794 DISCUSSION ON WHEAT: 
the relation of humus to moisture content, throw no light upon our 
problem.’ It is interesting, however, to observe that the soil with the 
higher percentage of nitrogen produced the starchier wheat. From these 
results we were led to believe that the explanation for the difference in 
composition of the wheats is to be found in the widely different moisture 
content of the soils throughout the growing season, the larger amount of 
moisture prolonging the vegetative processes of the plant and delaying the 
maturation of its grain. This apparently allows the further deposition of 
starch, or rather of less nitrogenous matter, resulting in a more or less 
soft kernel.” 
If these conclusions are correct, then it might be conjectured that wheat 
grown under irrigation in a semi-arid district would be more or less 
glutinous according to the amount of water supplied during the develop- 
ment period. To obtain information concerning this matter, areas irrigated 
and non-irrigated were sown in 1908 on the Experimental Farm, Leth- 
bridge, Southern Alberta, with Red Fife and Kharkov wheats. This district 
is usually one of sparse precipitation, and one, consequently, where the 
methods of the so-called ‘dry’ farming must be practised in parts where 
there is no provision for irrigation. As a rule, irrigation is necessary to 
obtain the best yields. The season during the earlier months was unusually 
wet, and consequently not favourable to the experiment in hand, only one 
irrigation, July 16, being found necessary; nevertheless, as the following 
data clearly show, the irrigated soil, with its higher water content, produced 
the more starchy wheat. 
Red Fife—original seed from Brandon, Man. . 15°95 per cent. protein 
Red Fife—grown on irrigated land 5 F ne 0 ne f 
Red Fife—grown on non-irrigated land c a LGBT, * oa 
Kharkovy—grown on irrigated land ‘ é oe Bild FA ES 
Kharkov—grown on non-irrigated land . . « Ls hZ ip a 
In the case of Red Fife, the wheat grown on the non-irrigated and, 
as we shall see, drier soil contained 2°5 per cent. more protein than that 
from the irrigated area. Similarly with the Kharkov, there is a difference 
of 1 per cent. protein in favour of the non-irrigated wheat. 
The soil-moisture determinations made at intervals throughout the season 
are as follows :— 
aa —— / Trrigated | Non-irrigated 
/ / Per cent. Per cent. 
May 14, 1908 . 3 i s : ‘ 16°56 15°61 
July 15, 1908 . F 5 : ; | 8:78 | 811 
| August 17,1908 . : 5 ; 10°37 6°38 
From the beginning of the season until the middle of July, during which 
time there had been no irrigation, the soils on both plots were very similar 
in water content, the figures showing a steady decline. Subsequent to that 
date the percentage of water continued to fall off in the non-irrigated plot, 
while in the adjacent irrigated area, as might be expected, it increased. 
In these results we again have satisfactory evidence that the composition 
of wheat is markedly influenced by the amount of soil moisture present 
during the development of the kernel. 
* The analysis of the wheats from the fertiliser plots of the Experimental 
Farms confirms the view that manuring has but little influence on the composi- 
tion of the grain. 
* Report of the Chemist, Exp. Farms, 1907-08, pp. 135-9. 
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