38 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



anthers mature. The exsertion of the stamens allows the pollen to be scattered 

 by the wind. The spreading of the glumes permits wind-blown pollen to reach 

 the stigmas. . . . 



" Though the wild wheat of Palestine possesses all the characters that the 

 European specialists expected to find in the primitive ancestor or prototype of 

 the domesticated wheat, these characters might also be expected to occur In 

 any wild relative of the wheat plant and do not afford ground for a final con- 

 clusion regarding the relationships that exist between the wild wheat of 

 Palestine and the domesticated cereals. 



" The economic value of this new wild relative of the cultivated wheats does 

 not depend on its being the original progenitor or prototype. Its relationship 

 is at least close enough to permit crossing or to justify an attempt at develop- 

 ing new types of cereals adapted to special conditions, such as those of our 

 Southwestern States. 



" The wild wheat of Palestine shows a wide range of individual diversity 

 (heterism), like the wild relatives and unselected stocks of other domesticated 

 plants. This condition of diversity is to be explained by the presence of special- 

 ized adaptations for cross-pollination, as well as by the absence of methodical 

 selection. . . . 



" The native wheat fields of Palestine produce excellent crops in spite of the 

 fact that the individual plants show a wide range of differences, as bearded or 

 beardless heads, very open or closely crowded spikelets, white, red, or black 

 chaff, with smooth, pruinose, or velvety surfaces, dark or light grains, etc., 

 from which an endless number of varieties could be separated by selection. 

 The occurrence of this primitive diversity under conditions that admit of nor- 

 mal cross-fertilization indicates that the same method of acclimatization can 

 be applied to wheat as to diverse types of cotton or other cross-fertilized crop 

 plants. The full range of adaptation of a widely diversified type can be ob- 

 tained, instead of the limited possibilities of self-fertilized strains selected on 

 the basis of adaptation to entirely different conditions in northern Europe. 



" Consideration should also be given to the possibility of securing increased 

 rust resistance in wheat by the acclimatization of more vigorous cross-fertilized 

 types or by using such types or the wild species to produce hybrids with 

 American varieties. Cross-fertilized varieties of wheat would be subject to 

 injury from wet weather at the time of flowing, but this danger would not be 

 serious under the climatic conditions of the Southwestern States or of the 

 Great Plains area. 



"There is also the possibility of utilizing the wild wheat as a self-sown 

 forage plant, either in cultivation or by allowing it to escape and establish 

 itself on grazing lands in California or other Southwestern States. In view 

 of the fact, however, that the seeds are specially adapted for dissemination the 

 possibility of the plant escaping and becoming a weed will have to be care- 

 fully considered before any general distribution can be advised, even for experi- 

 mental purposes." 



Experiments in wheat breeding, E. G. Montgomery (U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. 

 Plant Indus. Bui. 269. pp. 61, figs. 22).— This consists of 2 papers in continua- 

 tion of work previously noted (E. S. R., 17, p. 552). 



I. Experimental error in the nursery and variation in nitrogen content (pp. 

 9-32). — Determinations of the nitrogen content of wheat kernels from different 

 plants show wide variations even when grown under apparently similar nursery 

 or field conditions. Continued selection and planting by the centgener and row 

 methods indicated that there was still a wide range in nitrogen content, and 

 led to the conclusion that this character was not transmissible These varia- 



