A Study of Colorado Wheat 
7 
fortunate that our experiments were made during this season, for 
many facts, to be given subsequently, will tend to show, or perhaps 
prove, that the amount of water applied, be it as rainfall or irriga¬ 
tion, has comparatively little influence upon the composition of 
wheat. 
It is very fortunate in this connection that we made three par¬ 
allel series of experiments with three ditferent varieties which dif-. 
fer in their susceptibility to injury by rust. If this had not been 
the case, if we had used only the Deflance in these experiments, we 
would not have been satisfied to abide by any results obtained. This 
variety was so badly shrunken that I could not sell it, except for 
chicken feed. The weight per bushel and the yield will indicate 
how badly it was injured, almost wholly, as I think, by the rust. 
The grain weighed from 47 to 53 pounds per bushel and the yield 
ranged from 10 to 23 bushels per acre. The other varieties were 
much better, both in weight per bushel and in yield per acre, though 
they also suffered from the effects of rust to some extent. The maxi¬ 
mum yield, 41.5 bushels, weight per bushel 60 pounds, was obtained 
with Kubanka. 
It may be w(?ll to state, in this connection, that the plants grown 
with the application of sodic nitrate seem more easily atacked by 
rust than those which are grown without it. and on this account 
tend to produce shrunken wheat. This, however, seems to be a spe¬ 
cific effect of nitrates upon the wheat ke.rnel as well as an effect of 
rust. This year the two acted together and produced, in the case 
of the Defiance, an almost total failure of the crop. This statement 
is made in this connection lest it should be thought that subsequent 
statements, pertaining to the effects of nitrates, did not make suf¬ 
ficient allowance for the effects of this parasite. 
MOISTURE AND NITRIC NITROGEN IN THE SOIL, 1915 
During this season, 1915 , we took no samples to a greater depth 
than four feet, whereas in 1913 we took four series of samples to a 
depth of twelve feet. In 1913 we took 42 series in fallow and 18 
series in cropped land to a depth of four feet. In 1915 we took 
54 series in cropped and 6 series in fallow land to the depth of 
four feet. The moisture and nitric nitrogen were determined in all 
of these samples and the total nitrogen in twenty of the series. The 
dates on which our samples of 1915 were taken do not follow at 
regular intervals because of the frequent rains. We endeavored 
to allow a few days to elapse after a rain before we took the sam¬ 
ples, but even with this precaution it is not probable that we have 
succeeded in making the samples altogether comparable with those 
of 1913 . 
The results obtained are given in the following tabular state¬ 
ments : 
