382 Plant Physiology 



iently treated here for special emphasis. It is now estab- 

 lished beyond reasonable doubt that the quality of seeds 

 will be modified in a single generation by the climate and 

 cultural conditions under which the crop has been grown. 

 This may have no reference whatsoever to the special 

 factors influencing curing, storage, and the like. For a 

 long time it has been clearly recognized that if early corn, 

 notably sweet corn, is grown from the same seed at points 

 North and South, there will result differences in the quality 

 of the seed produced, so far as earliness is concerned, so 

 that if seed from the two regions are sown side by side, that 

 from the North will mature earlier. 



It is possible that in an indirect way the differences may 

 be in some cases ultimately referred to maturity; yet 

 these effects must be regarded, at present, as the imme- 

 diate effects of the environment. Many data respecting 

 the rapidity of the changes which may be induced under 

 different cultural and climatic conditions have been given in 

 agricultural literature. The table on page 340, from Lyon, 

 exhibits results with a variety of wheat grown several 

 years in different localities (with, of course, some oppor- 

 tunity for selection) and finally in adjacent plots in Ne- 

 braska, - - these being strains which were, " without 

 doubt, originally the same." 



The facts developed regarding corn are also true when 

 applied to spring wheat and oats, for it is agreed that in 

 planting spring wheat, seed obtained from farther north 

 will ripen earlier and give better yield, as well as quality, 

 than seed of the same strain introduced from a point 

 farther south. In the case of winter wheats, however, the 

 facts seem thoroughly to substantiate the general belief 



