38 EEPOET ON SHIEEEFF'S BEAEDED WHITE WHEAT. 



REPORT ON SHIRREFFS BEARDED WHITE WHEAT. 



By Patrick Shirreef, Haddington. 

 [Premium — Ten Sovereigns.'] 



In reporting " on the means successfully employed for obtaining 

 new and superior varieties or improved sub-varieties of any of 

 the cereal grains," I shall endeavour to comply with the condi- 

 tions expressed in the Society's Premium Book for 1864, and 

 in the event of not succeeding to do so, a supplementary report 

 will be made on the deficiencies being pointed out. 



The subject of this report was picked up in a wheat field in 

 the neighbourhood of Haddington in 1856. Since then it has 

 formed part of a collection selected in the same manner in diffe- 

 rent parts of Britain, and cultivated yearly up to the present 

 time. This variety has been named " Shirreff's bearded white," 

 and was first sold to the public in 1861. It reproduces itself with 

 constancy from seed, and is unquestionably new in British agricul- 

 ture. The ear is handsome, the notches being neither wide nor 

 close set. Chaff white with a long beard. Straw of medium length 

 and strength. Grain rather short, white, and transparent, weighing 

 heavier, and perhaps yielding finer flour than any variety cultivated 

 in Scotland. It ripens early, and is suitable for sowing in autumn, 

 winter, and early spring. Since coming into my possession this 

 variety has been grown under similar circumstances, compara- 

 tively, with hundreds of varieties, and, so far as I am able to judge, 

 has year after year produced grain inferior to none in the collection. 



The beard, which forms one of the characteristics of the plant, 

 is often viewed with dislike, but this appendage is unquestionably 

 advantageous in many situations, and especially so in the dam]) 

 climate of Scotland ; the spring of the beard being so considerable 

 that the ears in the sheaf do not adhere closely, and the consequent 

 free admission of air and sunshine renders the grain fit for thrash- 

 ing before bald eared wheats can be marketed with propriety. 



Believing the raising of new varieties, and testing the produc- 

 tiveness of wheats, to be distinct departments in the progress of 

 improvement, a distinction recognised in the Society's Premium 

 Book, no comparative trial of the productiveness of this wheat 

 has been made by me, but I refer to the following communica- 

 tions from Mr Deans and Messrs Tod, as disinterested evidence 

 of the value of the plant : — 



" In 1863 I grew on this farm Hopetoun wheat and ShirrerFs bearded white 

 on the same field, and under the same circumstances ; both looked well through- 

 out the season, and produced a good crop. Hopetoun had slightly the advan- 

 tage of bulk of straw, but the bearded wheat yielded the most grain, and was 

 the finest in quality. This season (crop 1864) Shirreff s bearded wheat was the 

 only variety grown on this farm. (Signed) " John Deans." 



"Hedderwick Hill, Dunbar, 

 "26</t October 1864." 



