Middletown transcript., 1917-08-11
VARIETIES OF WHEAT
Often a Determining Factor in Sc
curing a Good Yield
MIRACLE AND PROLIFIC BEST


The variety of wheat is often deter
mining factor in securing high yield
OF. grain. 1t is important to select va
rieties of good milling quality, that
stand up well, that are most resistant
to disease and that yield heavily. More
than one hundred varieties have been
tested at the Experiment Station during
the past nine years. In general the
boarded varieties have made better
Yields than the smooth. There are
some smooth wheats which produce ex-
cellent yields, yet one year with another
the bearded sorts are more dependable
than the smooth. 1t appears from the
experiments conducted at the Station
that the bearded varieties yield better
on poor soil and under unfavorable con-
ditions of seeding. A comparison of the
average yield of twenty smooth with
twenty bearded shows difference of 5
bushels per acre in the favor OF the
bearded. Of the ten highest yielding
varieties during the past eight years
eight have been bearded. The ten low
est yielding varieties were smooth.
Of the bearded varieties the following
are recommended: Gypsy, Red Wonder,
Miracle, Rudy, Lehigh and Mediterra-
mean. Of the smooth varieties: Leaps
Prolific and Poole.
During the past four years the yarle'
ties. Miracle and Leaps Prolific have
been among the most promising the
Station has tried. The Leaps Prolific
is a smooth wheat with long stiff straw,
with a firm hard berry. 1t has yielded
as we'll as any of our bearded varieties
This variety seems to be especially
adopted to the lighter soils of the State
Doubtless may Delaware farmers are
growing wheat of inferior or poorly
adapted varieties, or some OF the better
varieties that are badly mixed and thru
careless handling have become inferior.
Contrary to popular opinion wheat does
not run down when the same STRAIN Is
grown on the same farm for many years.
Home grown, clean seed OF suitable
variety is better than seed wheat
brought in from great distance. The
condition known as running out" i
caused by neglecting to fan out broken
and inferior kennels. If the wheat !:
kept clean it will continue to produce
standard Yields of uniform wheat. Tha
the farmer may often profit by the IN
PRODUCTION of a better variety is shown
bv number of cooperative tests cor
Quoted by this Station with farmers dur
ing the year 1918. In this case sufhclen
seed wheat of two varieties to sow one
half acre each was furnished to farmers
to sow along in the field with their owl
stock of seed wheat. At harvest tim
these two one-half acre plots We're Gu
and threshed separately. In one cas-
the owners variety produced Is bushels
per acre. One of the new varieties
produced % and the other rs bushel:
ner acre. Several other farmers hat
equally as large a difference between
their varieties as the ones introduced
The difference in yields in this cas-
would easily pay for the cost of growing
a crop Of wheat
Every farmer who is not satisfied wit
the wheat he is now growing should IT,
some of the varieties mentioned abov
or write to the Department of Agron
omy. Delaware Experiment Station.
A. E. Grantham, Agronomist,
Delaware Experiment Station,
Newark, Delaware.