Introduction. 



3 



price of wheat is now going- up — whether because of any slackening 

 in the wave of expansion or, as some economists assert, because 

 of the extraordinary output of gold in recent years, we need not 

 discuss — and once more the proper place to be assigned to wheat 

 in the scheme of husbandry becomes an open question. 



The scientific problems are no less complex. Much must be 

 done before the conditions necessary for the growth, of wheat are 

 fully elucidated. Although the requirements of the wheat crop 

 are fairly well known, it is impossible at present to explain why 

 a brick earth in Kent or Sussex will produce 45 to 55 bushels 

 of grain without difficulty, whilst the stiff loam at Rothamsted 

 only yields 35 to 45 bushels, no matter how well it be manured. 

 The size of the crop is limited, among other factors, by the stiffness 

 of the straw. If instead of standing up well the plants become 

 "laid," it is costly to harvest; hence the farmer does not aim at 

 the maximum crop, but at the biggest crop that will stand. Stiff- 

 ness of straw is influenced by a soil condition not yet clearly made 

 out; crops will stand on one soil, while others of the same kind 

 will 'be " laid " on soil of a different type. 



The different varieties of wheat are not all of the same market 

 value. The exacting requirements of modern civilisation necessi- 

 tate special sorts of wheat for special purposes. The baker, the 

 confectioner, the biscuit maker, all have their own requirements, 

 and modern fastidiousness has put a price on subtle differences 

 that were not recognised fifty years ago. Some very interesting 

 problems have thus been opened up, but they are as yet far from 

 being solved. In particular many investigations have been made 

 to discover why certain flours — the so-called weak flours — only give 

 small, squat, heavy-looking loaves, whilst others — the strong 

 flours — will yield large, well-shaped, well-aerated loaves. The 

 strong wheat commands the higher price, since the public insists 

 on having the large loaf, but whether it is intrinsically more 

 valuable, whether it is more nutritive, has yet to be ascertained. 



But the grower is not directly interested in the intrinsic value 

 of the various wheats : his object is simply to produce the wheat 

 that gives him the highest profit per acre. It is clearly a first 

 requisite that the wheat grown should be adapted to the local 

 conditions and resistant to the local diseases. In England the 

 " weak " wheats are most profitable, in spite of their lower price 

 per bushel ; strong wheats do not yield sufficiently heavy crops 

 to pay. One of the most important of the wheat problems of the 

 day is to study the laws governing the production of wheat and 

 see how far it is possible to impart any desirable quality by cross 

 breeding. Is it, for instance, possible to breed a wheat that shall 

 be as suited to the English climate as our present sorts are and at 

 the same time possess the strength of the Manitoba wheats? 



