6 
The Colorado Experiment Station 
west. A number of experiments were carried on in which germination 
trials, microscopical tests, and cross-fertilization trials were made and 
also the effect studied of exposure of harvested bundles to the ordinary 
weather conditions.” 
“From the results the author believes that the white spots are not 
due to crossing, nor arel they matters of heredity, but that this peculiar 
mottling is due to the action of moisture, air and sun upon the grain while 
it is yet in the chaff. If the weather action is long continued the grains 
become evenly bleached over the entire surface. The color and hardness 
of the grain can be maintained by proper care in harvesting and curing.” 
It must be borne in mind that Prof. Bolley’s conclusions are 
based upon the results of experiments and observations made for 
the purpose of discovering the cause of this affection and these con¬ 
clusions exclude crossing and heredity as causes of it, but predicate 
the action of moisture, air and sun as its cause and care on the part 
o<f the owner as its cure or rather that it can thereby be avoided. 
Lyon and Keyser arrived at a similar conclusion based upon 
very similar experiments. Lyon and Keyser, Nebraska Bui. 89, 
(1900), p. 27, say: 
“To see if the Yellow-berries were due to bleaching by sun and weath¬ 
er after harvest, sheaves were taken from the same portion of the same 
plot, one-half being left exposed and the other half cured in a dry room 
which was only moderately lighted. The sheaves were cut July 10, 1903. 
The exposed bundle was left out until Aug. 21, 1903, the only protection 
given being a frame of wire netting having a mesh small enough to keep 
out sparrows. In September the bundles were carefully thrashed and the 
grain separated into two portions, ‘Yellow Berry’ and ‘Horny Red,’ keep¬ 
ing each bundle by itself. The bundle kept in a dry dark room had 
twenty-five per cent of yellow-berries, while the exposed bundle had 
ninety-seven and two-tenths per cent yellow-berries.” 
‘‘Other noticeable changes took place. The grain from the protected 
bundle was bright and of good, clear color. The grain from the exposed 
bundle was very much discolored and so badly bleached as not to be 
marketable.” 
This experiment was repeated in 1904 with practically the same 
result. These authors also investigated the effect of the degree of 
maturity or the time of cutting upon the amount of yellow-berry. 
The result was that grain cut 7 July, 1904, contained seven and 
six-tenths percent, and that cut when over-ripe nineteen percent, 
an increase of eleven percent. The relation of the weather, char¬ 
acter of the season, was also considered. On investigating this sub¬ 
ject they arrived at the following conclusions: 
“In the crop of 1901 there was 10.5 per cent; in the 1902 crop 4.3 
per cent; in the 1903 crop 25 per cent of yellow-berries, and in the crop 
of 1904, 20 per cent of yellow-berries. There is quite a definite relation 
between the per cent of yellow-berries in the crop and the character of 
