| Nitrogen. | Phosphoric Acid. | Potash. | Lime. | |
| Flour. | 0.739 | 0.092 | 0.054 | 0.013 |
| Middlings. | 0.105 | 0.064 | 0.024 | 0.002 |
| Shipstuff. | 0.056 | 0.044 | 0.021 | 0.003 |
| Bran. | 0.228 | 0.251 | 0.083 | 0.012 |
| Totals. | 1.118 | 0.454 | 0.182 | 0.030 |
Or we may express the results in another form, the amount contained in one ton of straw, and the products of 30 bushels of wheat, which may be reckoned as an average crop, expressing the amounts in pounds as follows:
AMOUNTS OF SELECTED CONSTITUENTS IN
THIRTY BUSHELS OF WHEAT AND ITS PROPORTION OF STRAW.
| Nitrogen. | Phosphoric Acid. | Potash. | Lime. | |
| Straw. | 11.20 | 2.67 | 13.76 | 6.20 |
| Flour. | 22.17 | 2.76 | 1.62 | 0.39 |
| Middlings. | 3.15 | 2.01 | 0.72 | 0.06 |
| Shipstuff. | 1.68 | 1.32 | 0.63 | 0.09 |
| Bran. | 6.84 | 7.53 | 2.49 | 0.36 |
| Totals. | 45.04 | 16.29 | 19.22 | 7.10 |
From numerous investigations it has been found that in regard to the nitrogen and the ash constituents, there is striking evidence of the much greater influence of season than of manuring on the composition of a ripened wheat plant, and especially of its final product—the seed. Further, under equal circumstances the mineral composition of the wheat grain, excepting in cases of very abnormal exhaustion, is very little affected by different conditions as to manuring, provided only that the grain is well and normally ripened. Again, it is found that the composition may vary very greatly with variations of season, that is, with variations in the conditions of seed formation and maturation, upon which the organic composition of the grain depends. In other words, differences in the mineral composition of the ripened grain are associated with differences in its organic composition, and hence the great value of proper selection both for seed and for milling purposes.
AMERICAN WHEATS.
In a comprehensive treatise on the composition of American wheats, Mr. Clifford Richardson says we cannot attribute the poverty of American wheats in nitrogen as a whole to an enhanced starch formation, and for the following reasons: An enhanced formation of starch, there being no poverty of nitrogen in the soil, increases the weight of the grain and diminishes the relative percentage of nitrogen. Were this the cause of the relatively low percentage of nitrogen in the American wheats, the grain from the Eastern States, which are poorest in this respect, would be heavier than those from the middle West, which are richer in albuminoids; but this is not the case. Formation of starch is attributed by Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert to the higher ripening temperature in America, but Clifford Richardson has found that there is scarcely any difference in composition or weight between wheats from Canada and Alabama, and if anything those from Canada contain more starch than those from the South, and the spring wheat from Manitoba with its colder climate more than those from Dakota and Minnesota, with its milder temperature. In Oregon is found a striking example of the formation of starch and increase in the size of the grain, at the relative expense of the nitrogen, due to climate, but not to high ripening temperature. The average weight per hundred grains of wheat from this State has been found to be 5.044 grains, and the relative percentage of nitrogen 1.37, equivalent to 8.60 per cent. of albuminoids. These are the extremes for America, and are due, as has been said, to the enhanced formation of starch. This, however, is said to be not owing to high ripening temperature, because most of the specimens examined were grown west of the Cascade Range, which has an extremely moist climate and a summer heat not exceeding 82 deg. F. for any daily mean. The climate in another way, however, is, of course, the cause, by producing luxuriant growth, as illustrated by all the vegetation of the country. Numerous other analyses form illustrations of the important effect of surroundings and season upon the storing up of starch by the plant, and consequent relative changes in the composition of the grain.
As a whole, the poverty of American wheats in nitrogen, decreasing toward the less exhausted lands of the West, seems to be due more to influences of soil than of climate, while locally the influence of season is found to be greater than that of manure, confirming the conclusions of Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert. Also from the analyses of the ash of different parts of the grain, as from the analyses of roller milling products, we learn that a large percentage of ash constituents, other things being equal, is indicative of large proportion of bran, and consequently of a low percentage of flour.—The Miller.