12 
BULLETIN 1172, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
selection and breeding the cereals most commonly grown. While a 
certain amount of work has been done with the less important 
cereals to determine their adaptation, most attention has been given 
to wheat and barley, which are best adapted to the section and widely 
grown there. The cultivation of oats is limited, particularly on 
account of the high temperatures in early summer. 
In determining their adaptation the varieties have been grown in 
field plats so as to approach field conditions as nearly as possible. 
The plat unit at Chico has varied, but the size used has been uniform 
in each year. The measure of adaptability has been the yield of 
grain taken in connection with the qualities desired in the cereal in 
question. In addition to determining yield careful observations have 
been made during the periods of growth and ripening on the habit of 
growth, susceptibility to disease, etc. Although an effort is made to 
approach field conditions it is recognized that from such small units 
Fig. 2.— Wheat varieties in shock in the plat experiments at the Plant Introduction Station, Chico, Calif., W I 
in 1911 
the yields are somewhat above normal. This, however, does not 
affect the results sought in the experiment, as all varieties are grown 
under like conditions and are affected similarly. 
Varietal experiments have been conducted also in the nursery, 
where large numbers of varieties from many sources have been grown. 
From time to time a number of the most promising of these have 
been advanced to the plats for comparative study. 
WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 
Wheat will continue to be one of the principal grain crops of 
California. While increased areas of the more fertile lands are being 
converted into orchards, there will yet remain large areas of land 
which will be primarily adapted to grain growing. The cool wet 
winter season together with the warm early spring temperatures of 
the great interior valleys of California is favorable for the production 
of the class of wheat known as the soft white wheats. Varieties of 
