Wheat Investigations. 5 



by analyzing a given variety of wheat into its component strains 

 and determining the behavior of the flour from each strain 

 under identical conditions. In tracing down the specific behavior 

 of the flour from isolated, individual strains or pure varieties 

 certain varietal features may be established which otherwise 

 may completely elude detection in the analysis of commercial 

 samples of flours furnished by different wheat varieties. What- 

 ever the cause of the discordant results, the fact remains that 

 at the present time there is no commonly accepted, reliable chem- 

 ical formula that could guide the plant breeder in detecting the 

 strength in wheat. 



The plant breeder who attempts the improvement of the 

 wheat quality in regions outside the natural wheat lands will 

 find still less encouragement if he turns to results and conclu- 

 sions bearing on the influence of the environment upon the 

 chemical composition of wheat. Here, again, the opinions of 

 the workers are at variance. Without reviewing here the ex- 

 tensive literature relative to the question of climate and soil 

 relations to the chemical composition it may be stated that the 

 majority of investigators, notably Lyon 3 , Thatcher 4 , Le Clerc 

 and Leavitt 5 , Shaw and Walters 6 , Le Clerc and Yoder 7 , con- 

 sider the climate as the predominating factor controlling the 

 chemical composition of wheat to the negligence or even exclu- 

 sion of the soil factors. As an interesting event in this connec- 

 tion it may be noted that the agronomic workers who met in 

 the third western agronomic conference at Cornwallis, Oreg. 

 191 8, agreed that quality of wheat was dependent on both soil 

 and climatic conditions. 8 



3 Lyon, T. L. Improving the Quality of Wheat. U. S. D. Agr. Bur. 

 Plant Ind. 1905 Bull. 78, pp. 1-120. 



4 Thatcher, R. W. The Chemical Composition of Wheat. Wash. Agr. 

 Exp. Sta. Bull. No. Ill, pp. 1-79, 1913. 



5 Le Clerc, J. A. and Sherman Leavitt. Tri-local Experiments on the 

 Influence of Environment on the Composition of Wheat, 1910. U. S. Dept. 

 Agr. Bur. Chem. Bull. 128 pp. 1-18. 



6 Shaw, C. W. and Walters, E. H. A Progress Report Upon Soil 

 and Climatic Factors Influencing the Composition of Wheat. Cal. Agric. 

 Exp. Sta. Bull. 216. pp. 549-574, 1911. 



7 Le Clerc, J. A. and Yoder, P. A. Environmental Influences on the 

 Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Wheat. 1914. Jour. Agr. Res. 

 V. I, No. 4, pp. 275-291. 



s Jour. Am. Soc. Agr. V. 10, No. 7-8, 1918, p. 312. 



