Aug. 26, 1918 
Variation and Correlation in Wheat 
365 
1917.—Seeds were planted on April 11. -Plants were harvested on 
Jilly 31. Normal rainfall with continued cool weather up to July and approx¬ 
imately normal for that month made this a favorable year for wheat. 
Marquis wheat, which belongs to the group Triticum vulgare, was used 
in the experiment throughout the 4-year period. This wheat was origi¬ 
nated at the Central Experimental Farms, Ottawa, Canada, in 1892, by 
crossing Red Fife and an early-ripening wheat from India received in a 
sample of a commercial grade, Hard Red Calcutta, followed by a selection 
of individual plants in 1903. Marquis wheat is widely grown in the hard 
spring-wheat district in Canada and in the United States. A supply of 
the seed of this variety was obtained from Canada in 1913 and grown 
on University Farm that year. From the crop produced on University 
Farm in 1913, the individual seeds planted in 1914 and 1915 were selected. 
The seed planted in 1916 was selected from the 1915 crop. In 1917 the 
seed was taken from a Marquis line established by selecting individual 
plant 135 from the plants grown in 1914. 
The seeds for planting were selected by hand and weighed to the 
fourth decimal place. If the fourth place was 5 or better, the figure in 
the third decimal place was increased by 1. As the seeds were weighed 
they were placed in coin envelopes. The seeds were then arranged in 
classes according to weight and consecutive numbers entered on the 
envelopes and at the same time on 3-inch wooden pot labels. The seeds 
were planted in 4-inch rows, 4 inches apart in the row, with the numbered 
pot label placed at the proper distance from each. One seed to each 16 
square inches made the rate of seeding approximately 30 pounds per 
acre. For the years 1914 and 1915 the seeds were planted at approxi¬ 
mately the same depth; in 1916 and 1917 all seeds were planted at pre¬ 
cisely the same depth. For all the years except 1914, when a few addi¬ 
tional seeds were planted later to make up the desirable number, all the 
seeds were planted on the same day. Before using the plants from the 
seeds sown later in 1914, comparison was made to ascertain whether 
they affected the results one way or another. Only where height at six 
weeks is involved was any effect found. Therefore, where height at six 
weeks is considered, the 219 plants from the first seeding are used. For all 
other characters, determinations were made on the full number of plants. 
In order to maintain uniform spacing for all plants, if a seed failed to 
grow, another plant of the same line was promptly taken from a reserve 
bed and substituted. These substitute plants were discarded at harvest. 
Border rows of the same variety were planted on all sides to obviate alley 
effect. 
A few days before harvest, a dry-goods tag bearing the proper number 
was attached to each plant to identify it and to hold the culms together. 
All imperfect plants were discarded at this time. As each plant was 
64614°—18 - 3 
