EXPERIMENTS WITH DURUM WHEAT. 3 
The writers gladly acknowledge here the effective cooperation of 
the several State experiment stations in the conduct of experiments 
and the courtesy of the directors and their associates, who have fur- 
nished data obtained independently by their stations. 
HISTORY. 
Durum wheat, though a comparatively recent immigrant in the 
United States, has long been grown extensively in other parts of 
the world. Southern Russia is the principal producing area. Large 
quantities are grown also in the Mediterranean region, especially 
in Italy, France, and Algeria. Smaller quantities are produced in 
India and in South America, particularly in Argentina and Chile. 
In Russia the crop is spring sown, but in most of the Mediterranean 
region, with its mild climate, the crop is sown in autumn. 
The first official introduction of durum wheat varieties occurred 
apparently in 1853. In that year a durum variety, called Algerian 
Flint (Browne, 1855), 1 was obtained from the Province of Oran in 
Algeria, and another, called Turkish Flint (Browne, 1855, 1856), 
from near Mount Olympus, in Asia. The Mount Olympus of modern 
maps is in European Turkey, not far from Saloniki. The Turkish 
Flint was described as a black-glumed variety. It was grown to 
some extent in various parts of the eastern United States and later 
became known as Mount Olympus and as Olympia wheat (Klippart, 
1858). In 1854 a durum variety distributed as Syrian Spring was 
obtained in Palestine (Browne, 1855), supposedly near Mount 
Carmel. It appears not to have become cultivated to any appre- 
ciable extent. In 1864 an introduction of Arnautka (Reid, 1866) 
was made, presumably from Russia, and grown in 1865 with other 
varieties on what are now the grounds of the Department of Agri- 
culture near Fourteenth Street, Washington, D. C. None of these 
introductions became established as a farm crop. 
The next recorded official introduction was made in 1899 (Carle- 
ton, 1900, p. 11), followed by still others in the next two or three 
years. These last-named introductions; from which the crop was 
really established, were made by Mr. M. A. Carleton, Cerealist of the 
United States Department of Agriculture. In 1898-1899 and 
again in 1900 he went to Russia and Siberia for the purpose of obtain- 
ing adapted cereal crops. Chief among these introductions was 
durum wheat, of several varieties, particularly Kubanka. 
Introductions of durum wheat had been made by Russian settlers 
in several States of the Great Plains area and its culture established 
locally. Additional introductions have also been made by other 
representatives of the Department of Agriculture and the State 
i Reference is made to name and date in the "Bibliography," p. 61-64. 
