.34 



Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1920 



TABLE 8. 



Relation Betzveen the Average Protein Content for the Pure 

 Lines of Each Variety in 1917 and 1918. 





Average Protein Content 



Parent Variety 



in per cent 



of Pure Lines 







1917 



1918 



Minnesota Lines 



14.36 



13.30 



Canada Red 



14.30 



13.20 



Preston 



13.94 



12.91 



Bluestem 



13.74 



12.77 



Unnamed 



13.69 



12.29 



Red Fife 



13.68 



12.77 



Marquis 



13.29 



11.76 



were analyzed in 1917. In 1918 only 44 lines were continued and 

 of these 40 were analyzed so that only for these 40 lines could 

 the variation in the protein content in 1917 and 1918 be deter- 

 mined. The protein content of each line in 1917 was correlated 

 with the protein content of the same line in 1918 with a resulting 

 correlation coefficient of 0.381=11.092. This coefficient as judged 

 by its probable error is significant despite the small number of in- 

 dividuals, and indicates that with a number of pure lines here 

 considered the protein content was transmitted from one year 

 to the next. This is in accord with the observations reported 

 by Freeman 21 who found for the character hardness or flintiness 

 of wheat which is regarded as closely associated with high nitro- 

 gen, that the "differences (in percentage of hard grains) were 

 varietal and tended to persist in the same strains from year to 

 year." Freeman's pure lines were selected from a commercial 

 variety of Turkey wheat and the percentage of hard grains in 

 1914 correlated with percentage of hard grains in 1915=57% 

 ±4% ; the percentage of hard grains in 191 5 with percentage of 

 hard grains in i9i6=33%±5% (L. c. p. 27). 



The degree of correlation between the protein contents of 

 wheat varieties from one year to the next will depend upon the 

 number of strains which under a given set of environmental con- 

 ditions will tend to ' retain their relative rank with respect to 



"Freeman, Geo. F. A Mechanical Explanation of Progressive 

 Changes in the Proportions of Hard and Soft Kernels in Wheat. Jour. 

 Am. Soc. Agr. 1918, v. 10, pp. 23-28. 



