THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT . 5 



Peace river valley, extending 700 miles north of the Canada 

 border, 58 degrees north latitude, enough wheat, barley and 

 oats have been grown to bring about the erection of a 100- 

 barrel roller mill at Vermilion, on the Peace river. Spring 

 wheat of the Romanow variety matured at the Kenai station 

 in Alaska in 1899, 60 degrees north. Experiments have shown 

 that winter wheat will ripen here in ordinary seasons. On 

 the Mackenzie river wheat has been grown farther north than 

 62 degrees. Spring wheat and winter rye have matured per- 

 fectly 65 degrees 30 minutes north latitude at Rampart, about 

 200 miles from the Arctic circle, and at Dawson, equally as far 

 north, over 1000 miles north of the United States. While 

 wheat can be grown this far north, the chances of failure are, 

 of course, much greater than in a climate more temperate. 

 Barley, oats and rye will grow farther north than wheat. 



Towards the equator the limits of wheat generally vary be- 

 tween 20 and 25 degrees north and south latitude. It thrives 

 in southern Brazil, in Cuba, and in southern Rhodesia in South 

 Africa at these latitudes. 



Altitudinal. Another very important factor in determining 

 where wheat can be raised is the altitude, which may be con- 

 sidered as the complement of latitude. On the mountain 

 plains of Colombia and Ecuador it grows on the equator. Thus 

 wheat is raised in America from the equator, 10,000 feet above 

 sea level, to Dawson and the Klondike river, 2,000 feet above 

 sea level, and at least 65 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. 

 In the United States the census shows that in 1880, over 80 

 ppr cent of the grain was grown at an elevation between 500 

 and 1,500 feet above sea level. In 1890 the altitudes at which 

 wheat was raised varied from 100 feet below sea level to over 

 10,000 feet above sea level, and about 70 per cent was raised 

 between 500 and 1,500 feet elevation. It cannot be raised 

 successfully at great elevations in England. The plains and 

 mountain slopes of Sicily produce wheat, the upper limit of 

 its growth having been given in 1863 as 2,500 feet in altitude. 



A member of the Manitoba legislature, Mr. Burrows, has 

 claimed that fifteen years of history show that altitudes have 

 very much to do with summer frosts, and that 800 to 1,300 

 feet above sea level is the best altitude for No. 1 hard wheat 

 in Manitoba. Perhaps the greatest elevation at which wheat 



