The Wohurn Pot-Culture E.rperiments, 1010-11-12. 329 



3. That great changes are produced in the nature of the root 

 growth and the character of the grain, the former becoming 

 very fibrous and largely developed, and the latter changing 

 from " starchy " to " glutinous " as magnesia is added. 



At this time (1901^) great interest continued to be shown in 

 the question of "strength'' of wheat, and the work of Prof. 

 Biffen had resulted in his being able to place on the market 

 certain " types " of wheat which he had obtained by selection 

 and " breeding," and which were believed — in accordance 

 with the Mendelian principles on which the selection had 

 gone — to have the desirable quality of " sti-ength " impressed 

 upon them as a " fixed " character." 



Inasmuch as the assertion of this " permanence " of character 

 was based entirely upon biological considerations and claimed 

 to be quite independent of considerations of the plant's 

 environment, it seemed to me desirable — after the remark- 

 able results which I had observed in the use of magnesia — 

 to see Avhether the soil or its different constituents might not 

 play a part in the matter, or whether the question was purely 

 a biological one. 



Accordingly I determined to take some of the wheats of 

 "fixed" type, produced by Prof. Biffen, and by growing them 

 in soils containing magnesia in varied proportions to see how 

 far the wheats retained their characteristics, or if these became 

 in any way modified. 



This work was begun in December, 1909, when, having 

 obtained from Prof. Biffen wheat of "Little Joss" (cross 

 between "Square Head's Master" and "Ghirka") and of 

 "8 B" (cross between "Rough Chaff" and "Red Fife"), 

 also some of a French wheat (" Dreadnought "), I started each 

 kind growing in pots filled with the ordinary soil of the 

 Woburn Farm. This soil contained lime '334 per cent., 

 magnesia "184 per cent. Magnesia in the following respective 

 quantities "05 per cent., "10 per cent., "20 per cent, was added to 

 other pots. Thus the second addition of magnesia raised the 

 ratio of lime to magnesia to nearly 1:1, and the third addition 

 of magnesia threw magnesia into slight excess. The magnesia 

 was intimately mixed with the whole of the soil in each pot ; 

 the pots were filled on December 2, 1909, and the wheat sown 

 December 3. 



Nothing particular was noticed during growth, but by the 

 end of May, 1910, the darker foliage of the heavier dressed 

 pots (with magnesia) was apparent. About the first week in 

 July it was seen that the lesser applications of magnesia had 

 produced the longer straw. The crops were ready to cut about 

 August 1.5, and on weighing the produce the following resnlts 

 were obtained : — ■ 



