ii6 



MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMLNT STATION. I903. 



6315. Blue Stem Wheat. This was also obtained from 

 Professor Hays. It was grown in Minnesota from seed intro- 

 duced over 20 years before from North Dakota. This is one of 

 the superior hard wheats of Minnesota. A crop from this seed 

 was grown by John H. W^ark of Washburn, from which sample 

 6435 ^v^s selected. 



A considerable amount of grain of the two varieties last named 

 which had been purchased by Mr. Phair for seed remained 

 unsold and was ground at Mr. Phair's mill at Washburn. At 

 the same time samples of grain grown in Aroostook county from 

 this seed were also ground. Opportunity was thus furnished for 

 comparing not only the wheats themselves but the resulting 

 flours. 



Fig. 53. BLUE STEM WHEAT, SHOWING CHANGES IX SIZE AND SHAPE OF 



KERNEL BY CHANGE OF CLIMATE. 



6315. Parent, Minnesota grown. 6435. Progeny, Maine grrown. 



The tables on page 117 contain the results of the analyses 

 of these grains. An examination of the first column of the 

 table on the top of the following page shows an increase 

 in the w^eight of the kernel in each case. With the Fife 

 and Blue Stem the increase was very large (see accompanying 

 illustrations), amounting to nearly 50 per cent of the seed, while 

 the weight of the Lamona kernel (already very heavy) remained 

 practically unchanged. The latter, however, showed a very 

 marked decrease in protein, amounting to 21 per cent of the 

 original. The Fife also suffered a small loss of protein, while 

 the Blue Stem made a slight gain, too small to be of any signifi- 

 cance. All the wheats exhibited a remarkable agreement in the 

 heats of combustion. 



