14^ 



The Journal of Heredity 



of 32 per thousand, the population in- 

 creases every year by about 750,000; 

 (2) in the last ten years the inhabitants 

 of Japan proper (excluding Korea and 

 Formosa) have increased from 50 to 57 

 millions, which gives an average of 380 

 to the square mile; (3) that during this 

 period the area of land under cultivation 

 has been increased by 5 per cent, and the 

 rice production by 4 per cent, as against 

 an increase of 12 per cent in the number 

 of mouths to be fed. So long as the 

 present birth-rate is maintained, the 

 nation must therefore depend more and 

 more upon imported food supplies. 

 Now, there is no possibility of mate- 

 rially increasing either the area under 

 cultivation or the productivity of the 

 soil. In Japan the rice fields not only 

 fill the valleys, but everywhere on the 

 hill sides you will find them, terraced 

 and artificially irrigated at an incred- 

 ible cost of human labour. As I jour- 

 neyed this spring from Mogi to Kobe 

 by the railway which skirts the beauti- 

 ful shores of the Inland Sea, it seemed 

 to me that the villages had grown per- 

 ceptibly larger and the rice fields 

 smaller during the last ten years. The 

 dead occupy no space in the food-grow- 

 ing area here, as they do in China. As 

 one sees the children swarming in these 

 close-clustering hamlets, one cannot 



help wondering can these tiny fields be 

 still further sub-divided, and, if not, 

 what peaceful solution of the problem 

 can there be other than wholesale em- 

 igration? 



"So long as Japan can purchase the 

 surplus food she needs by a favourable 

 balance of trade, the problem may be 

 faced. But Japanese statesmen take 

 long views, and they realize that every 

 year's addition to the population means 

 a corresponding increase of imported 

 food, which in turn necessitates an in- 

 creased sale of Japanese manufactured 

 goods in markets where keen competi- 

 tion is inevitable. Looking at the 

 problem in this way, and debarred 

 from expansion into America or Aus- 

 tralia, they are faced with three alter- 

 native solutions: (1) A reduction of the 

 birth rate; (2) increase of food supplies 

 to be obtained by means of industrial 

 expansion; and (3) territorial expan- 

 sion into the less populated regions of 

 the Asiatic continent. So long as 

 either of the last two alternatives is 

 available, no reduction is to be ex- 

 pected, because birth control must in- 

 volve a radical change of the race, 

 mind and social system. Japanese 

 statesmanship is therefore compelled 

 to adopt one or both of the other al- 

 ternatives." 



THE COLOR OF WHEAT KERNELS 



Wheat kernels of the different varie- 

 ties and types vary in color from light 

 yellowish to dark reddish or brownish- 

 red. The kernels of any one variety 

 are usually fairly uniform in color 

 when grown under similar conditions, 

 but may \'ar\- within certain limits with 

 varying conditions. 



The color of wheat kernels is due to 

 a combination of the colors of the outer 

 layer or bran and the inner portion or 

 endosperm. Color of the bran is due 

 to the presence or absence in it of 

 brownish-red or orange-yellow pigment 

 and the color of the endosperm is due 

 to its texture or density. The texture 



of the endosperm in turn is relative to 

 the size of the air spaces or vacuoles 

 between its component cells. When 

 these are relatively large a white 

 starchy kernel results, when relati\ely 

 small, a hard, corneous or translucent 

 kernel. 



The pigmentation of the kernel and 

 to some extent the texture of the en- 

 dosperm are inherited characters. Both 

 are somewhat influenced by environ- 

 mental conditions, the latter apparently 

 to much greater degree than the former. 

 A starchy texture in part or all of the 

 endosperm may be induced by proper 

 conditions in almost any variety or 



