Bonanza Years


the Russian wheats, 60,000 bushels were produced, while only
five years later 20 million bushels were grown. The United States
has progressed nationally from the production of only soft wheats
to the production of three different classes of hard wheats as the
basis of milling and export wheats. The resulting interest in the
study of wheats ushered in a period of research and of the appli-
cation of the laws of Mendelian inheritance which led to signifi-
cant results from 1901 to 1930.
 The acreage in Turkey wheat, a term applied to Kharkov and
many other synonyms, in 1939 amounted to 12,637,403 acres, or
19.77 per cent of the total national wheat acreage. However, these
figures include neither related wheats, nor selections developed
from this class of wheats, nor the durum wheats. Probably a third
of the wheat acreage in 1939 was sown to varieties traceable to
Carleton's introductions.
 The estimated durum wheat acreage in 1939 was 3,372,405
acres, mainly in North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Minne-
sota. The Kubanka estimated acreage in 1929 was 724,864 acres
and in 1939, 431,630 acres. The acreage of durum varieties is
expanded in dry years. About one-third of this wheat is used in
macaroni and related products and some is exported.
 Other Wheat Introductions-New wheat varieties have been
brought to the farmer in various ways, and it would be a mistake
to leave the impression that wheat improvement was due almost
entirely to introductions by the Department of Agriculture.
Experiments in Canada paralleled those in the United States. Dr.
William Saunders and his sons, Drs. A. P. and Charles E. Saunders,
working at the Central (Dominion) station and at several sub-
stations, began crossing wheats in 1888. They developed the
Huron, Preston, and Stanley varieties, and in 1892, the famous
Marquis hard red spring wheat. All of these came to be grown
commercially in the United States. The seed filtered across the
border or came in as commercial shipments of grain.
 William J. Farrer, in New South Wales, Australia, worked to
breed varieties from 1886 to 1906, and many of his varieties now
are grown commercially in America. The various Federal and
state experiment stations worked at hybridizing wheat varieties.
Consular officials continued to bring in plants from abroad.
Immigrants brought their favorite plants from the Old World,
and individual farmers and seedsmen were breeding and selecting
varieties. Frequently, varieties have humble beginnings without