The acreage of wheat not accounted 
for, owing to the above-mentioned discrepancies, is listed in the tables 
as " others and not reported.' 7 
In order to make the data for 1924 more complete, estimates were 
made by the writers for all counties containing more than 500 acres 
of wheat from which no report was received, on the basis of the 1919 
reports from the same counties and the 1924 reports from adjacent 
counties. 
1 Clark, J. A., Martin, J. H., and Ball, C. R. classification of American wheat varieties. U.S. 
Dept. Agr. Bui. 1074, 238 p., illus. 1922. 
