22 



THE WHEAT PLANT 



At the University College Farm, Reading, these fertilisers were 

 applied to small plots of wheat for several years at the rate of i, 2, 4, 8, 

 and 1 6 cwts. per acre respectively ; comparison of the produce with that 

 from the unmanured plots showed that i cwt. per acre distinctly in- 

 creased the percentage of flinty grains in T. vulgare, and the higher amounts 

 led to the whole of the sample being flinty. 



In the case of the soft floury Blue Cone wheat (T. turgidum) it was not 

 until an application of 4 cwt. or more per acre was given that the mealy 

 nature of the endosperm was modified, and only when 8 to 16 cwt. per 

 acre was used were all the grains flinty. 



Similar graduated quantities of the ordinary phosphatic and potassic 

 fertilisers were tried, but none of these increased the flintiness of the 

 endosperm. 



Forms which ordinarily produce mealy grains only do so under con- 

 ditions which allow of complete development and normal ripening, for 

 the grains of all wheats harvested in an immature state have flinty endo- 

 sperm. The results of harvesting two mealy-grained forms of T. vulgar e 

 at weekly intervals are given below ; they illustrate the progressive in- 

 crease in the percentage of soft opaque grains up to the time of perfect 

 ripeness. 



" SQUAREHEAD'S MASTER " WHEAT 



PERCENTAGE OF FLINTY AND MEALY GRAINS IN EARS CUT AT WEEKLY 

 INTERVALS UNTIL RIPE 



" SWAN " WHEAT 



