The Paonia newspaper., 1911-05-05
WHEAT ON DRY FARM
BlueStem and Fife Varieties of
Hard Spring Unsafe.
0urum, introduced From Southeastern
Russia Where Rainfall Is Light,
Adapted to Climate of West
tern Plains Area.

territory the bluestem and fife varie-
ties of hard spring wheats are very
unsafe crops Where bread wheats
can be grown, the Red Fife. selected
strains known as Johnson's Fife.
Golden Fife. etc, are. good yielders
and the berry is usually plump and
hard. The millers. however. have
placed these varieties in a market
class designated as velvet chaff, and
the price is a few cents lower per
bushel than the bluestem varieties
bring. These latter include both
bearded and bald types. writes Man
ley Champlin In the Farmer and
Breeder. The variety known as pedi-
greed bluestem has given good re-
suits at the Highmore Substation as
reported in Bulletin lis of the South
Dakota Experiment station. This sta
ton is situated near the eastern bor-
der of the dry farming belt
Very little winter wheat is grown
at present, but its early ripening and
good quality and yield OF grain are
interesting many of the progressive
farmers who have obtained some very
good results. The Minnesota station
advises its use only sparingly. Five
acres is considered enough to start
with. If II proves to be well suited
to your conditions the acreage can be
increased. There is danger of winter
killing. and too much dependence
should not be placed on this crop.
Turkey Red and Kharkov are the COM
mercial varieties grown.
Wbara brad ,.-boat L. ,rou-r, NTH
difficulty. Nature comes to the res
cue with the hard macaroni or durum
wheats. Until very recently there was
difficulty In marketing this class of
wheat and even today the price is 10
to 20 per cent lower for hard
spring wheats of the bread varieties.
This fact is probably due to the Amer
ican love OF white bread The durum
wheat -four makes a palatable. nutri-
tious bread. but the yellow color has
been inveighed against by fastidious
custom. Bulletin No. 3 of the bureau
of plant industry gives an interesting
history OF the trials the durum wheat
grower has had to overcome. as well
as advice as to how to plant. etc.
These wheats were introduced from
fall is light and the changes OF tenn
perature severe. They are. therefore.
adapted to the climate of the western
plains ara.
In describing the characteristics OF
caroni or durum wheat Mr.. NJ. A.
Carlton says in the above mentioned
bulletin: The wheats of this group
grow rather tall and have stems that
are either pithy within or hollow. d.
The leaves are usually broad and
smooth. but have a peculiar whitish
green color and possess anfextremely
harsh cuticle The heads are COM
paratively slender In most varieties,
compactly formed. occasionally very
short. and are always bearded with
the longest boards known to wheat"
The peculiar ability of the durum
changes OF temperature as well as
their early ripening qualities and high
yielding capacity make them espe-
cially fitted for the needs of the dry
farmer. Here is money crop of
which he is practically sure. The
yields vary from 10 to 35 bushels per
acre. The Kubanka and Arnautka va
rieties have given the best results IN
this section.
Emmer is widely grown as a sub
stitute feed grain where oats are an
uncertain crop. II has not the feed
ing value OF oats. but when ground
makes fairly good feed for any farm