200 Agricultural Chemistry. 



tern formation by application of nitrogenous fertilizers. Pingree 

 found that nitrogen applied to oats, in the form of dried blood, 

 slightly increased the protein content of both grain and straw. 

 At the Storrs (Conn.) Experiment Station, corn, oats and mixed 

 grass (timothy, red top and Kentucky blue grass) were supplied 

 with gradually increasing amounts of nitrogen, added to a uni- 

 form ration of potash and phosphoric acid. "Within certain 

 limits, the protein content of the corn and oat grains, oat straw, 

 corn stover and grasses was increased, somewhat in proportion 

 to the amounts of nitrogen supplied. Parozzani found that in- 

 creased application of super-phosphates to corn resulted in a 

 corresponding increase of total phosphoric acid in the seed. In- 

 vestigation of the distribution of phosphorus in the seed showed 

 that, while the amount in nuclein compounds remained constant, 

 the amounts in the forms of lecithin and phytin were increased. 

 Total nitrogen in the seed was not sensibly affected, but the pro- 

 portion of true protein compounds was slightly increased and 

 this increase was limited to a specific protein, namely, zein. 



Such examples as these are limited. From an intimate knowl- 

 edge of the long series of fertilizing experiments at Rothamsted, 

 Hall is led to state that, ''Although the composition and quality 

 of the grain is affected by the amount of nitrogen supplied to the 

 crop, it is really astonishing to find how small are the changes 

 brought about by extreme differences in manuring. ' ' The effects 

 may be more marked with other parts of the crop, but, quoting 

 Hall further: "The crop reacts against variations in the com- 

 position of the soil and tends to keep its own composition con- 

 stant. When also the time comes for the grain to be formed - 

 from the reserve materials already stored up in the plant, an- 

 other attempt is made to turn out a standard product. Even on 

 the Rothamsted plots, where the differences in the supply of 

 nutrients are extreme and have been accumulating for 50 years, 

 the composition of the grain changes more from one season to 

 another than it does in passing from plot to plot." 



Environment has been found to influence the composition 







