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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA agricultural Experiment Station 
 
 College of agriculture e. j. wickson, act.ng director 
 
 BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 
 
 CIRCULAR No. 28 
 
 (January, 1907.) 
 
 A Preliminary Progress Report of Cereal 
 Investigations, 1905-07. 
 
 G. W. SHAW. 
 
 That the underlying- principles which make for profit in cereal 
 culture in California have been seriously neglected until neither the 
 quantity per acre nor the quality of product is what it might be is 
 clearly evidenced by the fact that notwithstanding the heavy produc- 
 tion of wheat for export in the year ending June 30, 1905, we were 
 under the necessity of importing to maintain the flour trade 4,006,680 
 bushels of eastern grown wheat, and in 1905 the amount used was even 
 much in excess of that figure. 
 
 These heavy importations are necessitated because the quality has 
 not kept pace with the more advanced demands of the milling and 
 baking trades. Could w T e stop these importations and supply the mill- 
 ing trade entirely from California grown wheat it would mean a saving 
 to our people of over $1,500,000 annually now passing out of the State ; 
 and could the average production of California wheat be increased by 
 even so small an amount as one bushel per acre there would be another 
 $1,500,000 added to the agricultural resources of the State. 
 
 Wheat farming is still, and is destined to be for all time, an impor- 
 tant industry in the State, and as one of the staple crops of a general 
 farm, is worthy of not only much encouragement, but also the greatest 
 aid that can be given it by scientific research. 
 
 With these facts in mind, and realizing that modern scientific meth- 
 ods applied to various lines of agriculture have been able to much 
 improve existing condition, investigations looking toward the improve- 
 ment of cereal culture in California were begun in 1904 under a sub- 
 scription of $2,500 by public spirited citizens more or less directly 
 interested in the cereal industry. This sum, though small, was suffi- 
 cient for the preliminary work of the first year. 
 
 The chief points in view in this work may be summarized as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 (1) To discover or produce such wheat as will yield the largest 
 profit per acre for the farmer, and will supply the millers with wheat 
 of superior quality ; (2) to conduct such similar experiments with oats, 
 
barley, and other cereals as may seem desirable; (3) to determine the 
 effectiveness of various methods of culture as applied to the cereal in- 
 dustry; (4) to determine the effect of change of environments upon 
 t he growth of cereals, particularly the wheat kernels. 
 
 Realizing' the importance of this movement, the Legislature at the 
 session of 1905 appropriated $5,000 a year for two years to further the 
 work of cereal improvement, the same to be expended by the Agricul- 
 tural Department of the University under the direction of the Gover- 
 nor. A copy of said bill is subjoined. 
 
 SENATE BILL NO. 10. 
 
 AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE CEREAL CROPS 
 OF CALIFORNIA AND APPROPRIATE MONEY THEREFOR. 
 
 The People of the State of California, Represented in Senate and 
 Assembly, do Enact as follows: 
 
 Section 1. The governor of the State of California is hereby directed, and it 
 is hereby made his duty to cause to be made under the supervision and direction of 
 the director of the agricultural experiment station of the University of California, 
 such investigation and experiments as he may deem best for the purpose of discov- 
 ering and making known such improved methods of cereal culture in the State of 
 California as will increase the yield of cereals in said State, and increase the per- 
 centage of gluten in said cereals, or otherwise improve the quality thereof. The 
 said governor shall have the exclusive charge and control of all moneys appropri- 
 ated hereby, to be used in employing such expert and scientific assistants as he may 
 deem necessary, and for the paying of the expenses of carrying on the experiments 
 and investigations herein provided for. He shall from time to time publish the 
 results of such experimental and investigational work as may have been done, for 
 general distribution. 
 
 Sec. 2. The sum of ten thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be neces- 
 sary, is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the state treasury not otherwise 
 appropriated, to be paid to the governor to be used for the purpose of this act, 
 one-half thereof to be expended during the fifty-seventh fiscal year, and one-half 
 thereof to be expended during the fifty-eighth fiscal year, and the controller is 
 hereby directed to draw his warrant on the general fund from time to time for 
 such proportion of said sum of ten thousand dollars, and in favor of such persons 
 as the governor shall direct; and the state treasurer is hereby empowered and 
 directed to pay the same. 
 
 Sec. 3. This act is exempted from the provisions of section six hundred and 
 seventy-two of the Political Code. 
 
 Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date of 
 its passage. 
 
 With this support assured, the cooperation of the United States 
 Department of Agriculture was also enlisted under which agreement 
 the Department places at the disposal of this State all of its introduced 
 wheats and hybrids that give promise of adaptability to the conditions 
 that obtain in California and in addition furnishes without cost one ex- 
 pert eerealist in charge of field work, both parties being free to use the 
 results for publication, the University to give preference to such as 
 
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 may be of special importance to California and the Department to such 
 as are of interest in connection with similar lines of work in other parts 
 of the country. 
 
