Yeeeow-berry in Wheat 
9 
The quotation continues to set forth the dependence of the 
character of the grain, i. e., whether it is starchy or rich in protein 
upon conditions of growth, especially upon weather conditions. It 
also discusses the effects of transferring a wheat, “endemic” to a 
given climate, to a different one, especially to a hotter and drier 
one. The application of this quotation seems to depend upon its 
bearing upon the relative quantities of protein and starch produced 
in the berry. The fundamental distinction between the flinty and 
yellow-berries is plainly considered to be their relative richness in 
protein or in starch. I do not understand from the quotation that 
the author, Schindler, had the yellow-berry condition specifically in 
mind but the relation of the protein content to that of the starch. 
This may be a part of the yellow-berry problem. It evidently is, 
but we may have high or low protein without our* special affection 
of yellow-berry. Two different samples of the same variety of 
wheat, each equally free from yellow-berry, may vary quite as much 
in their protein content as two samples, one of which is affected 
with the yellow-berry and the other not. Still, it must be acknowl¬ 
edged, that the chief difference effected in the composition of the 
wheat is, so far as we know, precisely this, i. e., a lower protein 
and a higher starch content, but the physical characters of the ker¬ 
nels are very different from normal berries. There can be no doubt 
about Schindler’s attaching great importance to the weather con¬ 
ditions, for he is quoted as saying: 
“Prom these considerations it undisputably follows that even in one 
and the same locality and with the same variety, the relation between 
protein and starch must be a variable one according to the weather con¬ 
ditions, even though it is to be admitted that individual sorts or races, 
as the case may be, may possess for themselves an especially different 
energy of assimilation. It is certain, however, that this latter in its 
final effect stands far behind that of climate and of the weather.” 
There can be no doubt that the author intends to> attribute a 
determinative influence upon the composition of wheat to the cli¬ 
matic factors whether he had the yellow-berry in mind or not. The 
authors, Roberts and Freeman, evidently consider the yellow-berry 
something more than an abnormal ratio between the protein and 
starch content of wheat, for they say that: 
“The yellow-berry is a case of not merely a failure to form the nor¬ 
mal amount of gluten but probably also of a corresponding failure on 
the part of the plant to compensate by a relative increase in the starch 
content.” 
It is not evident upon what they base this opinion, at least, I 
have found no definite data given except the nitrogen determina¬ 
tions made and given in the Nebraska Bulletin 89. I suppose that 
this judgment is based upon their knowledge of the physical prop- 
