DOES WHEAT TURN TO CHESS? 49 



as winter wheat (in fact it is never found in spring 

 wheat) and it is known to be more hardy than 

 wheat. The fact that it grows wild, while wheat 

 dies out unless artificially cultivated, is one indica- 

 tion of this. Whenever the wheat is injured, there- 

 fore, especially by the winter, any chess plants 

 which remain have a better opportunity to develop, 

 and if there are many present they may stool out 

 a'^d fill almost the whole ground. Had the wheat 

 remained uninjured it would, by its more rapid 

 growth, have so overshadowed or crowded the chess 

 that the latter would have hardly been noticed. In 

 a heavy growth of wheat chess plants have been 

 found bearing seed when only two or three inches 

 high. In such cases it might readily be supposed 

 that there was no chess in the field. The fact that 

 chess seed may remain in the ground for several 

 years is also a source of surprise to farmers who 

 sow pure seed and find chess in the crop. Farm- 

 ers are also liable to be rnistdken in thinking that 

 they sow pure seed. It is nearly impossible to 

 secure any winter wheat free from chess unless it 

 is hand picked. A grain dealer of Detroit, Mich- 

 igan, said that he believed that he had never seen 

 a sample of wheat which did not contain some 

 chess, though it was more abundant some years 

 than others. The present system of employing 

 migratory threshing machines renders it nearly 



