Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-15
Durum Has Proved a Great
Commercial Success.
SEMI-ARID-LAND CROP
IMPORTANT WORK OF THE AGRI-
CULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
How the Wheat Belt Has Been Elk
tended Almost a Hundred
Miles Farther West.

Brief mention has been made from time
to time of the introduction of "macaroni
wheat into this country. The matter was
also referred to by the Secretary of Agri-
culture in his annual report, but the refer
ence was brief and mixed with mass or
other matter it hardly had showing. Yet
the introduction of this wheat Is now an
accomplished fact In about five years 1t
has passed from the experimental to the
commercial stage. and last year, which was
the first in which the industry could be
said to have been established, 1t added 3D.,
000,000 bushels to the wheat crop of the
country. OF this amount 100000 were ex
ported and the dealers in Europe offered an
advance of IL cents over the prices that
they had previously paid for it. Within
the past year, also, the macaroni or durum
wheat has been officially recognized by the
grain exchanges of st. Paul, Minneapolis
and Duluth, and is now listed as recog-
nized variety. Added to these facts it may
be said that it is the best drought-resist-
Ing cereal known, and it has extended the
area of wheat culture from so to 100
miles farther west into the semi-arid region
than it was safe to plant cereals before,
This is plain statement of the wheat's
history, and IT Is a very practical illustra-
ton Of some of the things that the Depart
ment of Agriculture is doing for the Ameri-
can farmer. OF course, the Introduction OF
the macaronf wheat cannot be heralded as
the biggest thing that ever happened, but
considering the small amount of money that
was spent on it's Introduction, it stands as
a very satisfactory practical achievement.
The wheat has been known in this coun-
try for about ten years and used to be
called goose wheat" in the west. The De-
partment Of Agriculture first brought 1t
p~Ny De- 1to ~, TO
it was in decidedly the experimental stage
anu attracted but little practical attention.
There was, in fact. a great deal Of preju-
dice against it on the part of many nnllers,
and there were failures In the attempts to
raise it till all of it's qualities and require
men'ts We're studied out.
Then it was found that 1t would grow
under a rainfall where no other wheat
would flourish, and in fact that where there
was water enough to raise crop at all,
the less rain there was the better the
wheat. 1t was systematically introduced
into North and South Dakota, Nebraska,
Kansas and down In the Panhandle OF
Texas. Now It is practically established
between the ninety-eighth and one. hun-
bred and fourth meridians and on the aver
age it may be said to have extended the
wheat belt seventy-five miles west. OF
course, there are some seasons when the
rainfall in the semi-desert country Is bet
ter than others and when the durum wheat
can be pushed even farther west But the
plant is not a natural miracle and 1t VIII
not make the desert blossom when 1t Is
an absolute desert. But it is still the p
oneer Of all the drought-resisting plants
and can be raised where no other grain
crop can.
Good for Bread Making.
There was at first a good deal of preju-
dice against 1t on the part Of the millers.
1t is very hard and f1inty wheat, and it
takes somewhat different milling from
binary bread -four wheat. Therefore when
it was mixed wit hthe softer bread wheat
the miller had a just cause of complaint.
However, 1t was just what the macaroni
plants wanted, and where there was ap-
paratus for milling it durum accept
ed without question. Prior to that there
had been number OF macarom plants in
this country, and they had been running on
bread flour and turning out very inferior
product because they could not get the gen
une macaroni wheat. Now, however, that
is changed, and the durum crop not only
can supply all the mills In thds country,
but there is, as has been shown, a consid-
cradle surplus for export at good prices.
At the same time, the macaroni wheat,
when properly milled, will make just as
good bread as any other Sort in fact, many
people like it better. 1t keeps fresh longer
and has higher percentage of sugar in 1t.
But, curiously enough, the durum wheat
does not do so well in the humid region
as It does in the semi arid. Neither do
any of the Mediterranean macaroni wheats
that have been imported, and all of them
have been tried, do as well In our semi
arid belt as the hard drought-resistng
grain of eastern Russia.
The durum is a bearded wheat, otherwise
It differs little in appearance while grow
ing from any of the standard varieties. 1t
has not particularly deep root, and there
is no apparent reason why it should -four
ish in a country that has not enough water
to support other grain. In fact the drought
resisting qualities of a number of plants are
confessedly mystery to agricultural
scientists, and the department Is preparing
for an extensive series of experiments to
find out the why and wherefore Of 1t and to
see whether this quality cannot be stIil
further improved. There is no difficulty in
distinguishing the grain of the durum wheat
from other sorts 1t is a longer kernel,
very fiinty and of an almost translucent
amber hue found in no other wheat.
Experiments in Farming.
The Department of Agriculture feels that
It has done very good work in pushing
the wheat belt westward, and It is now en-
gagged in a series of experiments along the
line of what is popularity known as the
"one hundredth meridian that will still
further increase the agricultural posslbil-
tiles of the region.
There are several systems of farming in
vogue One is for the farmer to take as
big an area as he can possibly seed and
farm 1t with as little labor as possible
TIE reverse is to take a much smaller area
and farm intensively, on the theory that
with moisture conservation and close cult
walton, some sort of crop will be raised
despite the weather conditions. The first
method Is not followed from shiftlessness
or to escape the labor, but on the theory
that If the crop is a failure there will be
comparatively little labor lost and If It has
a good season the returns will be propor-
tionately large from the big area Some
OF the men, especially in California follow
q different plan still. They hold twice as
much ground as they cultivate In one sea-
son. One year they plant half of it and
let the other half rest, and the next sea-
son reverse the process.
Now, the department has established fif-
teen stations from the Canadian line to
Texas In the semi-arid belt, and 1t will try
each of these methods and combine each
method with different methods of crop ro-
tation, of following, blowing under of diff
ferent green manure crops, and, in fact all
of the various sorts of farm MANAGEMENT
that can possibly be applied to the region.
1t will mean simply playing combinations
OF the various methods, and there are
great many combinations when one comes
to work out and Ind which is best suited
to the various locations.
A record viii be kept of this work. and
in the course of some years 1t will be ex-