MILUXG AXD BAKIXG EXPERIMENTS. 
29 
THE DURUM WHEATS. 7 
The commercial class of wheat known as durum and defined in the 
official grain standards of the United States as including all varie- 
ties of durum wheats is grown in almost the same region as hard red 
spring wheat. The States leading in its production are North Da- 
kota. South Dakota, and Montana. The area of heaviest production 
of durum wheat is just west of the Red River Valley in North 
Dakota. About 4.000,000 acres of durum wheat have been grown 
annually in the United States for several years. In 1919, as shown 
in Tabfe 26. the acreage exceeded 4,000,000 acres. This comprises 
about one-sixteenth of the total wheat acreage of the United States. 
The distribution of durum wheat in 1919 is shown in Figure 4. 
Durum wheat usually yields more per acre than hard red spring 
wheat in this northern spring- wheat region because of its greater 
resistance to drought and to black stem rust. Much of the durum 
wheat is ground into a granular semolina, from which macaroni, 
spaghetti, and other alimentary pastes are made. Some durum 
wheat, however, is blended with "other classes of wheat in the manu- 
facture of bread-making flours. Very little, if any, bread is made 
from durum wheat flour alone in this country. The results of 
milling and baking experiments with durum wheat varieties re- 
corded in this bulletin will be of value principally for use in blend- 
ing, as these data have little or no relation to the value of durum 
wheat for the manufacture of macaroni and other edible pastes. 
Table 26. — Estimated acreage of durum wheat, 1919. 
State. 
Acres. 
State. 
Acres. 
North Dakota 
2.707,400 
• 88,700 
281,608 
206, 100 
148,200 
137,300 
44,900 
Kansas 
Texas 
43,200 
40,800 
15.400 
57,200 
Montana 
Nebraska 
Colorado 
1 Iowa 
j Other 
4.370,800 
Wyoming 
Twelve varieties of durum wheat are grown commercially in the 
United States. The leading varieties are Arnautka and Kubanka. 
In recent years the Kubanka has become widely grown, and as it is 
the variety best adapted to all of the varying conditions in the durum- 
wheat producing sections, it is used as the basis for comparison of 
other durum varieties discussed in this bulletin. 
Milling and baking experiments have been conducted with most of 
the commercially grown varieties of durum wheat. Five or more 
tests have been made of 10 of the varieties. Two additional varieties 
which have been grown experimentally, but not commercially, have 
been tested. A summary of the results of experiments on the milling 
and baking samples of durum wheat varieties is shown in Table 27. 
The States from which the samples were obtained are shown in 
Table 28. 
As in the case of the hard red spring wheat varieties, a number of 
the samples of many of the varieties of the durum class have been 
' For more complete information concerning the varieties and adaptation of Durum 
wheat, see (lark. J. Allen. Martin. John II.. and Smith. Ralph W. : Varietal Experiments 
with Spring Wheat on the Northern Great Plains. V. S. Dept Agr. Bui. 878, 1920, and 
('lark. J. Allen, and Martin, John II. : The Durum Wheats, U. S. Dept. Agr., Fanners' 
Bui. 1304. 
