Mennonites brought Turkey Hard Red Winter Wheat and carefully selected its seeds, often kernel by kernel, frequently by grandparents and sometimes with the help of children. Many Mennonite families here and in surrounding communities, amid great difficulty, planted a few acres of this seed in the fall of 1874. In time, producing and milling hard winter wheat became a major source of wealth in Kansas, and the state came to be known as the "Bread Basket of the Nation." Today Turkey Hard Red Winter Wheat remains available largely as the parent of numerous improved varieties. In addition to wheat, Mennonites brought many garden, flower, fruit, and field seeds, including beets, beans, carrots, lettuce, peas, poppy seed, watermelon, apricot, peach, pear, oats, barley, rye, and others. Coming mostly as tillers of the soil, they were honest, frugal, resourceful, industrious, and persevering, and they helped turn the virgin prairie into productive farms and communities.