INCREASED CROP PRODUCTION in 



fields bent or kinked at this point. The Goldthorpe 

 variety tends to kink right up in the neck, near the 

 head, and thus suffers considerable loss through 

 breaking off at the head. 



The problem of strength of the straw is one of the 

 most important before us to-day. It is not wholly a 

 matter of manuring. Nitrogenous manures tend to 

 increase lodging, but this does not necessarily mean 

 that they weaken the stem ; in point of fact, they 

 increase the size of the head and of the leaf, i.e. the 

 weight the stem has to carry. Lack of potash, on the 

 other hand, undoubtedly weakens the stem. Some 

 soil factor appears to be concerned, for stems are 

 much more rigid on some soils than on others. So 

 far no very definite anatomical difference has been 

 observed between the strong and the weak stems. 

 The length of the internodes has something to do 

 with it, long internodes on the whole tending to 

 weaken the straw. Possibly also a physiological 

 factor such as turgor is concerned. Until we can 

 increase the strength of our cereal stems I see very 

 little chance of greatly increasing our yields. 



A further important problem requiring investiga- 

 tion is the formation of grain. There is some factor, 

 soil or climatic, or both, that determines whether a 

 plant shall make much or little grain. On the brick 

 earths of Sussex and East Kent wheat and oats form 

 great quantities of large grain; the straw is stiff, and 

 carries heads well set with large, plump grains of 

 corn. On the other hand, the sands of Sussex and 

 the clays of the Home Counties, however highly 

 manured, do not give anything like the number of 

 grains per plant. Again, in the Fens, corn grown 

 in districts east and north of the Little Ouse, on the 

 so-called sandy fen, does not produce as much grain 

 per plant as corn grown west of the river on the clay 



