4 
Colorado Experiment Station 
make analyses of our own wheats, grown under conditions which 
we have varied to suit the purposes that we have had in view. 
This bulletin will deal largely with the composition of our 
Colorado wheats, but more particularly with those factors which 
establish its quality or characteristics. It is evident from the an¬ 
alyses published that the Colorado' wheats are, as a rule, as rich in 
nitrogen as other wheats. They compare favorably with the Min¬ 
nesota wheats in nitrogen content and in other analytical respects, 
but the flour does not make as much bread as the Minnesota flour, 
at least this is the claim of our bakers. Whether it is justified or 
not, it is customary to consider the crude protein as an index of the 
quality of the wheat. There are many statements made which cast 
doubt upon the correctness of this practice. Still it is almost uni¬ 
versal, and a high-protein wheat is considered a good wheat. Our 
wheats are rich enough in protein, but they are considered soft or 
weak wheats. The object of our study is to discover if possible the 
factor or factors in our conditions on which this inferiority depends. 
Our primary assumption is that our climatic conditions are favor¬ 
able, the vegetative period of the wheat is usually short, our sum¬ 
mers are warm and the sunshine practically constant. We do not 
have! excessive quantities of rain, and irrigation is necessary, except 
occasionally, when the winter wheat may make a good crop without 
irrigation. 
The amount of winter wheat grown in the irrigated sections of 
the State forms only a small portion of the total, so the wheat of 
chief importance is the spring wheat. 
The climatic conditions are such that we should expect wheat 
of high quality; the temperature is sufficiently high and uniform, 
the nights are cool, the rainfall small, the water supply largely under 
our control, while the sunshine is practically constant and fogs are 
so good as unknown. 
Our soils are easily cultivated, at least for the greater part. 
They are also' well supplied with plant food and yield excellent crops. 
I have no statistics at hand whereby to establish the average crop on 
our irrigated lands, but from such information as I have obtained, 
I think that the average of spring wheat on such lands will not fall 
so low as 30 bushels, and in many years it will be better than 35 
bushels. The kernels are usually plump, but sometimes shrunken; 
they are apt to lack in flintiness; in this respect, however, they vary. 
Some land produces very mealy wheat while other lands under the 
same climatic conditions produce flinty wheat. By far, the greater 
portion of our wheat that I have seen is mixed, that is, contains 
both characters of berries. This condition is not peculiar to Colo¬ 
rado. It is present in almost every sample of wheat, spring or win- 
