A Study of Colorado Wjieat 
93 
per bushel 60.6 pounds, average protein 8.30 percent. The Kubanka 
check plots yielded in 1913 an average of 34.1 bushels per acre, weight 
per bushel 63.1 pounds, average protein 12.28 percent; the same plots 
in 1915 yielded 32.8 bushels per acre, weight per bushel 62.6, average 
protein content 9.64 percent. An explanation of the difference in the 
protein content can not be based on the ground that the volume of the 
crop corresponded to a large increase in the percentage of the starch 
or other carbohydrates. The percentages of starch remain constant 
within very narrow limits. 
If any deficiency in fertility actually existed, it would probably 
correspond to the deficiency in the grain and this is in the nitrogen 
content. The growth and color of the plants ought to reveal any so 
great a deficiency as would correspond to the depression of the nitro¬ 
gen that we find. Further, we find direct proof that this is not the 
case, in that we find a depression in the average amount of the protein 
present in the grain grown on the respective plots to which a liberal 
application of nitrogen had been made. We have for the average 
amount of protein in the grain produced on such plots in 1913,-14.17 
percent, in 1914, 11.50 percent and in 1915, 11.50 percent. Some of 
the samples included in these averages, especially in 1914 and 1915, 
were badly shrunken and, according to the accepted theory, should 
Iliave been very high in nitrogen; others of them were, from the physi¬ 
cal standpoint, perfect wheats. The amount of nitrogen applied to 
these plots varied from 40 to 120 pounds per acre, so there could not 
possibly have been any dearth of nitrogen. 
The considerations here presented may fail to satisfy some, but 
they appear to me to prove conclusively that the cause of the inferior 
composition of the wheats produced in 1914 and 1915 can not be at¬ 
tributed to lack of fertility. 
Cannot Be Charged to Climatic Conditions 
The question of climatic influences resolves itself into several 
phases each of which may be of varying importance, i.e., the total 
amount of water received hy\ the crop, the manner of application, as 
irrigating water or as rain, or, stated otherwise, whether the soil alone 
or both the soil and thej plant is wet, the time of application or dis¬ 
tribution of the rain, the temperature, cloudiness, winds, etc. The 
mean temperature and air movement in the years of good and bad 
wheat were so similar, especially during the month of July and the 
early part of August, including the period from blossoming till ma¬ 
turity, that it is difficult to believe that these factors were responsible 
for the differences in the quality of the grain. The mean temperature 
for July, 1913, was 66.8 degrees, and in 1915 it was 64.7 degrees. The 
early part of the month in 1915 was warmer than in 1913, but there 
were great deviations from the mean in either year. There was a 
