66 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [april, 



results of the experimental work carried on by the Committee have 

 shown : — 



(a) That manuring, as ordinarily practised by farmers, and the 

 rotating of crops, have no appreciable beneficial effect on the quality 

 of wheat. 



(b) That, under . conditions in all other respects identical, autumn 

 sown wheat is as strong as spring wheat. 



(c) That when wheats grown under identical conditions were cut at 

 varying stages of ripeness, bakehouse and laboratory tests did not 

 disclose a superiority in strength due to early cutting. 



(d) That, subject to variations due to the influence of soil and 

 climatic conditions, breed was the predominant factor in the production 

 of strength in wheat. 



(e) That a few among very many varieties of strong foreign wheats 

 retain, when grown in England, their inherent strength, and that, 

 among the few, Fife is pre-eminent for the retention of its great 

 strength. 



(/) That the principles of Mendelian selection have been successfully 

 applied to wheat, and that among many "points" which can be 

 handled as separate units, independently of other "points," are 

 strength and weakness, susceptibility and immunity to disease, and 

 colour of the skin. 



The principal work of the Committee, therefore, in recent years 

 has been to continue their tests of the few wheats which have hitherto 

 maintained a great strength when grown in England, to see : — 



(a) Whether in subsequent seasons they still maintain their strength. 



(b) Whether any of them can be, without hybridising or selection, grown 

 profitably by farmers in England, (c) Whether, in the event of their 

 being unsuited to the requirements of farmers generally, they can 

 be improved by selection only. Concurrently, the Committee is proceed- 

 ing with the work of hybridising and selection on Mendelian lines, and 

 to this section of its work it attaches supreme importance. 



Information is given as to the progress of the work in 1907. The 

 reports received from farmers who are growing Red Fife Wheat are 

 set out in detail, and it appears that though the appearance and 

 strength of the Red Fife Wheat grown in 1907 were affected by the 

 unfavourable season, its strength was very substantially greater than 

 that of English wheats. The best sample was one grown for its 

 fifteenth consecutive year in England. The Committee recommend 

 that Fife should be sown much more thickly than ordinary English 

 varieties. 



The work of building up varieties to combine strength, high 

 cropping power, and good straw is being continued by Prof. Biff en, 

 while the causes of strength in flour are being further investigated by 

 Professor Wood. 



Rate of Sowing of Red Fife Wheat. — (Journal of South-Eastern 

 Agricultural College, Wye. No. 17, 1908). — These experiments arose 

 out of those of the Home Grown Wheat Committee. A comparison 

 was made in the first place between Red Fife and Squarehead's Master, 

 and it was found that Red Fife had an average of 448 stems to a 

 foot length while Squarehead's Master had only 29*4. The question, 



