30 



IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF WHEAT. 



Irrigation experiments were conducted by Widtsoe ^' in which wheat 

 of the same variety was raised on plots of land each one of which 

 received a different quantity of water. A record was kept of the 

 yield and composition of the grain on each plot. 



The results show that with an increase in the water used for irriga- 

 tion up to 30 inches there were in general an increase in the jdeld of 

 grain and a decrease in the nitrogen content. No volume weights 

 or other means of judging of the development of the kernels on the 

 different plots are given, but there is no reason to suppose that the 

 grain on the plots receiving small quantities of water was not poorly 

 developed. The column added showing the yield of nitrogen in 

 pounds per acre indicates a lack of nutriment in the grain on these 

 plots.* 



High nitrogen content arising from a small supply of soil moisture 

 is sometimes due to a restricted development of the kernel. There 

 is nothing in these results to indicate a greater absorption of nitrogen 

 by the crop on soil having less moisture, but results of this nature 

 are cited elsewhere in this bulletin. 



INFLUENCE OF SIZE OR WEIGHT OF THE SEED-WHEAT KERNEL UPON 



THE CROP YIELD. 



Sanborn ^ reports experiments to ascertain the effect of separating 

 seed w^heat into kernels of different grades to ascertain the effect upon 

 the yield. He divided the kernels into large, medium, small, ordinary 

 (grain as it came from the thrasher), and shriveled, and continued 

 the experiments for four j^ears. Apparently the large kernels were 

 separated from the crop grown from large seed the previous year, and 



« Utah Experiment Station Bulletin 80. 



^ Nitrogen has been calculated from proteids by dividing by 6.25. 



c Utah Elxperiment Station Report, 1893, p. 168. 



