no BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



But I am not at all pessimistic about the future. It 

 is possible to define the factors which at present limit 

 our yields and keep them down. If it appears that 

 they can be controlled, we can to that extent push our 

 yields up even in the best years. 



One of these limiting factors is strength of stem. 

 When a wheat crop is manured it increases in amount, 

 but the stem does not become proportionately stronger. 

 After a time the head and leaf become too heavy for 

 the stem, and the crop sooner or later falls down ; 

 in the farmer's language it is 'Maid' or " lodged ". 

 Laid corn is very difficult to harvest, and it is apt to 

 be spoiled before it can be got in. It represents the 

 limit beyond which the farmer cannot go in manuring 

 his crops. The 32-bushel average for the wheat crop, 

 which we have long attained, and which no country 

 much exceeds, is mainly determined in this country 

 by the fact that most farmers fear to go higher be- 

 cause of the danger of " lodging". Excellent ex- 

 amples of "lodged' crops can be seen in the Fen 

 country almost every year. 



In the case of barley, the phenomena have been 

 well described by Mr. Beaven. 1 "When barley goes 

 down just as the grain is ripening off, the whole plant 

 often leans from the crown of the roots, which is 

 generally about half an inch under the surface. This 

 can hardly happen without the roots being to some 

 extent loosened, and therefore probably depends on 

 the condition of the soil or the strength of the roots. 

 Whether or not the Archer type of barley is the more 

 strongly rooted, it will be generally agreed that the 

 Archer barley does not go down at this stage as 

 easily as the Chevallier." Besides this general fall, 

 barley seems to be specially weak in the top node or 

 knot in the stem: it is not uncommon to see whole 



1 /. Farmers Club, December, 1905, 



