438 



Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xxn.Nas 



this is due to environment, although part of it probably is. The water 

 available for the plants at Chico was less than at Aberdeen, since the 

 plots at Chico were not irrigated. Although the Hannchen variety was 

 not included in this nursery series, C. I. 679, Franconian, is of the same 

 general type as Hannchen, and Hanna 678 probably is even more closely 

 related. In Table II samples of Hannchen from a neighboring plot are 

 reported, and these do not differ materially from those grown at Aber- 

 deen. The agreement between the results at Chico and Aberdeen is 

 close when it is realized that varieties do vary a great deal according to 

 their environment, as was evident in the results from the irrigation 

 experiments. Varieties grown in the Bast, under humid conditions 

 where the ash content of the soil is very low, have a much lower percent- 

 age of ash than do those from the West. The determinations from 

 Arlington, Va., are not reported, but they show far less ash than those 

 from either Chico or Aberdeen. Despite the variation in the ash content, 

 the awns of different varieties seem to maintain the same relationship. 

 The varieties which are high in ash under the arid conditions of the 

 West are also the ones which are highest in ash at Arlington, even though 

 the ash content at Arlington may be only half that of the western-grown 

 samples. 



Varieties which have a low ash content in the rachis do not necessarily 

 have a low ash content in the awns. The awn itself does not have the 

 same ash content throughout its length. Variation in individual samples 

 can easily come about through the loss of the tips of the awns in the field. 

 In Table IV are given the results of determinations made on the basal, 

 middle, and apical portions of the awns of three barleys from Chico, 

 Calif. The ash content of the tip is much greater than that of the base. 

 In the Hannchen and Tennessee Winter varieties, the ash reaches 40 

 per cent of the dry weight in the tips of the a^vns. The bases of the 

 awns in the Coast variety were low in ash as compared with those of 

 the Hannchen and Tennessee Winter varieties. This may have some 

 connection with the fact that the awns of the Coast variety do not break 

 cleanly from the grain in thrashing. 



Table IV. — Percentage of ash in the tip, middle, and basal portions of awns in three 

 varieties of barley grown at Chico, Calif., in igiy 



