4 
Colorado Experiment Station 
the individual fertilizers are, we studied the composition of the 
plants from the time of blooming till they were mature. This was 
done to enable us to draw sume inferences, at least, in regard to the 
part played by the soil constituents as distinguished from the cli¬ 
matic conditions. We hoped by applying nitrogen, phosphorus 
and potassium separately and each in varied quantities, to so in¬ 
crease the characteristic effects of each, that it would enable us to 
recognize their specific effects, not merely upon the composition of 
the plant, but also upon the chai-acteristics of the grain. This pro¬ 
cedure was based upon the assumption that the land used in our 
experiments already contained these elements in sufficient amounts, 
and in such relative quantities, that it would produce wheat which 
would be entirely normal for our locality, and that by adding suf¬ 
ficiently large quantities of these individual substances in proper 
form, we would be enabled to recognize their respective influences 
upon the grain, and particularly upon the bread-making qualities 
■of the flour. While the composition of the flour, especially in re¬ 
spect to what we may designate its minor details, may have less ef¬ 
fect upon the quality of the flour than we think, it is certainly wise 
in this case to be as thorough as possible, even if our effort pro¬ 
duces but few usable results. I have in mind that it is custom¬ 
ary to consider the amount of nitrogen in a wheat as indicative of 
its merit for making flour, assuming at the same time that all other 
constituents are either present in sufficient quantities, or are of so 
much less importance that mention of them is not called for. It is 
not intended to state that the importance of phosphorus or other ash 
constituents are never considered, for this is not true, but that the 
importance atached to the amount of nitrogen contained in the 
wheat overshadows that of the other constituents. Our general 
judgment is that the higher the nitrogen, the better the flour that 
it will yield, that is, the greater will be the amount of gluten con¬ 
tained. In this general view, only the total amount of nitrogenous 
substances is considered; neither the quality of these substances, 
gluten, nor the presence of other substances which, in the end, may 
have a deciding influence upon the quality of the flour, is given any 
weight. There is a large mass of literature upon this subject, but 
there are not any fixed criteria which may be used in judging the 
value of flour, nor is there any agreement as to the causes of the 
differences found in flours or wheats grown in the same, or in dif¬ 
ferent places. 
The portion of this work already published (Bulletin 208.) 
shows that the nitrogen supply in the form of nitrates in the soil 
affects the amount of the total and also that of the proteid nitrogen 
in the plant throughout the period between blossoming and ma¬ 
turity. 
' The amnionic and amid nitrogen found in the plants probably 