 Under this arrangement Mr. L. A. Fitz was detailed by the Depart- 
 ment for 1904^05 and Mr. II. F. Blanchard from 1905 to the present 
 time, the writer being- in charge of the work on the part of the Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 Two field stations of 20 acres each have been established, and 
 equipped with seed houses and the necessary working equipment, one 
 at Yuba City representing the climatic and soil conditions of the Sac- 
 ramento Valley, and one at Modesto representing the San Joaquin 
 Valley, besides subsidiary work at other points. A cereal laboratory 
 equipped with the necessary appliances for making complete, practical 
 chemical, milling and baking tests have been established at the Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 The plan of operation covers : 
 
 First — The introduction of new varieties of wheat, oats, and barley 
 from other states and countries. 
 
 Second — The improvement of our own and desirable new varieties 
 by straight selection. 
 
 Third — The development of entirely new varieties by crossing high 
 gluten wheats upon our own stocks and following this by selective im- 
 provement. 
 
 Fourth — A line of special experiments dealing with numerous 
 phases of cultural practice, including the advantages of change of 
 seed, effect of fertilizer and rotation of crops on the yield per acre, 
 effect of the time of cutting, methods of conservation of moisture in 
 cereal culture, and numerous other factors. 
 
 Investigations along all of these lines are now under way, and as 
 results are obtained will be published in bulletin form for free distri- 
 bution in the State. 
 
 The first season's work was largely devoted to the collection and 
 field trial of varieties, and a study of the conditions of the seed wheat 
 actually being used by the farmers of the State. This latter matter 
 from the physical side has already been published as Bulletin No. 181, 
 California Experiment Station, Selection of Seed Wheat. The manu- 
 script for a ^discussion of the chemical side is now nearly ready for the 
 printer. 
 
 Since the plan contemplates the application of the principles of 
 both straight selection and crossing followed by selection it was neces- 
 sary to thoroughly try out the numerous varieties to secure the really 
 strong stocks upon which to begin the work of improvement. Such 
 preliminary trials are as essential to plant breeding as the laying of 
 the foundation of a house is to its subsequent stability. The strongesi 
 individual plants of the most promising varieties must be found to act 
 as the parents for future breeding. Otherwise all might be lost 
 through having selected not only poor varieties, weak plants, or both. 
 A large part of the field work at both stations has been devoted for the 
 past two seasons to this preliminary variety testing, the selection of 
 pure strains and of strong individual plants. 
 
The results to date may be summarized as follows : 
 First — The collection of the following list of grains not before 
 grown in California : 
 
 Standard Varieties of Common and Durum Wheats 325 
 
 U. S. D. A. Hybrids 72 
 
 Kansas Hybrids 66 
 
 Barleys 60 
 
 Oats 21 
 
 Spelt 1 
 
 Rye 3 
 
 Emmer 2 
 
 Einkorn 1 
 
 Corn 15 
 
 With the exception of corn and a very few varieties of other grains 
 the above were planted both at Modesto and Yuba City. 
 
 Second — The preliminary work to secure strong stocks and indi- 
 viduals for selection and improvement, and to be used for parent stocks 
 in crossing. 
 
 Third — Over 1,800 seeds as a result of crossing high gluten wheats 
 principally upon our own varieties. 
 
 Fourth — A study of the actual condition o.f the seed wheat being 
 used by farmers completed and published in Bulletin 181. 
 
 Work along these lines is not entirely new — although there are 
 some features peculiar to the coast wheat — for similar lines of work 
 have been conducted for a number of years in Minnesota, Kansas, and 
 South Dakota with wheat, and in Illinois and Iowa with corn. The 
 benefits derived by these states from such investigations have already 
 amounted to many millions of dollars through the development of 
 wheats adapted to their special needs and a marked increase in the 
 yield of grain. 
 
 The results already obtained here in California give us every reason 
 for sanguine hope that we can help this State as much as these other 
 states have been helped in the same line and at a very trifling cost 
 when compared with the value of the industry to the State. The ele- 
 ment of time, however, is an essential in the work as in all cases of 
 plant breeding. The investigations must be conducted over a series of 
 years in order to fix the characteristics of plants. Without this all 
 labor so far performed, as well as the valuable equipment purchased 
 at an expense of about $3,000, would be thrown away. 
 
 We are now just at the point to begin the actual work of improve- 
 ment by selection. It will require long patient work with great atten- 
 tion to detail to do this and if we are to succeed we must be able to 
 follow out this line for a series of years to produce stable results. To 
 stop now would be to throw away a vast amount of valuable informa- 
 tion gathered in the last two years of work. 
 
 The appropriation of the last session has been found to be just 
 about sufficient to enable the work to go on without being hampered, 
 and an appropriation of the same sum for continuance of the work for 
 the next two years will be sufficient. 
 
 G. W. Shaw, 
 
 In Charge of Cereal Investigations.