182 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



The nearer one approaches to the Arctic Circle in sum- 

 mer, the longer are the days and, other things being 

 equal, the greater is the amount of light to which wheat- 

 plants are subjected during the growing season. Dr. Wil- 

 liam Saunders found that the same kind of wheat grown 

 at Ottawa took on an average of three years 106 days 

 to ripen but grown at Vermilion only 101 days, and he 

 ascribed this difference to the difference in the amount 

 of sunlight in the two places. It is possible, however, 

 that differences in the amount of available moisture and 

 heat were also important factors in bringing about the 

 result. In support of his view Dr. William Saunders 

 recalled the work of a Eussian investigator named Ko- 

 walewski. Kowalewski grew spring wheat and oats in 

 different parts of Russia, from the north at Arkangelsk to 

 the southern province of Kherson, and made careful ob- 

 servations on the time of ripening. He found that in 

 higher latitudes the grain ripens in a shorter period than 

 in the more southern districts, the difference varying at 

 different points from 12 to 35 days. Kowalewski at- 

 tributed the earlier ripening in the north largely to the 

 influence of light during the long summer days, but he 

 also believed that the short seasons of quick growth had 

 brought about in these cereals an early-ripening habit. 

 Dr. William Saunders, however, regarded this habit as a 

 fixed one which cereals continue to manifest when grown 

 in localities where the summer season is longer.*® What- 

 ever may be the exact reason for the hastening of the 

 maturation of one and the same spring wheat when grown 

 in higher latitudes, the fact remains that this hasten- 

 ing must be of distinct advantage in lessening the danger 

 from early frosts. 



by this route and the Hudson's Bay Compaay, in consequence, has 

 ceased to operate its Vermilion mill. 



