GROWTH OF CEREALS IN DIFFERENT LATITUDES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2020, 18 June 1885, Page 4

GROWTH OF CEREALS IN DIFFERENT LATITUDES.

I\ Europe barley can lie grown na far north as 70d0g.. but eistward and westward the limit falls to the south. In the Faioe Islands ((51 to (i3deg.) but little ginin is grow n, and in Iceland and fJreenland none at all. In ftn*t America the northern limit is ."KM eg , which ri«es to .">Sdcg. on the western coasts, while on the cast coa«t of A«i.\ it again pinks to 50dcg . gradually rising to fiOdeg on the Obi Rivci, fwdeg at Archangel, and finally to 70deg. in Sweden, which is the extreme northern limit of bailey cultivation. Wheat requires a higher temperature than rye or b.irley, oats require lenst warmth. Altitude as well as latitude must be taken into consideration ; there are many districts in the Alps where, by reason of the cold, no winter corn con be grown, and yet the summers arc hot enough to grow mai/:e well. In the Himalaya mountains mai/e is giown at an elevation of flOoOft above the sea le\el, w heat at 10,153 ft, barley, oats, and rjeat 12,'200ft^ Proceeding eastwards through Europe, wheat is found to become more nitrogenous, which is attributed to the harder winters, the hotter summers, and the smaller rainfall than is experienced in western Europe. The following figures ghe the percentages of nitrogen in different samples of wheat :— Scotch 2.01, North France 2.08, Lille 2 18, KMenn 2 IS, Chemnitz 2 13, Bavaria 2.20, Moiavin 2.3(5, Poland 2 68, Odessa 3.12, Taganrog 2.51, Samara 3 47, European Russia 3.35, Central Province* 3.57, South Eastern Provinces 3.72, Siberia 2.65, Tobolsk 2 74. The nitrogen in rye and barley likewise varies — Scotch rye 0,00, German 2.12, Scotch barley 1.42 Bavarian 1.72.