1G6 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



sive amount. (2) That the non-irrigated area dried out continuously until the grain 

 was harvested. The lowering of the moisture-content was more rapid, it will be seen, 

 during the first examination period, May 25 to June 21, than during any subsequent 

 similar period. In this connection 'we may infer, judging from results on the irrigated 

 area, that the low moisture-content at the latter date had obtained for some time pre- 

 vious to this second examination. (3) That on the ' irrigated ' area, until the first 

 flooding (June 22), the soil was not more moist than that of the ' non-irrigated,' 

 indeed it would seem to be somewhat the drier of the two; further, that the drying 

 out of the irrigated plots after each flooding was very rapid, from which it is clear 

 that the crops upon them were, for the most part, in a fairly dry soil and only inter- 

 mittently enjoyed an abundant supply of moisture. 



Two samples of Red Fife wheat were used for sowing these areas; the one grown 

 on non-irrigated land, the other on irrigated. Both of these parent seeds had been 

 obtained in this investigation at the Experimental Station, Lethbridge, Alta., the 

 previous season, 1909 



Wheat, 1910. 



Attention may first be directed to the great difference in protein-content, almost 4 

 per cent, between the two parent seeds, the crop of 1909; the higher — in accord with 

 our previous work — being from the non-irrigated area. 



In Experiment A, the crops from both irrigated and non-irrigated areas are prac- 

 tically identical in protein-content and very much higher than the parent seed which 

 had been raised on irrigated land the previous season. That the wheat harvested 

 from the non-irrigated area should be richer in protein than its parent was fully 

 expected from our results of the past five years, but that the crop from the irrigated 

 area should be similarly high can only be explained on the ground that the moisture 

 conditions of this plot during an important period in the life of the plant did not 

 differ materially from those of the non-irrigated area. The data, indeed, seem to 

 point to the conclusion that until the first irrigation, 83 days from seeding, the soil 

 of the irrigated area- was even drier than that of the non-irrigated. 



In experiment B, wheat from non-irrigated land (1909) was employed, and as a 

 consequence a high protein seed was sown. Its product on non-irrigated land was still 

 richer in protein, a result in accord with our conjecture that the season was one of 

 unusual dryness. The crop from the irrigated land was found to be about 1 per cent 

 lower in protein than the parent seed. This is certainly not a large difference, but 

 it is one in the direction expected from previous results. That it is not larger may be 

 accounted for by the facts alluded to in discussing Experiment A. 



