384 



The trausm'ssloa of raiQiite cliaracterisfcic? is e viileno^.;! in tu3 variety of wlioafc kuowa 

 as " Grace's White." There is iu every grain a kiud of indeatation across the back, as if 

 when still soft a thread had been tied ti.f>-htly round it ; tliis mark is more or less dis- 

 tinct, but never entirely absent. It even has a practical bearing upon its market value, 

 the grains occupying as much room in the measure as if no such indentation existed. 



In fact close observation shows that in the cereals, as throughout nature, no two 

 plants or grains are precisely alike in productive power, and hence that of any two or 

 greater number of grains or plants one is always superior to all the others, althougli 

 that superiority can be discovered only by actual trial. 



This superiority may consist in various particular characteristics, as powijr to Avith- 

 staud frost ; prol'iiicness ; size and character of ear ; size, form, and quality, and weight 

 of grain ; length or stiffness of straw ; powers of tillering ; rapidity of growth ; and 

 many others. 



Now, while our farmers and planters will not, each for himself, pur- 

 sue this system for a series of years, of procuring- " pedigree seed," one 

 or more in a vicinity may do it, for the benefit of others and his own 

 profit. The manifestly successful results of Major Hallett's planting 

 lias so convinced the people of England, that his " pedigree wheat," to 

 the extent of all he can raise, is now sold at a price three times as great 

 as any other wheat. This Department has procured some of this wheat, 

 and will have its merits fairly tested iu this country. 



Such is the interest taken in this subject in England that the Mid- 

 land Farmers' Club, at Birmingham, api)ointed a deputation of its most 

 distinguished members to visit the farm of Major Hallett for the pur- 

 pose of making a personal inspection of his growing crops, his "i:)edi- 

 gree barley" and oats as well as his wheat. This examination was made 

 on the 10th July, ISTi, and the report of this deputation to their society 

 was highly satisfactory. It seems to have been established l)eyoud any 

 reasonable doubt that a "pedigree," in its capacity to transmit powers 

 of production, is as certain as that of ahorse for swiftness of speed, or 

 that of a cow for her quantity and quality of milk. AVhile all farmers 

 are choice in their selection ot a protitable breeding stock, it is only be- 

 cause the results are palpable to the eye; those of the careful selection 

 and care of seed are not so immediately seen, but they are even more 

 certain and profitable iu their consequences. 



The bushel of ordinary wheat contains 700,000 grains and upwards; and taking 2 

 bushels per acre as the seed sown, we have, speaking roughly, 1^ millions of grains per 

 acre put into the ground. 



I have counted at harvest the number of ears upon a quarter of an acre of wheat 

 (drilled 20th November, with H bushels per acre, and which proved au exceptionally 

 heavy crop of nearly 7 quarters per acre,) and I found the number of ears per acre to 

 be 934, 120, or not so many ears as the grains sown. Here it is clear from the number 

 of grains sown that either the natural powers of tillering could not have been exer- 

 cised, or that the greater part of the seed must have been sown uselessly. Doubtless 

 some of the grains did produce more than one ear, but this only makes the case still 

 worse for the remainder. 



Not only was the number of cars below that of the grain sown, but each car was but 

 the stunted survivor of a struggle for existence. 



Indeed, it has been stated by Jethro Tull, that if a square yard of thickly-sown wheat 

 be counted iu the spring, and the supposed number of ears then recorded, it would be 

 found that 90 per cent of them would be missing at harvest. Beyond all question, in 

 thickly-sown wheat a very large proportion of what appear .ts stems in the spring die 

 away before harvest, and have thus grown not only uselessly, but in the struggle for 

 existence have starved and stunted those which ultimately came to ears. 



In ordinary crops the number of ears produced per acre being taken as about one 

 million, and the crop as 34 bushels, we have at 700,000 grains to the bushel, 23,800,000 

 grains per acre, or an average per ear of only 23 to 24 grains ; and if more than one mil- 

 lion ears per acre be claimed, it must be at the expense of their contents. 



Five pints of wheat per acre planted iu September, 12 inches by 12 inches, gave 

 1,001,880 ears per acre, or G7,7{)0 ears in excess of those produced on the other side of 

 the hedge from G pecks, or more tlian twcMity-oue times the seed. 



Again, 5 pints planted 12 inches by 12 inches October 17, gave 95?,320 ears per 



