REPORT OF TEE CHEMIST 



151 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Ratio to Total Nitrogen of Soluble Constituents and Shape of Loaf. 



Though this work must be regarded as of a preliminary character, we may safely 

 state that the present results indicate that wheat may contain an excessive amount of 

 moisture for some considerable time without its composition being very materially 

 affected, provided the temperature conditions are such that no heating or fermenta- 

 tion of the wheat takes place. 



The baking qualities of these flours are more particularly commented upon by the 

 Cerealist; the writer has merely considered them with a view of learning what rela- 

 tionship, if any, might exist between the chemical data of these damp wheats and 

 their baking strength. ' ^ 



SOILS. 



SOILS FROM THE UPPER COLUMBIA AND EASTERN KOOTENAY DISTRICTS, B.C. 



During an agricultural tour in British Columbia, in the summer of 1906, the 

 writer journeyed by wagon from Golden, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway, to Cranbrook, on the Crow's Nest Pass branch of the same railroad, a dis- 

 tance of nearly 200 miles, visiting the ranches by the way, examining the soils and 

 otherwise obtaining information respecting the agricultural possibilities of this 

 district.* 



In the course of this inspection samples of soil, more or less typical of virgin and 

 cultivated areas, were collected for further examination and analysis. The analytical 

 work has been completed during the past year, and we are, therefore, now in a position 

 to consider these soils as to the amount and availability of their plant food. It may 

 also be possible to deduce from the data certain rational and economic methods for 

 the up-keep of their fertility under general farming and fruit culture. 



The areas from which the samples were taken lie for the most part within the so- 

 called semi-dry belt of British Columbia — a region in which sage-brush and bunch- 

 grass lands largely predominate. The scanty natural vegetation, specially noticeable 

 on the higher plateaus and benches, at first sight suggests the lack of soil fertility, and 

 the appearance of much of the soil would further support this view, as it is a light, 

 very loose sandy loam of apparently very poor quality. The very luxurious growth, 

 however, that is to be noticed on these lands following the application of water (by 

 irrigation) immediately dispels this impression. It was with the object of learning 

 how far the peculiar climatic influences of the dry belt had tended to an accumulation 

 of plant food in available form that this chemical work was chiefly undertaken. 



* An account of this tour will be found in the Report of the Chemist, Experimental 

 Farms, 1906. 



