16 



show that plants are to a very large extent influenced by their en- 

 vironment. Seeds grown in Kansas are quite different in chemical 

 composition and in physical appearance from the same variety grown 

 in another locality having different climatic conditions. That the 

 composition of the seed has very little to 4o with the composition of 

 the crop, especially when that seed has been sown in another locality 

 having different climatic conditions, is fully demonstrated by the 

 data given in the tables where it is shown, for example, that the Cali- 

 fornia and Kansas grown wheats give crops of practically the same 

 composition when grown side by side in California or when grown side 

 by side in Kansas. It is seen that, notwithstanding the fact that 

 three plots were grown in Kansas, California, and Texas or South 

 Dakota from seed of the same variety which, because it had been 

 grown in different environments, had acquired widely different 

 chemical and physical characteristics, the resulting crops from the 

 three plots in each station were identical. 



SLIGHT INFLUENCE OF THE SOIL. 



That the soil has also only a relatively small influence is shown in 

 the table below: 



Effect of the soil on the composition of wheat. 



When it is considered that the Crimean wheat was grown on the 

 same piece of land in Hays, Kans., in 1905, 1906, 1907, and 1908, and 

 that the percentage of protein varied from 22.2 to 14.5 during those 

 years, it becomes apparent that it is not so much the soil as it is the 

 climatic conditions in general which affect the composition and phys- 

 ical appearance of such a crop. This is further illustrated by the fact 

 that the year of extreme high protein content (1907) was a very dry 

 one, while during the year of low protein (1908) a relatively large 



amount of rain fell. 



i 



VARIATIONS IN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 



The next most notable difference is rather a physical one; that is, 

 the appearance of the grain. Seed grown in Kansas or South Dakota 

 show either no starchy grains or not more than 12 per cent at most; 

 yet when they are transported to California and grown there the fol- 

 lowing year, the percentage of starchy grains increases to 50 and 88 



[Bull. 128] 



