]44 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



From these figures it appears that the hard spring wheats will aver- 

 age about 65.5 pounds per bushel, the soft white wheats of Oregon 58.5, 

 the ordinary soft grain of the East 62.5, the poorly matured samples of 

 Alabama and Ohio 55.5 and 56.6, while the large plump grain of Colo- 

 rado reaches 65.2 pounds per bushel. Weight per bushel is evidently, 

 then, an indication of good quality. 



The averages for different seasons in Colorado vary directly as the 

 percentages of albuminoids, although among the less fully developed 

 grain the lighter often contain more nitrogen from lack of starch, as in 

 the case of the crop of 1883. This was found to be the case by Lawes 

 and Gilbert in their experiments. It does not always hold true, as may 

 be seen among the Alabama wheats and some others, while the Oregon 

 sami^les, finely matured, rich in starch, and low in nitrogen, are very 

 spongy and light in weight. 



The weights per bushel contained in the i)receding table seem to bo 

 very large when compared with the average estimates obtained by the 

 statistician of this Department from a large number of reliable corre- 

 spondents last year. That they are actual weights of the samples ex- 

 amined has been proved, however, by experimenting on wheat and oats 

 of known weight -pev struck bushel, and if the estimates are correct it 

 must be assumed that the samples sent to the Department are not aver- 

 age ones. For instance, C. A. Pillsbury considers 56 pounds an aver- 

 age for Minnesota red. William Wheatly thinks that Maryland wheat 

 varies from 59 to 62 pounds, according to locality. The State agent in 

 Georgia puts the figures for ten years at 54 to 55 pounds, and the agent 

 of Kansas at from 53 to 57 pounds per bushel. The difiiculty of collect- 

 ing average samples will always be met with, as there is always a desire 

 to send the best. Farmers insist on deceiving themselves and others in 

 this way. 



The results of our investigation will, it is hoped, make apparent some 

 few directions in which an improvement can be made in wheat culture 

 as they have already shown the miller the quality of the grain from 

 various parts of the country. 



OATS. 



Oats are grown under as varied conditions as wheat, and are as a crop 

 more variable in their a])pearance than any of the cereals. They can be 

 made to pay on rich and poor soils of various descriptions, and although 

 flourishing in a cold climate, they can, in the form of certain rust-proof 

 varieties, be successfully grown in the far South by sowing in the cool 

 part of the year. 



In consequence of all the variations in the conditions of growth there 

 is a great variation in the weight of the grain, its i:)lumpness and rela- 

 tive proportion of kernel and husk or chalf, and in its other i)hysical 

 (]ualities. It is almost impossible to make a classification of the different 

 varieties, as they aM shade gradually into each other. At extremes we 

 have the white potato oats of the North and the red rust-proof of the 

 South. 



Among the most important characteristics of this grain, and one by 

 which it'is most often judged by the farmer, is its weight per bushel. 

 In close relation to this is the relation of kernel to husk, a point which 

 has been little, if at all, investigated. 



In one hundred and sixty-six specimens, collected from the most promi- 

 nent regions where oats are grown, these characteristics have been de- 

 termined with the purpose of studying their relations, not only to each 

 other, but to the chemical composition of the grain. 



