JOURNAL OF AGRIOTJORAL RESEARCH 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Vol. I Washington, D. C., January io, 1914 No. 4 
ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON THE PHYSICAL 
AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WHEAT 
By J. A. LE ClERC, Chief , and P. A. Yoder, Assistant Chemist , 
Plant-Chemistry Laboratory , Bureau of Chemistry 
INTRODUCTION 
A former series of experiments 1 conducted in the Bureau of Chemistry 
showed that neither the composition nor the physical characteristics of 
wheat are to any great extent hereditary. The protein, gluten, and ash 
contents, as well as the size of the berry, the weight of a bushel, and the 
flintiness of the kernel, were found to be dependent upon the climatic 
conditions prevailing during the growing period of the plant. Seed of 
Kansas wheat containing 20 per cent of protein and showing 100 per cent 
of flinty kernels and seed of California wheat containing 10 per cent of 
protein with 13 per cent of flinty kernels when grown side by side in 
South Dakota yielded crops of identical composition and physical appear¬ 
ance. The same was true of these Kansas and California seeds when 
grown in California. The crops grown in California were, however, 
entirely unlike those grown in South Dakota, owing to the great differ¬ 
ence in climatic conditions. It was shown in a most conclusive manner 
that environment plays a major part in influencing both the chemical 
composition and the physical appearance of a wheat crop. Cropping 
through a number of generations under widely different environments 
therefore does not alter permanently or make a noticeable impression 
upon the transmissible physical and chemical properties of wheat. 
Similar experiments, involving the transference of soil, are reported 
by Shaw and Walters. 2 In the main, their observations, based on crops 
grown throughout a period of three years in one locality, harmonize with 
the conclusions here presented, which are founded on the wider range of 
experimental data now at hand, involving crops grown for four years on 
three different types of soil in three different localities having widely 
1 L,e Clerc, J. A., and Eeavitt, Sherman, Tri-local experiments on the influence of environment on the 
composition of wheat. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chem. Bui. 128, 18 p., 1910. 
2 Shaw, G. W., a^d Walters, E. H. A progress report upon soil and climatic factors influencing the 
composition of wheat. Cal. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 216, p. 549-574, 1911. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, (275) Vol. I, No. 4 
Dept, of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Jan. io, 1914 
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